Cartoon Network's Non-Animated Push Comes With Risks

By Alex Wepri: Broadcasting & Cable

Turner-owned network know they risk alienating their core audience, a big gamble in any environment...

A ghost-hunting show following a team of paranormal investigators, a reality series about outdoor novices exploring the jungle and a game show set aboard a fast-moving roller coaster. While the premises sound like something you might find on Discovery Channel, it is actually Cartoon Network that will be rolling out those shows.

And while the network is betting its new live-action slate will help redefine the channel as a destination for youth culture, executives at the Turner-owned network know they risk alienating their core audience, a big gamble in any environment.

'Is this appropriate?'

“Anytime you do something new at a network, particularly at one with a very specific niche, there will be a reaction. People will say, is this appropriate?” says Cartoon Network Chief Content Officer Rob Sorcher. “We are doing something that is very different than anything in the nearly 20 years of history of the channel. It is possible that this is going to take a while.”

The new shows will air on Wednesday and Saturday beginning June 17. They include ghost-hunting program The Othersiders, outdoor survival show Survive This and original concepts such as Destroy Build Destroy.....

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Disney's Zeke and Luther Seeks Young Male Viewers

By RICK BENTLEY

McCLATCHY TRIBUNE

TORRANCE, Calif. — Hannah Montana and Sonny With a Chance have made the Disney Channel a lure for young female viewers. But what about young males?

The company is looking to cable channel Disney XD, a revamped version of the Toon Disney cable channel, to reach boys 6-14 years old.

The channel’s newest series, Zeke and Luther, starts tonight. It joins live-action series Aaron Stone and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, plus animated fare such as Spider-man, Iron Man and X-Men, in the quest to reach young male viewers.

Zeke and Luther follows two best friends who have decided they want to become world-famous skateboarders. Their quest means mastering complicated tricks, entering competitions and taking a road trip to their idol Tony Hawk’s childhood home.

An abandoned newspaper building in this Southern California community is home base for the show, where the cast and crew recently worked on upcoming episodes, including a scene featuring a collision between a pair of skateboarders and a large bus.

“Cut! Great. That was really good but I would like to do one more,” says director and series co-creator Matt Dearborn to Hutch Dano and Adam Hicks as they rise from the pavement. The stars of Zeke and Luther smile and return to their prone position near the bus.

The bus scene is for the last episode for the show’s first season. The cast and crew have been tolling away for months, not knowing whether the show will be a hit or a miss with the coveted young male audience.

The show’s creators do have some sense of what works. Dearborn, along with Tom Burkhard, created the hit Disney series Even Stevens.

“There has been a lot of pressure because you are just trusting all of your instincts and if your instincts aren’t in line with the general public you are bound to make a bigger mistake,” says Burkhard. “But, I am pretty confident what we have going is a really funny, real kid friendly, action-packed comedy.

“It is about putting funny kids in front of the camera.”

They’re putting those kids in front of cameras far away from the Hollywood hub.

Many of the sets, along with the show’s production offices, are located in what was once the home for the city’s Daily Breeze newspaper. It’s been a perfect location because the building is large enough to house the production, plus the show has been able to shoot in various local locations in the neighborhood.

More important than finding the location was picking just the right cast, especially for the characters of Zeke and Luther.

“Comedy aside, skating aside, stunts aside, it is a show about friendship. These guys will be on opposite sides of an issue but in the end friendship will always come through,” Burkhard says.

Before the cameras roll again, Dearborn discusses with Dano a last-minute change for the scene. This is Dano’s first professional acting job but he’s well aware of how the business works. His grandfather, Royal Dano, was an actor. And his father, Rick Dano, a veteran actor, is playing the bus driver in this episode.

Between scenes, Dano talks about the long process of landing the job.

“It was about three or four auditions and then chemistry tests with Adam Hicks and other people going up for Luther,” Dano says. “I got the call that I had booked it. Then we shot the pilot, they tested it and we finally got picked up. It was the greatest thing.”

It helped that Dano brought some skateboarding skills to the role. The surfing enthusiasts like to skateboard when the waves aren’t right. So, whenever the pair are seen on the street they are doing their own stunts. When it comes to the more elaborate tricks — any time the skateboard leaves the ground — the insurance company prefers that stunt doubles are used.

