Wizards of Waverly Place season 1
| Wizards of Waverly Place | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 Wizards of Waverly Place season one cast | |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Disney Channel |
| Original release | October 12, 2007 – August 31, 2008 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of Wizards of Waverly Place aired on Disney Channel from October 12, 2007 to August 31, 2008. The season introduces the Russo children, Alex (Selena Gomez), Justin (David Henrie), and Max Russo (Jake T. Austin) as they compete to become the leading wizard in their family. Maria Canals Barrera and David DeLuise star as their parents and Jennifer Stone co-stars as Alex's best friend, Harper Finkle.
Guest stars and recurring cast include: Amanda Tepe as Monotone Woman, Skyler Samuels as Gigi Hollingsworth, Bill Chott as Mr. Laritate, Daryl Sabara as T.J. Taylor, Brian Kubach as Riley, Shane Lyons as Manny Kin, Eric Allan Kramer as Coach Gunderson, Chelsea Staub as Kari Langsdorf, Sara Paxton as Millie, Julie Brown as Ms. Angela and Jeff Garlin as Uncle Kelbo.
Production
The series was created and as executive produced by Todd J. Greenwald, who began developing the show after working as a writer and consulting producer during the first season of Hannah Montana. The show is produced by It's a Laugh Productions and Disney Channel Original Productions. The theme song, "Everything Is Not What It Seems", written by John Adair and Steve Hampton, is of techno-pop style and is performed by Selena Gomez. The series is filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California.
Premise
Set on Waverly Place in Manhattan, New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood, Wizards of Waverly Place centers on the Italian-Mexican Russo family, which includes Alex (Selena Gomez), her older brother Justin (David Henrie) and their younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin). The three Russo siblings are wizards in training and live with their Italian-American father Jerry (David DeLuise), a former wizard, and their Mexican-American mother Theresa, who is a mortal. Alex also has a mortal friend, Harper (Jennifer Stone), who at first does not know the Russos are wizards.
Theme Song
The theme song begins with Alex (Selena Gomez) waking up in the morning with her alarm clock going off. She uses a spell to make the time 6:30. She then goes into the bathroom where Justin (David Henrie) is looking at himself in the mirror and spitting out mouthwash when Alex pushes him to the side. He gets annoyed and then uses magic to trap her in the mirror. In the kitchen, Max (Jake T. Austin) has an orange which he turns into a vanilla cupcake. Meanwhile, Harper (Jennifer Stone) meets Alex at the front door and shows off her watermelon shirt. Back at the kitchen, Max is about to put his cupcake into his backpack when his mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera), makes him turn it back into an orange. Alex is telling Max to hurry up. In the lair, Jerry (David DeLuise) is yelling to someone when a laptop flies away. He then goes to retrieve it. In the sub shop, Alex opens her book bag, which the laptop goes into (meanwhile Harper was distracted not seeing anything). Jerry lectures her as the main title card appears. Then the four friends walk to school. Throughout the sequence, the furniture in the background seems to be moving around.
Release
The show debuted on Disney Channel on October 12, 2007 after the premiere of Twitches Too, gathering 5.9 million viewers.[1] In February 2009, the episode "Helping Hand" broke the record for the largest audience in the 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) time period on the Disney Channel, with a total of 4.5 million viewers.[2] In January 2010, "Wizards vs. Werewolves" one-hour special episode became the series' most-watched episode with 6.2 million viewers,[3] surpassing the 6 million viewers of "Paint By Committee" episode[4] In 2009, the series was the top scripted telecast for teens between the age of 9–14 (1.63 million/6.7 rating) and second in kids 6–11 (1.81 million/7.4 rating), which was only slightly behind "The Suite Life on Deck" (1.82 million/7.4 rating.)[5]
Descriptions of the Russo children
Alex is the naughty one, always getting scolded for using magic without permission. She is so desperate to get the "no free-wheeling magic" rule lifted that she at one point gets her classmate, T.J. Taylor, also a wizard, to charm her parents into allowing it. However, this backfires and her parents don't care that they took a trip to Mars and Alex forgot her brother there. Throughout this series, Alex has one main love interest. She has a crush on her classmate, Riley, and at first humiliates herself once her brothers get revenge in front of him, but he puts that aside. Riley appears to return her feelings, as he asks her brother if she ever talks about him. She tells him she's his good luck charm as an attempt to impress him, and uses magic to make him believe her. They begin to date, but Riley soon breaks up with her when she's being paranoid about him looking at other girls. She animates a mannequin, Manny Kin, from a shop and makes Riley jealous, but Manny falls in love with her. She later gets a crush on Brad Sherwood, whose competing against her brother for their principal's attention. She continuously drops hints, but when he doesn't get it, she tries to give him a love potion. It backfires, however, and she drinks both halves, meaning she falls passionately in love with herself. After her brother wins over Brad, Brad asks her out, but Alex realizes she was only a backup, so she rejects him.
