It’s important to remember that paper letters are the key to our efforts, and events are spaced out so you have at least a week to prepare as many as you can. Please refer to our how to help section for addresses and more information.
Then on the day of the event, you can also send faxes, make phone calls, and use our email program atSDSmail.org
Disney 2Q Net Profit Slides 1.2%
Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) fiscal second-quarter profit slid 1.2% as strong advertising revenue and an improving parks-and-resorts business were offset by poor results in the studio entertainment division.
Like many of its peers, Disney’s networks have benefited from a rebound in the television advertising market, while its theme-parks division has reported higher attendance and per-person spending. However, overall results were dragged down by the timing of the Easter holiday, which fell in the current quarter, along with the effects from the Japanese earthquake, the timing of certain DVD releases and a disappointing showing for the film “Mars Needs Moms.”
Revenue from the company’s media networks–its biggest top-line contributor–jumped 12%, while profit increased 17%. ESPN revenue was boosted by the football Bowl Championship Series and high ratings for regular-season NBA games. Chief Executive Robert Iger said on a conference call that early signs suggest “strong” advertising sales.
Disney Channel’s hit series Wizards of Waverly Place has filmed it’s final episode. Disney will likely stretch out the last of the new episodes through the end of the year and possibly even into early 2012. It looks like the promises second movie won’t be happening though… which leaves the serious possibility that the series will end without an answer to the question of who will win the wizards competition.
We had touched on this subject last month, but it’s official now that the CW has cancelled Aly and Ashley’s series Hellcats. They never really got behind the series saddling it with a terrible time slot so it’s not really a surprise.
Sonny with a Chance may be over, but Demi’s cast mates are carrying on with a new spin off series focusing on the show-within-a-show So Random. The new series focuses entirely on the comedy with pretty much no connection to Sonny‘s plot what so ever. Still, it’s got a good cast and it’s pretty well written. Give it a chance, the series premieres June 5th at 8:30 after the Shake it Up / Good Luck Charlie crossover special.
“A.N.T. Farm,” a comedy series about a middle school musical prodigy who is newly enrolled in a prestigious A.N.T. (Advanced Natural Talents) program at a local high school, will premiere FRIDAY, JUNE 17 (8:30 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel. Starring 12-year-old China Anne McClain, the series depicts the new fish-out-of-water situation Chyna Parks and her fellow A.N.T.s. encounter in the sometimes daunting world of high school – three years earlier than expected.
If you can’t wait to see the premiere episode on the 17th, you can currently get it free from iTunes.
This looks so stupid. But you never know; we thought Lemonade Mouth would be stupid and it actually ended up being quite good. It also looks like it’s part of a series?…
“My Babysitter’s a Vampire,” a comedic spin on pop culture vampires and scary movies in general, tells the story of three teens who believe their new babysitter is a real bloodsucking creature of the night — and it’s now up to them to rid their sleepy little town of the menace. The movie premieres FRIDAY, JUNE 10 (7:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel. Produced by Fresh TV and distributed by FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), it will usher in a summer series premiering Monday, June 27 (7:00 p.m., ET/PT).
The DC Games are back… sort of. This year Disney is re-branding the DC Games with the environmental agenda.
Over 30 Disney Channel and Disney XD stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games” to promote conservation and the power of coming together with friends and family to make a difference in one’s community and the world. Four teams of young stars will compete in a series of fun physical challenges to benefit specific charities and Friends for Change community projects on a global basis.
“Disney Friends for Change Games” teams will compete on behalf of Fauna and Flora International (Green Team), World Wildlife Fund (Red Team), Ocean Conservancy (Blue Team) and UNICEF (Yellow Team). Disney will make a donation of $125,000 to each charity, and the winning team’s charity will also receive an additional $100,000 donation from Disney.
This really isn’t Disney related, but our own Webmaster Greg has been keeping his eye on the competition, and the success Nick’s Victoria Justice and Miranda Cosgrove with Victorious and iCarly have definitely played a part in Disney’s plans for their new shows in development including Madison High and Austin & Ally.
So of course when Victoria Justice and the cast of Victorious performed their first concert in LA for Walmart Soundcheck, he just had to check it out. And it was very impressive, which of course, was expected from the start!
I’m really surprised how this well written series, featuring TWO of my favorite girls Ashley and Aly [in cheer outfits no less], didn’t do better in the ratings.