Even with those limitations, Hicks calls the role “the greatest job that has ever been created. We come to work and do what we love to do: acting, skateboarding. We are never bored.”

Unlike his co-star, Hicks has been acting for years including a role on the series Titus. He was also in The Shaggy Dog and How to Eat Fried Worms.

Whether they get back on their boards to grind out another season will depend on how many young male viewers find the new series as much fun.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

MTV Widens Its Net : The network aims to turn a British model into a Web star

By JAMIN BROPHY-WARREN
Wall Street Journal

Teens have been fleeing television for the Web. MTV is betting that British TV host Alexa Chung, a 25-year-old former model, will help bring young viewers back to the tube.

MTV is positioning “It’s On with Alexa Chung,” a live on-air music show, as the heir to “Total Request Live,” a long-running show that ended last year. Her new program will run weekdays at noon starting June 15. “I’m used to being on the hangover slot,” says Ms. Chung, who typically appeared on Saturday during the day on the U.K.’s Channel 4.

The star of MTV’s coming Web-driven music show “It’s On with Alexa Chung.”

To try to make Ms. Chung a star in the U.S., MTV plans to make her show a mash-up of television and Web content. The show will draw some of its material from social-networking sites like Facebook and video-sharing sites like YouTube. The show’s executive producer Corin Nelson says “It’s On” will do things like have celebrities turn the text of some viewers’ Facebook profiles into songs and stream in questions from viewers via Twitter.

“We just really want to make sure there aren’t a lot of layers of filters so people feel like they’re part of the audience. They want immediate information, and that affects the show,” says Ms. Nelson.

“It’s On” is part of a larger trend of bringing more Web content onto traditional networks like MTV. This month, G4 launched “Web Soup,” a spinoff of the popular E! video-clip show “Talk Soup,” just days after Comedy Central started “Tosh.0,” helmed by comic Daniel Tosh. Both shows feature viral videos and Web content.

Raised in a small village in England in the county of Hampshire, Ms. Chung started modeling when she was 16 years old. Displeased with the loneliness and isolation of a modeling career, she nabbed a slot hosting the music show “Pop World” on Channel 4 and presented for shows on BBC and ITV. Ms. Chung has won fans for her breezy on-camera style.

Last fall, Tony DiSanto, head of programming at MTV, was passed a tape of Ms. Chung’s performances and called her in for a meeting in his office in Times Square.

Amidst the movie paraphernalia that dots Mr. DiSanto’s office, Ms. Chung homed in on a single item: a box set of MTV’s popular teen reality drama “The Hills.” Mr. DiSanto was sold on her point of view. “I knew we had a unique voice,” says Mr. DiSanto.

Although she has been featured in British tabloids and fashion magazines, Ms. Chung isn’t very well-known on the Web. Her personal Web site doesn’t get much traffic, according to ComScore, and Ms. Chung has around 18,000 followers on Twitter, a healthy number for most people but far fewer than many other TV hosts.

MTV hopes that television will propel her to stardom online. Ms. Chung says that her online presence isn’t the chief reason that she was hired. “It’s quite the opposite,” she says. “It just so happened that they knew about my Twitter page.”

Pulling content from the Web for a TV broadcast like Ms. Chung’s new show can create problems. It can be difficult to get legal clearance to air some music clips and images. Such issues have been stumbling blocks for other Web-based shows.

For example, if a YouTube video features music playing in the background, the network airing the clip might have to pay for its use—or face a legal challenge.

At “It’s On,” several people on the staff will monitor and approve tweets before they hit the airwaves to ensure that no inappropriate content sneaks through and makes its way on to the television broadcast. Ms. Chung says she hopes the process will help her show bring in a wide range of material.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

MTV Series Spotlights How Pregnant Teens Cope With Motherhood

Maci Bookout, now 17, of Chattanooga, Tenn.,
says on MTV's new series that it's hard to be '16 and Pregnant.'

By Cristina Kinon
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

If just one girl decides to abstain from sex or use protection as a result of watching MTV's new series, "16 and Pregnant," then executive producer Liz Gateley thinks she's done her job.

