While Miley Cyrus continues to be a hit sensation with her Hannah Montana series and her live concert tour, her onscreen nemesis, Selena Gomez, is now starring on a new sitcom called Wizard of Waverly Place, which premiered on the Disney Channel on October 12.

Gomez, who guest-starred as a pop-star rival Mikayla on Hannah Montana, is now leading another Disney series as Alex Russo, a wizard in training who is constantly competing with her brothers to keep her power.  Prior to landing her own series, she is also credited for Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.


At present, Wizards of Waverly Place has already settled into its post Hannah Montana time slot Fridays at 8:30pm.  This is a strategic move by the network, given the massive following Hannah Montana has already established.

"It's almost like being asked to follow Friends," executive producer Peter Murrieta said referring to NBC's retired hit. "Having written on one show that followed Friends, I can say I'm ... hopeful we're going to get a lot of people looking at what we've got - who end up liking the show for different reasons than Hannah Montana.  [But] if I went to sleep and thought we'd build on that audience, I think I'd be crazy."

Hannah Montana remains to be cable's number 1 series for kids, averaging 2.6 million total viewers.  Unlike Hannah, Wizards doesn't have the music aspect that plays a huge part of Hannah's success, as well as the Disney phenomenon, High School Musical.  On the other hand, it does tap on what has suddenly become a hot television genre for adults, the supernatural.

Wizards centers on Gomez's character and her brothers who are a lot like the teens their Manhattan neighborhood.  However, they come from a long line of wizards, and must learn to harness their budding magical powers or soon risk losing them.  In addition to the 15-year-old actress, Wizards of Waverly Place also features Jake T. Austin, David Henrie, Maria Canals Barrera, David DeLuise, and Jennifer Stone.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Disney, Newsday.com
(Image courtesy of selenaweb.org)