Now, there’s still a chance we can change their minds, but it’s gonna be an uphill battle. Let’s start by trending #SaveHellcats on twitter! My buddy Matthias of SDS Germany is organizing a movement to save the show.
Article from TV Guide follows:
The CW has renewed One Tree Hill and Nikita and pulled the plug on Hellcats.
Long-running CW soap One Tree Hill had been expected to come back for a ninth season already, so the news comes as no huge surprise. Most of the cast, including original series actresses Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Galeotti, had signed on for another season in recent weeks. Only cast member James Lafferty, has yet to renew his contract and plans to return part-time next year, according to TVLine.
One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Galeotti sign on for Season 9
One Tree Hill pulled in 1.3 million viewers for its most recent new episode last week.
Freshman action-drama Nikita has also gotten the green light for another season. Starring Maggie Q, the update of the La Femme Nikita story drew 1.94 million for its season finale Thursday.
The CW orders Secret Circle, Hart of Dixie and Ringer
The CW’s other first-year scripted series, Hellcats, has been canceled. The cheerleading drama had been struggling on Tuesdays, bringing in 1.18 million viewers for its last new episode. Star Ashley Tisdale weighed in on the series’ ominous future on Saturday. “I feel with anything else in life if it’s meant to happen, [it will],” she told TVGuide.com. “If not there’s something else and I think it was such a learning experience.”
Are you excited One Tree Hill and Nikita are coming back? Will you miss Hellcats?
It’s important to remember that paper letters are the key to our efforts, and events are spaced out so you have at least a week to prepare as many as you can. Please refer to our how to help section for addresses and more information.
Then on the day of the event, you can also send faxes, make phone calls, and use our email program at SDSmail.org
Save I’m in the Band
Wow! Our first Save I’m in the Band Day got our movement off to a great start. We lit up twitter and sent over a thousand emails to Disney! Of course, we still have a lot of work to do.
As mentioned above, our second Save I’m in the Band Day will be this Friday May 6th 2011. You should use the next few days to help us get the word out to more fans. And please be sure to send paper letters as well! Depending on where you live, you should start sending them in today.
And don’t forget about the Save I’m in the Band email program to make it easier for you to email Disney. Please customize the included template letter as it’s only intended as a guide if you’re unsure of what to say.
May Disney Channel Highlights
The May Disney schedule looks quite bizarre There are no new episodes for anything scheduled for the second half of the month. Are they just not ready to announce their plans that far in advance? If not, is there any particular reason? At SDS we’re puzzled, but we will find out in time.
This month will include the final episode of The Suite Life on Deck and the first episode of Disney’s new series ANT Farm.
Disney’s new plan for ABC Family channel includes a new president for the network, Michael G. Riley. In this new article and interview, he discusses the changes at the channel and their plans gong forward.
Mr. Riley was deeply involved with the casting and scheduling of the new shows and will start wooing advertisers this week in New York. In addition to “The Nine Lives of Chloe King,” the new dramas Mr. Riley will be promoting this week include “Switched at Birth,” the story of two teenage girls who were mixed up as newborns. “The Lying Game,” meantime, is a mystery about twin sisters.
The goal for “The Great State of Georgia,” in which Raven-Symoné stars as an aspiring actress with a larger-than-life personality, is to create a comedy block on Wednesday nights. It will be paired with “Melissa & Joey,” a successful returning series starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence.
A lot of our readers no doubt remember Aly Michalka from Phil of the Future and Ashley Tisdale from The Suite Life and High School Musical. And of course, they have a new series together on the CW network called Hellcats. Unfortunately, the ratings have been dropping at a rather alarming rate and some of us are worried the show won’t be renewed. It’s not a Disney show, but given it’s Disney connections, I’m assuming many of you may be interested. What do you think? Drop us a like at webmasters@savedisneyshows.org or find us on twitter or facebook.
Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure DVD Signing
SDS Webmaster Greg, after many years of trying, finally met High School Musical actress Ashley Tisdale two weeks ago in LA at a DVD signing for her new movie Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure. Unfortunately, this was before we realized that Hellcats might be in trouble (as mentioned above) so he didn’t mention anything about it. Oops! Be sure to check out her new movie, though.
Webmaster Greg also attended Debby Ryan’s Meet and Greet in Long Beach CA on May 1st 2011. He briefly spoke with Debby and wished her luck with her new show. Perhaps more importantly, we also had the chance to speak with her mom and to let her know about both Greg’s Debby fansite Debby-Ryan.com and Save Disney Shows, should her new series Jessie ever need any help.