"If there's a 22-year-old who's going out that night and they see the show and think twice about making sure they've got their contraception, that's a success," Gateley told the Daily News. "We also hope for a lot of co-viewing with our teenage audience and their parents, to open up the conversation."

Premiering Thursday night at 11, "16 and Pregnant" is a documentary series of hourlong episodes chronicling a five- to seven-month period in the life of a pregnant teen as she deals with all of the consequences and life-altering choices that come with having a baby.

(The series does deal with adoption but does not touch on abortion, a subject that Gateley said is dealt with by other MTV specials.)

Gateley said the idea for the show was conceived after the high-profile pregnancies of Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin drew attention to the rising number of teen pregnancies in the United States. Gateley said the intent of the show is to portray all the aspects of dealing with pregnancy and having a baby in your teens and not to glorify it in any way.....

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Best Buy to Host Panel Discussion, Unveil New Report on Teen Motivation, Encouragement

Report Findings to Address If, Why 15 Year-Olds are Succeeding

MINNEAPOLIS--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) will host a one-hour, in-person event Monday, June 8, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. CST, at its corporate campus in Richfield, MN, with a simultaneous Webcast on www.at15.com, to unveil a new research report on the state of 15 year-olds in the U.S. Developed in partnership with the Search Institute. Teen Voice 2009: The Untapped Strengths of 15-Year-Olds is based on a national study of 1,817 15-year-olds, which examines the factors that contribute to teens’ success, and addresses whether teens are experiencing these factors.

WHO:					Moderator: Gene Roehlkepartain, Vice President of Search Institute
					Panelists include: Three Minneapolis-area teenagers; Joe Cavanaugh, CEO and founder of Youth Frontiers; Professor Richard Lerner, Tufts University; and Professor Michael Rodriguez, University of Minnesota.
					Also available: Paula Prahl, Senior Vice President, Communications, Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, Best Buy; and Jeffrey Peterson, Director, Best Buy Children’s Foundation.
WHAT:					One-hour, live panel discussion event to unveil new research report, Teen Voice 2009: The Untapped Strengths of 15-Year-Olds, and response to questions from audiences in-person and online.
WHERE:					Live Panel: Best Buy Corporate Campus, 7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN
					Webcast: http://www.at15.com
WHEN:					2:00 p.m. (CST)
WHY:					Teen Voice 2009 was commissioned as part of @15, Best Buy’s new teen-led social change platform to give voice to the hopes, concerns and dreams that teens have for the their futures. This report explores the motivations, opportunities and relationships needed to set or keep 15-year-olds on a positive course at a critical time in their life and will inform and support Best Buy’s efforts to engage teens through @15.

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"Miley Mart": The Ultimate Tween Dream: Miley Cyrus, Max Azria and Wal-Mart Partner to Launch Clothing Line

By Melissa Magsaysay
Article Source: The LA Times

Not since the Olsen twins’ merch first hit Wal-Mart shelves has the store been affiliated with such a dynamic design duo. Miley Cyrus is partnering with Max Azria to do a clothing line for Wal-Mart. The pop star is reaching to her “rock 'n' roll roots” and turning out a collection of tops, pants, T-shirts, shoes and accessories all priced under $20 and available in Wal-Mart stores in August.

Along with housing the teen star’s new line of clothing, Wal-Mart will sponsor the “Miley Cyrus Live in Concert” tour -- which makes sense since Cyrus is one of the store’s highest-selling recording artists.

The line will probably sell like crazy to tween girls who've worshiped Cyrus from her wigged days as Hannah Montana. They should start calling the place Miley-Mart.

ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE

Twilight Author Doesn't Need So Much Space: Quits Social Networking

by Marc Malkin

Article Source: E! Online

Stephenie Meyer won't be using MySpace to clear up Twilight rumors any time soon.

The author of the best-selling, four-part vampire love series announced on her official website that she is kicking her social networking page to the curb.

"It was a lot of fun while it lasted, and I really miss the early days when I could hang out with people online," Meyer wrote. "Many of you are hilarious and insightful, and I wish it was easier for me to talk to everyone the way I used to."

