Austin & Ally

Austin & Ally
Genre	Teen sitcom
Created by	Kevin Kopelow Heath Seifert
Starring	Ross Lynch Laura Marano Raini Rodriguez Calum Worthy
Theme music composer	Joleen Belle Julia Michaels Mike McGarity
Opening theme	"Can't Do It Without You", performed by Ross Lynch
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	52 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kevin Kopelow Heath Seifert Rick Nyholm
Camera setup	Videotape (filmized) Multi-camera
Running time	22–26 minutes
Production company(s)	Kevin & Heath Productions It's a Laugh Productions Disney Channel Original Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Disney Channel
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Original run	December 2, 2011 (2011-12-02) – present (present)
External links
Website

Austin & Ally is an American sitcom which first aired on the Disney Channel on December 2, 2011. The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011, and on May 24, 2011, the Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up as a series. They initially ordered 13 episodes, though that number was later increased to 21. The first promo for the series was released on October 2011, during the Disney Channel's Make Your Mark: The Ultimate Dance-Off event. A series preview followed the premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!,^[1] and the series officially premiered on December 4, 2011.^[2] The show was renewed for a second season, and resumed production in the summer of 2012.^[3] Season 2 premiered on October 7, 2012, and production for Season 2 ended in early February 2013.^[4]

The show was planned to renew for a third season on March 12, 2013 at the Disney upfront.^[5] It was officially confirmed on April 2, 2013 by Disney Channel.^[6]

Plot

Set in Miami, Austin & Ally is a multi-camera comedy about the relationship between two very different musicians: extroverted singer and instrumentalist Austin Moon (Ross Lynch), who is fun-loving and outgoing; and introverted and awkward songwriter Ally Dawson (Laura Marano), who is a good singer but had an extreme case of stage fright.

In the pilot episode "Rockers & Writers", Austin secretly records one of Ally's songs without her knowledge. He becomes famous from it after his best friend Dez (Calum Worthy) directs Austin in a music video for the song and posts it on the internet. Once Ally, convinced by her best friend Trish (Raini Rodriguez), takes credit for her song, Austin convinces her to become his partner. The two agree to work together, and become close friends, while struggling to keep Austin's new-found fame and profit from it. Trish pitches in as Austin's manager and Dez continues to direct Austin's music videos. The foursome have many adventures while in Austin's music career. At the end of the first season, Austin gets signed to Jimmy Starr's record label.

The second season sees both Austin and Ally taking bigger steps. Ally conquers her stage fright by performing a duet with Austin. By the end of the season two finale, Ally signs a record deal and records an album with Ronnie Ramone, and Austin goes on his first national tour. Due to her schedule with Ronnie Ramone, Ally is unable to attend the first half of Austin's tour, but in the first two episodes of season three, Ally does attend the second half of the tour.

The series has been described as a "pint-sized" version of HBO's comedy-drama Entourage.^[7]

Cast and characters

Main cast

Austin & Ally main characters: (L to R) Dez (Calum Worthy), Austin Moon (Ross Lynch), Ally Dawson (Laura Marano), and Trish (Raini Rodriguez). (Can also use cursor to identify)

• Ross Lynch as Austin Moon,^[8] an outgoing, confident and talented singer who became an "overnight" Internet sensation. Austin is best friends with Dez, but has also become close with Ally and Trish. He loves singing, dancing, pancakes, and having fun. He likes somewhat childish things, including coloring in coloring books, laughing at toilet humor, and stuffed animals. He is generally shown to be sweet, naive, and gullible. Austin gets signed to a record label in season 1. He develops a crush on Ally in Campers & Complications when her long-time friend Elliot comes to visit. They later date but break up in Couples & Careers because it affects their songwriting and the way they act. In Fresh Starts & Farewells Ally tells Trish that she likes Austin (again) and she's pretty sure that he likes her. Austin goes on his first national tour at the end of season 2.

• Laura Marano as Ally Dawson,^[9] a singer-songwriter who had massive stage fright, which developed from her fear of rejection. She originally wrote for herself, but after Austin accidentally stole one of her songs and became an internet sensation as a result, she and Trish tracked him down and the two eventually become friends. She has been his musical partner and songwriter ever since. She works at her father's music store, Sonic Boom, and is shown to have unusual habits, such as biting her hair when she is nervous and having a big love for pickles. She develops a crush on Austin in Girl Friends & Girlfriends while helping him plan the perfect date with Kira. They later date but break up in Couples & Careers because it affects their songwriting and the way they act. In Fresh Starts & Farewells she tells Trish that she likes Austin (again) and she's pretty sure he likes her. Ally manages to conquer her stage fright and begin her own career in Season 2. Her middle name is still a mystery as she refuses to reveal it to Austin at the beginning of "Couples & Careers". In season 3 episode "Austin and Alias" Ronnie Ramone, the head of Ally's record label, tells Ally that she may no longer write for Austin because he is singed to another label and Ronnie's policy is, "no helping the competition". At the end of the episode, Ally stands up to Ronnie and he agrees she may continue to write for Austin. ^[9]