Justin is the smart one who always follows the rules, but is willing to accept an alternate approach now and then. He at first has a crush on Miranda (Lucy Hale), a classmate. With a lot of help from his sister, he finally gets his first kiss with her, but they break up soon enough for differences. He then gets a crush on another classmate, Kari Landsdorf, but cannot ask her out as she only dates baseball players. Justin uses magic to join the baseball team and then Kari notices him. When Justin asks her out, he realizes she only sees films about cats. After hearing this, Justin walks away, saying they can wait until a cat movie comes out. However, they never get around to it, as Kari never makes another appearance. When the Sub Station employs Millie, Justin gets a crush on her. When he asks her out, she misunderstands and he's stuck babysitting her cousin while she goes on their date with her boyfriend.
Max is the dimwitted odd one of the family. He has a different approach to things and doesn't understand most things.
Cast
- Selena Gomez as Alex Russo
- David Henrie as Justin Russo
- Jake T. Austin as Max Russo
- Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle
- Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo
- David DeLuise as Jerry Russo
Episodes
- This season consists of 21 episodes.
- Filmed from July 2007 to December 2007.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [6] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Crazy 10-Minute Sale" | Fred Savage | Todd J. Greenwald | October 12, 2007 | 102 | 5.9[1] |
| 2 | 2 | "First Kiss" | Joe Regalbuto | Vince Cheung & Ben Montanio | October 19, 2007 | 104 | 4.8[7] |
| 3 | 3 | "I Almost Drowned in a Chocolate Fountain" | Joe Regalbuto | Gigi McCreery & Perry Rein | October 26, 2007 | 105 | 3.7[8] |
| 4 | 4 | "New Employee" | Bob Berlinger | Peter Murrieta | November 2, 2007 | 107 | N/A |
| 5 | 5 | "Disenchanted Evening" | Mark Cendrowski | Jack Sanderson | November 9, 2007 | 114 | 4.6[9] |
| 6 | 6 | "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" | Fred Savage | Peter Murrieta | November 10, 2007 | 101 | 4.0[9] |
| 7 | 7 | "Alex's Choice" | Bob Berlinger | Matt Goldman | November 16, 2007 | 109 | N/A |
| 8 | 8 | "Curb Your Dragon" | Bob Berlinger | Gigi McCreery & Perry Rein | November 30, 2007 | 108 | N/A |
| 9 | 9 | "Movies" | Mark Cendrowski | Justin Varava | December 14, 2007 | 113 | N/A |
| 10 | 10 | "Pop Me and We Both Go Down" | Bob Berlinger | Vince Cheung & Ben Montanio | January 6, 2008 | 103 | N/A |
| 11 | 11 | "Potion Commotion" | Bob Berlinger | Todd J. Greenwald | February 10, 2008 | 110 | N/A |
| 12 | 12 | "Justin's Little Sister" | Andrew Tsao | Eve Weston | March 9, 2008 | 117 | N/A |
| 13 | 13 | "Wizard School" (Part 1) | Mark Cendrowski | Vince Cheung & Ben Montanio | April 6, 2008 | 111 | 3.7[10] |
| 14 | 14 | "Wizard School" (Part 2) | Mark Cendrowski | Gigi McCreery & Perry Rein | April 6, 2008 | 112 | 3.7[10] |
| 15 | 15 | "The Supernatural" | Mark Cendrowski | Matt Goldman | May 18, 2008 | 115 | N/A |
| 16 | 16 | "Alex in the Middle" | Bob Berlinger | Matt Goldman | June 15, 2008 | 106 | N/A |
| 17 | 17 | "Report Card" | Andrew Tsao | Gigi McCreery, Perry Rein & Peter Murrieta | June 29, 2008 | 118 | N/A |
| 18 | 18 | "Credit Check" | Fred Savage | Todd J. Greenwald | July 6, 2008 | 121 | N/A |
| 19 | 19 | "Alex's Spring Fling" | Victor Gonzalez | Matt Goldman | July 20, 2008 | 119 | 3.7[11] |
| 20 | 20 | "Quinceañera" | Andrew Tsao | Gigi McCreery & Perry Rein | August 10, 2008 | 116 | 3.7[12] |
| 21 | 21 | "Art Museum Piece" | Victor Gonzalez | Vince Cheung & Ben Montanio | August 31, 2008 | 120 | N/A |
References
- ^ a b Levin, Gary (October 18, 2007). "Nielsens: Friday night was 'Murder' on ABC". USA Today.
- ^ "Disney Channel Shines with "Night of Stars" Programming Event".
- ^ "Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place" Hits Series Highs with 6.2 Million Viewers".
- ^ Princess Protection Program is TV’s No. 1 Entertainment Telecast of 2009 in Kids 6–11 and Tweens 9–14
- ^ "Disney Channel Sets New Viewing Records in 2009 – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. December 22, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ a b "Wizards of Waverly Place". Zap2it.
- ^ "Nielsens: Cable's most-watched shows, Oct. 15–21". USA Today. October 23, 2007.
- ^ "Top Cable: MNF Back on Track 10/22 – October 28, 2007". TV by the Numbers.
- ^ a b "Top Cable November 5–11, 2007". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014.
- ^ a b "Nielsen's Most Watched Shows (Cable Networks)". TV by the Numbers.
- ^ "Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: Home Run Hit for ESPN 07/22/2008". TVByTheNumbers. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012.
- ^ "Nielsen Cable TV Ratings for the Week ending August 10, 2008: TNT's 'The Closer' Bests WWE, Saving Grace and NASCAR – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved January 14, 2012.