Meyer warned against being duped by imposters...

"With MySpace no longer in existence, I can now clearly state that...there is no other outlet where I communicate with people online," Meyer continued. "I do not have a Facebook page, and I have never had one. I don't do Twitter. So if you're communicating with someone online that you think is me, it's not."

Meanwhile, Meyer gave a shout-out to Rick Riordan's best-selling tween book series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

"If you're looking for some beach reading, you may want to try [the series] if you haven't already," she wrote. "My son finally finished book five yesterday so I could read it today. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic series. I tip my hat to you, Mr. Riordan!"

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

Earlier Nick at Nite for Family Viewing

By BRIAN STELTER
Article Source: The NY Times

Nickelodeon is moving its teenage and adult fare an hour earlier in the evening — but not because of any earlier bedtime for its young viewers. Instead, it is the network’s attempt to encourage children and parents to watch television together.

The network is expected to announce on Monday that the start time for Nick at Nite, its night-time schedule of reruns, is moving to 8 p.m., encompassing all three hours of prime time.

At the same time, the network is adding repeats of “Malcolm in the Middle” to the schedule.

Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon, said the line between Nick at Nite and the younger Nickelodeon audience — which occupy the same channel but are rated and sold as separate entities — would “start to be a little blurrier.” That is to reflect the company’s research that children and parents “want to spend more time together.”

A generation of sitcoms and animated films have proved that shows intended for children can be equally appealing to parents. “We hear adults talk about ‘iCarly’ all the time,” Ms. Zarghami said, referring to the show about a teenager who has her own show on the Web.

Beginning on July 5, “Malcolm” will join reruns of “George Lopez,” “Home Improvement” and “The Nanny.” Reruns of another sitcom, “Everybody Hates Chris,” start in September.

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Greg Grossman, Teen Chef, Gets Reality TV Deal

By James Hibberd
Article Source: Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fourteen-year-old chef Greg Grossman has signed a production deal to develop and star in his own reality TV show. Grossman and New York-based Picture This Television ("Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List") are teaming to land the professional teen chef a series.

"The moment we met Greg, we knew he was a one-of-a-kind-talent," said Picture This partner Bryan Scott. "It's not every day you encounter a kid who goes to junior high school during the day and cooks with some of the world's leading chefs at night."

Grossman was raised in East Hampton, N.Y., and started catering when he was 11 years old. His work has drawn media headlines and the interest of celebrity chefs.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

COULD NOT RESIST: Teen held on $10K bail for allegedly stealing Cheez Wiz

Alleged Cheez Whiz thief tackled, held, police say

PORTSMOUTH (ME) — A city teen is being held in the county jail on $10,000 cash bail for the alleged theft of a can of Cheez Whiz.

Kyle Ware, 18, of 1 Winsor Road, was arrested Thursday on a count of unarmed robbery alleging he stole the can of spray cheese from the Woodbury Avenue Market Basket.

According to an affidavit by Officer David Colby, at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, Ware went to the supermarket where he was previously employed, put a can of Cheez Whiz in his cargo pants pocket and began to leave without paying. Several employees chased Ware to the front of the store, where one of them tackled him and held him in a headlock until police arrived, according to the affidavit.

Police reviewed video surveillance at the store and saw Ware take the cheese, then run from the employees, according to court records. Arraigned Thursday in Portsmouth District Court, Ware was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail and to get a job within 14 days.

His criminal history was a factor in Judge Sawako Gardner's bail decision. In June 2008, Ware was sentenced to serve 30 days of a 12-month sentence for threatening an 11-year-old girl with a knife in a Gosling Meadows playground. His plea was an admission to threatening the girl after she intervened on behalf of other children he was harassing.

He was court-ordered to remain of good behavior for two years or the 11-month suspended sentence and a suspended $2,000 fine could be imposed. He was also banned from the Gosling Meadows playground, ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family and to not possess any weapons for two years.

Police allege Ware had a knife in his pocket at the time of his Thursday arrest. His adult criminal history includes a Feb. 11, 2008 conviction for vandalism at a city school and Newington police have a pending shoplifting charge against him. Ware is scheduled to return June 16 to the district court for trial.