• Raini Rodriguez as Trish,^[10] Ally's best friend and Austin's manager. Her jobs change frequently due to her lack of effort and presence at work. She takes her job as Austin's manager, however, very seriously. Trish also became Ally's manager in Season 2. She has a complicated love/hate relationship with Dez. She is sarcastic, vindictive, has little patience and a bit of a temper, but cares very much for her friends. She is shown to like money a great deal.

• Calum Worthy as Dez,^[11] an aspiring director with a strange fashion style and strong lack of intelligence and meaning. He films all of Austin's music videos and is Austin's best friend. He has a complicated love/hate relationship with Trish. He understands very little and can be very odd and immature, but becomes serious when it counts. He often has strange things in his backpack, such as ice sculptures, a ham, or lots of different types of jam. In Family & Feuds it is shown that someone tries to mention his last name but gets interrupted, leaving his last name still a mystery.

Recurring cast

• Cole Sand as Nelson, an awkward young boy who takes music lessons from Ally. His catchphrase is "Aw, nartz!!" He tends to mix up words that sound alike, such as "oboe" and "hobo".
• Andy Milder as Lester, Ally's cheapskate father who owns the music store Sonic Boom. He is completely ignorant of Ally's musical talents and believes that Ally has a billion-to-one shot at making it in the music business, just like Austin's parents have told him. It is revealed that he and Penny, Ally's mother, are divorced.
• Richard Whiten as Jimmy Starr, the owner of Starr Records who signs Austin to his record label in the episode "Successes & Setbacks". Jimmy has no sense of smell as a result of an operation to fix his childhood drooling problem.
• Aubrey K. Miller as Megan Simms, a 10-year-old Cheetah Beat photographer. Megan tends to use teenage slang terms such as "totes" or "hilar" instead of totally or hilarious. Megan is rather stubborn and perhaps a bit nosy as well, though she appears unaware of when she crosses the line for others.
• John Henson as Mike Moon, Austin's father who co-owns the mattress store Moon's Mattress Kingdom. He knows a lot about mattresses and the history of them. Both of Austin's parents are first introduced in "Successes & Setbacks".
• Jill Benjamin as Mimi Moon, Austin's mother who used to be a hand model before co-owning Moon's Mattress Kingdom. Both of Austin's parents are first introduced in "Successes & Setbacks".
• Julia Campbell as Penny Dawson, Ally's wildlife biologist mother. She was researching gorillas in Africa and came home in "Chapters & Choices" to see Ally and her friends. It is revealed that she and Lester, Ally's father, are divorced.
• Kiersey Clemons as Kira Starr, Jimmy Starr's daughter and Austin's ex-girlfriend. Kira temporarily had a case of repugment breath, causing the gang to be extremely wary of her throughout "Ferris Wheels and Funky Breath". Her bad breath was caused by her constant eating of garlic and anchovy pizza. Her bad breath cleared away in the episode afterward, resulting in Austin asking her out. Kira and Austin broke up in "Partners & Parachutes" because Austin wanted to be with Ally. Kira signed on to her father's record label in "Tracks & Trouble" and recorded her song Elevator Doors.
• John Paul Green as Chuck, a short, country speaking teenager who believes he is better than Dez at everything. Their rivalry follows a long history of their families feuding, so Chuck and Dez often get into similar battles.
• Noah Centineo as Dallas, Ally's former crush who worked at a cell phone accessories cart. He rejects Ally when she asks him to dance at Trish's quinceañera in the episode "Club Owners & Quinceaneras", but only because, like Ally, he cannot dance. In the episode "World Records & Work Wreckers", Ally accidentally hires Dallas to work at Sonic Boom and is forced to fire him once it becomes evident that Dallas is a clumsy worker. However, Ally finds out that Dallas already wanted to quit anyway, so she does not need to fire him after all. Dallas now works at the library nearby.
• Ashley Fink as Mindy, an older teenage girl who is the manager of The Melody Diner and has a crush on Dez. Mindy was first introduced in the episode "myTAB & My Pet". Mindy is shown to be rude and aggressive, causing Dez to be rather afraid of her in addition to his dislike of her.
• Billl, owner of the surf shop in the mall, who speaks pronouncing much the "l". The actor who plays Billl is unknown.
• Carrie Wampler as Brooke/Scrapbook Girl, who is shown to be very serious about her relationships. She seems to be madly in love with Austin, even though they only went on two dates, and claims they went on 37 dates in her dreams. Austin, however, does not return her feelings.She often disappears when you talk to her too.
• Madison McMillin as European Super Model (her real name is unknown), who was hired to be Austin's girlfriend by Trish as a cover-up. She appears again in "Tunes & Trials" as an candidate who the song Steal Your Heart is about, since Dez saw them say 'I love you' to each other near Mini's; Austin explains that he had been giving the model English lessons.
• Saidah Arrika Ekulona as Val Crawford, the manager of the group The Stray Kitties who tends to go to many lengths to try to get what she wants. Val comes back in "Tunes & Trials", where she comes into Sonic Boom and asks Ally and Austin to write her a song that will give her band, The Stray Kitties, their first big hit. They decline, and she leaves, infuriated. She then comes back for revenge; she sues them and claims that Austin stole the song, Steal Your Heart, from her. They go to court, and despite the majority of the court session going her way, she ends up losing the case. Val also appears in "Moon Week & Mentors" as a guest mentor on America's Top Talent.

