The most reliably funny element of the show is Robbie’s interaction with older son Jackson (Jason Earles.) There’s a decent amount of comic energy there, and although the exasperated father/screw-up son motif gets beaten like a dead horse, their humorous conflicts manage to remain pretty fresh over the course of these 26 episodes. Earles (who, astonishingly, is 31 years old) is the kind of actor who could break into genuine success in a leading part. He may be 31 already, but with that babyface, it really shouldn’t matter.
The major weakness of Hannah Montana becomes readily apparent after ingesting 26 episodes over several days — the writing sucks. There is plenty of storyline repetition in just these episodes, and there’s far too much plot recycling going on here for a show with almost an entire year to produce one season. I know, I know, most of the target demographic for Hannah Montana has never even thought about the show’s scripts, but it does matter. Of course, as the character has become more and more of a commodity, the writing has probably suffered even further.
Hannah Montana has been a huge success for the Disney Channel and for Miley Cyrus, but it’s doubtful the show will last much longer than its current third season. And that’s going to work out just fine for all parties involved. Disney has plenty of irons in the fire, and shouldn’t have too much trouble locking down the tween demo for years to come. As for Cyrus, I’m confident she’ll be able to move on to bigger and better things.
The Hannah Montana – The Complete First Season DVD set comes with 26 episodes spread across four discs and several disposable bonus features, including a visit to Miley’s hometown, an episode of the 2008 Disney Channel Games and Miley’s selections of her favorite episodes.
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