I guess being the star of a network show has it’s perks, both for the celeb and her fan’s.
Holy fucking shit! I know we all have our own individual tastes, but that has got to be one of the top five sexiest photos ever taken.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not used to “sexy” pictures of Aly, but I have no words to describe how unbelievable awesome these pics are.
We’ve always known Aly has a gorgeous face. And she’s recently started showing off her amazing rack, but I didn’t even really notice her beautiful leg they’re so long they didn’t even fit on the one page in the magazine!
Speaking of the Magazine, I haven’t gotten my subscription issue yet, but you can expect an update if there’s anything new to report.
In the meantime, I do have the text of the article, courtesy of maxim.com…
We’re pretty sure that CW execs have been eavesdropping on our “things we’d do if we ran the world” conversations, because they’ve actually taken our top idea—“make more shows about cheerleaders”—and run with it in the form of Hellcats. The cherry on top was casting supersexy Aly Michalka in the role of smart but flexible Marti Perkins: She’s hot, she’s nimble, and, gentlemen, she’s single!
What exactly is a “hellcat”?
A hellcat is just fierce—somebody who’s going to go for it 110 percent no matter what they do.
So we shouldn’t mess with a hellcat?
No, definitely not.
What’s it like playing a cheerleader?
My mother was a Raiderette and a Rams cheerleader, so I think I have it in my blood somewhere.
Is there anything at all appealing to women about male cheerleaders?
Yeah! Male cheerleaders are extremely masculine, especially when you understand how athletic these guys need to be. They are literally holding 120-pound girls up in the air with one hand. That’s pretty insane! A lot of these guys are actually dating their stunt partner or the flyer
on one of the teams.
You may have just caused half of Maxim’s readership to desert the football team and go into cheerleading.
Nice!
Are there any cheerleading moves that would lend themselves to martial arts?
Oh, yeah, for sure! Especially with my character, Marti. She definitely comes from a street background, and I think she incorporates some of those moves in her cheerleading.
So we could get an army of cheerleaders fighting crime?
Hey, there you go. Season 2, you never know…
We can’t help noticing that you’re in phenomenal shape. What part of your body are you most proud of?
Probably my abs. I really worked on them, and they’re starting to get me some attention. I’m pretty happy about that, I’ve got to say.
What’s the worst pickup line you’ve ever heard?
This guy at a party grabs my hand, and he’s like, “Hello, come to Paris with me next week.”
I’m like, “What? You don’t know me.” He says, “It doesn’t matter. We can get to know each other in Paris.” I wanted to run away and just be like, “Eww! You’re strange!” I want to make guys like that feel bad, so I tell them I’m 17 even though I’m 21, so they feel like perverts. They freak out, like, “Oh, you’re 17! Oh, sorry, sorry!” But some of them really don’t care. That’s when you know they’re weirdos.
So what kind of guy are you into?
I’m definitely one of those chicks who want to be in a relationship. I need somebody who can make me laugh and entertain me.
And someone who can hold you up in the air with one hand.
Exactly.
As always, click any pic to see the rest and be sure to watch Hellcats Wednesday nights on the CW!
I really liked this interview, and I have a feeling some of you may as well.
(Plus I wanted to post that new Hellcats still.)
Ashley Tisdale is best known for her role as teen drama queen Sharpay in the “High School Musical” film series — and Sharpay will return in 2011 in the Disney Channel movie, “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.” But for now, Ashley has moved on and is putting her athletic skills to the test as cheerleader Savannah Monroe in the new CW series, “Hellcats.”
ET: How did you get ready for the audition?
Ashley Tisdale: My sister was a cheerleader all through high school and college, so she helped me out when I was auditioning. She was: “Put your arms this way, because cheerleading is definitely different from dancing. It is stiffer.”
ET: Did you and Aly Michalka know each other before you were both cast in “Hellcats”?
Ashley Tisdale: When we were 12 or 13, actually, I met Aly and [her sister] AJ in acting class. I always found them to be sweet girls. Obviously, we were on Disney, but we crossed paths. “Phil of the Future” [the show Aly was on] was before I came on with “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” It is really cool how we ended up screen-testing together.
ET: What do you like about Savannah? Ashley Tisdale: I like her clothes. She has like a Southern flair.… When I think of a Southern chick, I think of little dresses all the time. She comes from a wealthy family. She is always in little floral outfits.
