Agreed Geoff!
I hear Cyrus is apparently leaving Disney soon, though that might be just me. She might actually make a name for herself and actually do well- but that remains to be seen.
I almost more feel sorry for these kids, but the thing is we have to admit there is a market for this. But why I have no idea. But to make a fast buck with minimal effort- you basically get this sort of thing and the shows they come from.
Seriously ALL of these shows are the same- take one show, file serial numbers off, tweak the characters a little and the odd detail here and there… they’re pretty much all the same.
I mean I know they say there’s only so many stories, but still, could we perhaps air out a few of those other stories then? The same one gets a bit old sometimes.
But so far it makes them money so, yeah.
I have to say I’m not generally a fan of the acting Disney Channel generally produces today, which more or less acts like a sitcom with the same level of comedy if you’re lucky and often sometimes a lower level of comedy. I guess the odd show or two would be okay because it targets a certain demographic, but Disney Channel is more like the ‘Tween Sitcom’ Channel now with the occasional cartoon, or it was the last time I tried to watch it- I’m not so sure now.
It’s actually exceedingly difficult I think to pretty much gauge whether any of these kids to end up being good actors or not though to me- it’s because the writing is so TERRIBLE and I have trouble belieeing that every single one of them is that bad in reality or has such a low level of acting talent- I mean I’m sure looks came into their selection process sometimes but still, not every single one of them can be THAT bad if their confidence level checks out- I blame the directors or those guiding those kids- plus of course since they have fans this adds to the encouragement that they’re actually doing things the right way. Direction and writing is important with this sort of thing, I mean an actor can only do so much and it seems as if the directors are giving them all really bad direction and advice on ‘how to act’ (which kids need especially)- plus the fans- they can too. I think anyone can act at least a little especially if they’re not too nervous! But it’s hard to tell if you’re good or not or doing well if no-one tells you what to do or what the tone of the whole thing is- which is more or less the directors job.
And all these shows seem to to be practically the same- the characters the same. And why? Probably because the actors are all being given the same advice and think this is how you act well. Or at the very least how they have to act to keep their part.
Plus let’s face it, they are Tween sitcoms- those sorts of settings don’t need good acting- in fact GOOD acting doesn’t exactly fit the tone of their show to begin with so yeah, that’s that. I have yet to see a live action tv show from Disney which actually say had a coherent storyline and believable and likeable characters and good acting being shown. I wouldn’t MIND an American high-school setting, even though I’ve never experienced it myself, but they’re all just so… terrible.
But I think with proper direction and experience, if they were actually given it, they’d possibly be decent actors someday. I think, personally, almost everyone has that in them once they reach a certain point and can handle the idea of stage fright or whatever. But if you want to get experience in real acting-going for a part in a tween sitcom will possibly get you instant fame, but not instant talent or a good experience at all.
In any case, it’s all exaggerated expressions in these shows, and characters with no depth, or anything they try seems tacked on and a lousy foot note which just doesn’t fit them or the tone of the show.
There’s always the main character- who is never really ‘popular’ yet at the same time, everyone who ‘matters’ seems to like them eventually (funny how that contradiction somehow works, plus of course they’re always ‘pretty’).
Anyone who dislikes the main character is almost automatically with no depth and deserves to be humiliated in some form- always a cheerleader or something or FRIENDS with cheerleaders and made to be completely shallow… even though the main character is practically as shallow as they are and for some reason, this double standard doesn’t bite them back as hard because… main characters are the only ones allowed to grow and change after all.
(Because as everyone knows cheerleaders are ALWAYS shallow and petty or whatever and are just mean to the main character just… because… yeah… they’re mean. That’s all. And never -quite- as pretty as the main character. Riiiiggghht. Plus Adults are always useless. Or just don’t care. Always. Also people never really change after or during school years and remain the exact same person they were then…plus don’t get me wrong I do hear things are more ‘cliquey’ in American schools, but the level they take it in shows is just plain weird.).
There’s no subtle acting.There’s no genuine emotion. There’s no moments like in animation with Sulley say realising he’s scared Boo or whatever and the glances after that leading up to Sulley’s exile. While exaggerated things are sometimes needed in general, they go too far in these shows, and ‘epiphany’s’ need to be hit audiences over the head with huge force for them to get itat all it seems.To be fair, I guess in animation you can literally control all the expressions in some form, but still, how come a computer animated hairy monster conveys more subtle and true emotion than an actual person on tv?
Complete with a laugh track and ‘aww’ track and ‘obnoxious oohing and ahhing’ track.
A show or two of this is tolerable, because after all there is a market- but there’s too many now.
I’d rather watch ‘Spectacular Spiderman’ (the cartoon) to be honest- at first it seems like it might go down that road, but even gives the ‘jock’ some depth as well when the hero needs it among other people. There are some likeable moments for many characters and there is actual character development- issues are not automatically dropped and at times the hero comes off as a bad guy and it’s not hard to get the other person’s viewpoint on matters, and it feels kind of like a real school and makes me feel like this might be actually how some American schools work… despite it having a kid bitten by a modified spider and getting superpowers.
I have nothing against 