— Elizabeth Dinan

ORIGINAL ARTICLE SOURCE

Sony Surpasses Microsoft, Nintendo In Teen Brand Popularity Survey

Article Source: IT Pro Portal

Beating rivals Apple and Nintendo, Sony has emerged as the world’s top most consumer electronics brand, a recent survey of teens revealed.

The Global Habbo Youth Survey Brand Update 2009, surveyed as many as 112,000 teens, aged between 11 and 19, from across the globe, and revealed that Sony’s PSP brand was the brand of choice for gaming for most of the teens.

In the consumer tech category, Apple secured the second spot followed by Nintendo; however, Apple snared the top position among the UK teens, but here too, Sony managed to smash the rival Nintendo by bagging the second place.

In gaming consoles segment, Sony again notched the top position, followed by Nintendo and Microsoft; however, the situation was a bit different in the UK, where Nintendo Wii significantly scored over other brands.

Among websites, MySpace and YouTube snared the number one and two spots respectively, with Facebook getting the third spot. Furthermore, in mobile phone category, Nokia is still the leader with around 21 percent of the respondents voted for the brand, down from 29 percent last year, followed by Sony Ericsson.

Commenting upon the findings, country manager for Habbo UK Oisin Lunny said, “It would seem teen brand loyalty is directly linked to desirability of the product. Technological innovation is attractive to teens, but it is equally important for brands to excite young people by engaging with them in ways that are relevant” .....

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Tween Sitcoms: Destined to Become Classic TV?

BY Kate Shatzkin
Article Source: Baltimore Sun


Remember The Brady Bunch? Gilligan’s Island? The Jeffersons? Happy Days?

If you’re of a certain age, you can sing the theme songs to these old TV shows and recall your favorite episodes. Remember when Marcia got braces?

You don’t find many sitcoms on TV these days. That is, unless you have a tween who likes to watch Nickelodeon and the Disney channel. I recently heard a report on NPR that said a number of the writers from the old TV sitcoms are working on tween shows like Drake and Josh, iCarly and the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. While adult TV viewing is divided among dozens of cable channels, kids TV is much more of a communal event. Nickelodeon sitcom writer Dan Schneider says he expects today’s kids will sit around reminiscing about their favorite tween shows the way grown-ups used to talk about Seinfeld and Friends.

I know that today, my kids and their friends talk about the latest antics of Sam and Carly.

What do you think of these tween shows? Are they destined to be comedic classics?

Photo: scene from iCarly courtesy of PRNewsFoto/Nickelodeon

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Twilight, Teens Dominate MTV Movie Awards

by Megan Masters

Article Source: E! Online

The 2009 MTV Movie Awards may have resembled the Teen Choice Awards, but that doesn't mean the show was any less entertaining.

Host Andy Samberg presided over a fast-paced evening filled with plenty of songs, surprises and salty language.

Let's get to the highlights...

Twilighttastic: To the surprise of, well, no one, Twilight dominated the show with a whopping five Golden Popcorns, and Rob Pattinson popped up onstage throughout the festivities. Kristen Stewart was also a scene stealer—the actress took home the prize for Best Actress and proceeded to drop the trophy onstage, saying, "So I was just about as awkward as you thought I would be."

Old Folks Steal the Show: Much of the night looked like a scene from one of the show's most nominated flicks, High School Musical 3, but even the old folks had something to offer...

Jim Carrey popped up out of the crowd (vaguely resembling a trenchcoat flasher) and egged Samberg on, taunting him to show off those insanely successful Saturday Night Live Digital Shorts, which led into Forest Whitaker, Chris Isaak and LeAnn Rimes performing a rousing medley of "Jizz in My Pants," "I'm on a Boat" and the classic "D--k in a Box."

Ben Stiller was honored with the MTV Generation Award, but he was overshadowed by the presentation itself. A good sport and clearly in on the joke, Stiller sat back while Zac Efron, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Kiefer Sutherland "praised" the actor's work.

Said Efron, "You first made your mark directing the now classic Reality Bites. I was actually 5 at the time, so I don't remember it, but I wouldn't miss being here for anything...because I'm a huge fan of the show 24."