ET: Did you dye your hair dark for this role?
Ashley Tisdale: I went dark a year ago for my music. I am naturally brunette. I went blonde for Disney, so I wanted to go back. I went back to blonde for something else and, actually, for this they were, “Somebody has to go brunette.” I was, “I will. Please!” I love being brunette. It is so much easier.
ET: But you went back to blonde for “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure,” right?
Ashley Tisdale: Yes, but I wigged it.
ET: How was revisiting Sharpay?
Ashley Tisdale: Great. For me, “High School Musical” really gave me my start. I did stuff before I was on the Disney Channel. I did pilots that were not picked up. I did ‘Donnie Darko’ and things that were not Disney Channel. But they really gave me my fan base and because of the fans, I owed them another movie … everybody was, “When are we going to see a Sharpay movie?”
ET: Do you like “Glee”? Do you feel responsible for “Glee” because of “High School Musical”?
Ashley Tisdale: Yes and no. I think it is really different. Lea Michele is a really sweet girl and she was, “Thank you so much. Your show kind of paved the way for all of us.” I was, “Listen, those shows are so different.” I love watching it. I think [co-creator] Ryan [Murphy] came up with great characters, a really entertaining show.
ET: Who would you like to guest star on “Glee”?
Ashley Tisdale: I hear Britney Spears is, so I am excited for that episode.
ET: Where does “Hellcats” shoot?
Ashley Tisdale: Vancouver.
ET: What is that like for you?
Ashley Tisdale: It has been interesting. I feel like I am in college. I didn’t get to go to college. I graduated regular high school. I went to regular school all my life. Education is very big for my family and for me, but I went straight to Disney after high school, so I never got to experience going away. I have a house next to my parents’ house, so I have always been surrounded by my family. This is me out on my own for sure. In Vancouver, I am cooking and I am cleaning. If I had to be anywhere else, it would be Vancouver. It is so beautiful. We haven’t had the rainy season yet, but it is really amazing.
ET: Have you gotten to do any of the flying routines, or do they shy away from that with you for safety reasons?
Ashley Tisdale: I did. Everybody is open to what we feel comfortable doing. As an actress, and as a person, I have always liked to challenge myself. When I saw one of the stunts for the second episode, I said, “That looks like fun. I want to do it.” They take every precaution. We have coaches on the set at all times. In rehearsals, I am, “Aly, I am flying. You’ve got to do it, too, because it is the same stunt.” So she wanted to do it, too. She was, “Heck, yes.” So we learned it. I actually did the flying in the second episode. We get stunt doubles for the flips and stuff, but we like to go out there and actually do it ourselves.
ET: Is it scary?
Ashley Tisdale: Being up high is scary. But doing the flying back … I think you have to be a little crazy to be a cheerleader and, I think, I have the crazy in me.
Ashley Tisdale went to a closing party at the Wet Republic Ultra Pool at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this past Sunday (October 3rd) along with some her friends and Hellcats cast-mates.
There’s even a video of Ashley and her Hellcats cast mates Heather Hemmen, Matt Barr and Robbie Jones on the blue carpet.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a pool party if Ashley didn’t ship out of that adorable cover up…
… and showed us that fabulous bikini bod of hers.
Tizz hasn’t shown much skin on her show, but I think this makes up for it.
She seemed to have a good time too. She tweeted: “I had the best time in vegas!! So sad its over! The best group of people to spend ur belated birthday with sans @78violet! It was amazing!!”
and wow, it’s an even better view from the back!
As always, click any pic to see the full set of 25 photos.
Hellcats‘s second episode “I Say A Little Prayer” was all about family; those we’re stuck with and those we choose for ourselves. I didn’t really get the theme until the end when Savannah and Marti had their late night talk.
Normally I pick up on themes faster, but I was distracted first by how adorable Ashley looked.
And then by Aly running around half naked.
Oh My Goodness.
Several people accused me of drooling at this scene of Marti / Aly in just her bra. I was too shocked when I was watching it to even process it, let alone drool! LOL
So we’ve seen just about every inch of Aly’s body that we can see on network TV. When is Ashley gonna show some skin like her costar?
Alright, she does look adorable clutching that “get well soon” bear, but that doesn’t even begin to compare with this pic of Aly – she even had her belly button piercing in!
Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing Dan and Savannah’s date next week. Should be interesting.
Click any pic to see the full set of Hellcats Screencaps (25 from Episode one & 30 from episode 2).