Special guest star

Trevor Jackson, star of the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine, has so far made two special guest appearances on the show as Trent, Trish's ex-boyfriend and Team Austin's rival. He first appears in "Backups & Breakups" as a backup dancer for Austin. He and Trish broke up after Ally discovered Trent was cheating on Trish. In the episode "Crybabies & Cologne", Trent apologizes as much as he can for what he did to Trish and asks Ally if she can write a song for him to perform, but apologize as he may, the gang will not forgive him, so he steals Austin's newest song, copies Austin's Double Take video, and becomes an overnight sensation under the name T-Fame (a parody of T-Pain). Trent also gets a best friend, Dex, who is exactly like Dez. When Austin and Trent go on The Wanda Watson Show (a parody of The Wendy Williams Show), Trent gets attacked by bees and destroys the entire set. This incident is voted by Entertain Me Tonight (a parody of Entertainment Tonight) as the 2nd most hilarious TV set destruction ever; the most hilarious was when Ally destroyed The Helen Show (a parody of The Ellen Degeneres Show) in the series pilot "Rockers & Writers".

Episodes

Jessie, Austin and Ally crossover

In November 2012, Disney Channel announced that the show would crossover with Jessie as an hour-long special episode titled "Austin & JESSIE & Ally All Star New Year".^[16] The special episode aired on December 7, 2012. In this episode, Austin finally gets to perform in Times Square on New Year's Eve like he has always dreamed of--with help from Jessie (Debby Ryan) and the Ross kids. Later, Jessie and the kids travel to Miami with Austin, Ally, Dez, and Trish. Jessie inadvertently steals lyrics that were written by Zuri (Skai Jackson) and tries to get Austin to sing them with her. Meanwhile, Ravi (Karan Brar) is jealous to see that the family's pet lizard, Mrs. Kipling, may have a crush on Dez.

Development, production and reception

The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Nickelodeon comedy series All That and the Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011.^[17] The pilot was directed by Shelley Jensen. Casting for the series regulars were held nationally around the United States and shooting for the pilot began in early March 2011.^[7] On May 24, 2011, Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up as a series.^[18] On September 29, 2011, it was announced that Disney Channel had extended the show's episode order from 13 episodes to 21.^[19] Shooting for the first season completed on January 27, 2012.^[20] It was announced on March 11, 2012, that the show had been renewed for a second season and production would resume that summer,^[3] though the cast's first day back for the second season was earlier than that, on June 4, 2012. ^[21] The show made its DVD debut with "Austin & Ally: All the Write Moves" which was released on June 18, 2013. The third season of the series began production July 8, 2013, with a season premiere expected in October 2013.

The series preview attracted 5.7 million viewers and the official premiere garnered 4.0 million viewers. Austin & Ally was ranked the No.1 Telecast on Sunday premieres among pre-teens 9–12 and teens 13–18. So far, the most viewed Austin & Ally episode is "Rockers & Writers" with 5.7 million views, the second most viewed episode is "Campers & Complications" with 4.9 million views and the least viewed episode is "Family & Feuds" with 2.4 million views.

Songs

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

Worldwide the show can be seen on Disney Channel. It originally previewed on December 2, 2011 in both the United States and Canada and premiered on December 4, 2011^[27] and January 20, 2012^[28] respectively. It later premiered on March 3, 2012 in Singapore,^[29] on March 23, 2012 in Australia and New Zealand,^[30] and previewed on March 30, 2012 and previewed on April 20, 2012 in the UK and Ireland.^[31] This show eventually premiered in South Africa on May 11, 2012.^[32]

References

External links

• Official website
• Austin & Ally at the Internet Movie Database
• Austin & Ally at TV.com