Wizards of Waverly Place

Disney Channel Original Series which premiered on October 12, 2007 on Disney Channel.The series was created by former Hannah Montana writer Todd J. Greenwald, and is produced by It's a Laugh Productions, Inc. and Disney Channel Original Productions.^[1] The series focuses on the three Russo children who, on the surface, seem to be normal teens, but are actually wizards in training. The Russo children will compete within their family to be the best wizard later, and he or she that wins the magic tournament will get to keep their powers as an adult. On April 9, 2008, it was announced that Wizards of Waverly Place would return for a second season somewhere later in 2008.^[2]
Wizards of Waverly Place is filmed in front of a live audience, according to "Backstage in Wizards" from Selena Gomez's YouTube account. The show has been referred to as "a cross between Harry Potter and George Lopez" on the late night E! show Chelsea Lately.^[3]

[edit] Premise


The show centers upon Alex Russo, her older brother and their younger brother Max. The three live with their Italian-American father, Jerry, and their eccentric Mexican-American mother, Theresa. Alex often gets into trouble by using magic unsupervised, and learns lessons and morals relating to friends, family, and school. When they reach the age of 18, the three will compete to see who gets to keep their adult powers.

[edit] Characters


The Russo family

• Selena_Gomez]Selena Gomez[/url] portrays Alex Russo Her full name is Alexandra Margarita Russo
  
• David Henrie portrays Justin Russo
  
• Jake T. Austin portrays Max Russo
  
• David DeLuise portrays Jerry Russo
  
• Maria Canals Barrera portrays Theresa Russo
  
• Jennifer Stone portrays Harper Evans
  

CastMain CharacterAppearances in Season 1

Selena Gomez	Alex Russo	21
David Henrie	Justin Russo	21
Jake T. Austin	Max Russo	20
David DeLuise	Jerry Russo	19
Maria Canals Barrera	Theresa Russo	19
Jennifer Stone	Harper Evans	13

[edit] Casting


Gomez, Henrie, Austin, Canals and Stone all had roles in another Disney Channel series or Disney Channel Original Movie. DeLuise has never, although there is a rumor that he may play a role in a Disney Channel movie. The writers originally struggled with naming the characters; there were originally supposed to be two children: Jordan (later Justin) and Julia (later Brooke, then Alex), but that was changed after Austin was hired. Jennifer Stone plays Harper, Alex's best friend.

[edit] Recurring characters

• (Amanda Tepe) She is the recurring character with the most appearances. She appears playing a random character who speaks with a boring drawl. Jobs she has held include department store manager, waitress, frozen yogurt store manager, hotel maitre'd, dog show security guard, the information desk lady at Volcano Land, and the art museum security guard, which was her latest job. At Volcano Land it shows that she may know something about magic herself due to that volcano land is a wizard theme park that only wizards can obtain access to. In the episode, New Employee, her name tag says Amanda, however in Art Museum Piece she is known as Elaine.
  
• Gertrude "Gigi" Hollingsworth (Skyler Samuels) is Alex's rival. She has tried to embarrass Alex ever since they were in kindergarten when Gigi's spilled juice on Alex's mat during naptime and said Alex had an "accident". Another one of Gigi's targets is Alex's best friend, Harper. Gigi's invited Harper to her annual tea party with the purpose of crowning her as the biggest loser at the tea. So far she has appeared in the episodes, Crazy Ten Minute Sale and Alex's Choice.
  
• Miranda Hampson (Lucy Hale) is Justin's goth girlfriend. She really likes Justin - according to Alex, she "brightens from tragic to just gloomy when they're together" and is Justin's first kiss. Harper believes that the reason Justin is dating Miranda is that Miranda looks very much like her. She is very fond of the color black and hates Corporate America. She has so far appeared in the episodes First Kiss and Pop Me and We Both Go Down. However, in recent episodes, Justin and Miranda seem to have broken up since Justin tries to impress other girls, Kari, by joining the school's baseball team in The Supernatural, and Millie, an employee at the Sub Station in Credit Check. David Henrie and Lucy Hale are dating in real life.
  
• Frankie (Paulie Litt) is Justin's rival. He seems to have a crush on Alex and Harper, and he is often seen scamming Justin. Although he is just a child, Frankie seems to have the personality of an old time Italian gangster. Frankie has a similar personality to Stanley in That's So Raven and Rico in Hannah Montana. They are all short in height, they seem to have a crush on the female main character, and they are seen scamming the brother of the female. He has so far appeared in the episodes Curb Your Dragon and New Employee. In the credits he is referred to as "Joey".
  
• Riley (Brian Kubach) is the name of Alex's crush in I Almost Drowned in a Chocolate Fountain and The Supernatural and her boyfriend in Alex's Spring Fling. He is on the baseball team, and obviously loves Alex just as much as she does him. He appears to be at Alex's level in most school subjects, such as Spanish. He also appears to be one of Justin's friends, and is on the baseball team with him.
  
• Zach (Dan Benson) is Justin's best friend. He is a year older than Justin. He is in the same advanced math class as Justin. He first appears in the episode Movies. He later appeared in Report Card as even though he is not called by his first name. The credits in that episode refer to him as "Friend #1." He was voted Least Boring in school and states that there's a difference from Most Exciting.
  

mie imi place de mor .. cand prind ma uit mereu ;)