Sutherland, meanwhile, feigned an abundance of emotion in his tribute: "Your work is inspired and inspiring. Each scene replays in my mind as precious, as cherished moments in my own life. You make me want to be a better actor. There is nothing you can't do. My god, you're so good! I love you, man."

And Samberg, Will Ferrell and Mr. Star Trek himself, J.J. Abrams, performed a music video titled "Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions," referring to the iconic movie shot of guys walking away in slow motion as something blows up. Also notable? Abrams in that '80s-throwback keyboard-print blazer. Radical!

Are They or Aren't They? The much-talked-about duo of Stewart and Pattinson certainly didn't solve that mystery. In fact, the Best Kiss winners played it up and slowly went in for the kill, only to fake everyone out when Stewart quickly brushed him off and thanked the fans.

Sneak-Peek Mania: The blockbusters are on their way and everyone got a tiny taste of what's to come tonight. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra and Public Enemies all debuted first looks to viewers. Also on the list? Samberg's version of New Moon in which he plays a vampire with a black and red cape who fights a man in a werewolf mask.

Why So Serious? Stunner Megan Fox wanted nothing to do with Samberg's opening rap sequence. When the actor playfully flirted and invited her to leave with him, she refused to crack a smile. Not only did she not play along, the camera had to cut away from her while Samberg awkwardly kept rapping.

Oddest Pairing? Benjamin Button's Taraji P. Henson (in a mini minidress) and The Hangover guys Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha introduced a musical performance by Eminem.

Other Highlights? Slim Shady showed that he is still unable to laugh at himself. The man who has made a career insulting everyone in Hollywood stormed out of the show after Sacha Baron Cohen flew in as a thong-clad Brüno and landing butt first in Em's face. The rapper stormed out of the theater, but MTV sources later admitted the whole thing was staged.

Also, Hayden Panettiere debuted a foul mouth while presenting the WTF Award, and recipient Amy Poehler far surpassed the petite actress with a bleeptastic thank-you speech of her own.

Lil Wayne, meanwhile, told copresenter Leighton Meester he's guesting on her show, Gossip Girl, next season as Chuck Bass's other uncle—the original uncle slept with her character, Blair Waldorf, last season.

Last but not least, nice guy Denzel Washington came out to present with his aspiring-actress daughter—and glowed with pride as any father would do.

Here's the complete list of winners at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards:

• Best Movie: Twilight
• Best Male Performance: Zac Efron, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Best Female Performance: Kristen Stewart, Twilight
• Breakthrough Performance, Male: Robert Pattinson, Twilight
• Breakthrough Performance, Female: Ashley Tisdale, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Best Comedic Performance: Jim Carrey, Yes Man
• Best Villain: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Best Fight: Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet, Twilight
• Best Kiss: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, Twilight
• Best WTF Moment: "Peeing in the Sink," Amy Poehler in Baby Mama
• Best Song From a Movie: "The Climb," Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

No End in Cyrus - Miley Agrees to Another Year As 'Hannah Montana'

By MAXINE SHEN / California Chronicle

MILEY Cyrus, who hinted last year that she was ready to call it quits as "Hannah Montana," is coming back for another season. Just as filming is set to end this week on Season 3 of the hugely popular tween series, the Disney Channel said that Cyrus had agreed to stay on the show for another year.

To keep things fresh, Cyrus and producers have decided the show will get a change of scenery. Next season, Miley Stewart (played by Cyrus) and family will be saying goodbye to the beachfront Malibu home they've lived in for three seasons (the series premiered in March 2006) and moving to a new house. The network won't say yet where the Stewarts are heading.
The announcement of a fourth season lays to rest tween fears that Cyrus would bail on "Hannah." Last summer, the 16-year-old rock star hinted that this season of "Hannah" would be her final one and that she would start making music her full-time job. "We're thinking this is our last season," she said, explaining that she'd been working on the series since she was 11 years old. Cyrus insisted that she wouldn't stray far from the company that turned her into a household name.

"I'm still with my [Disney] family," she said. "You know, they're safe. They always feel like home. And that's what I love about the company. They are family."

Two months later, reports surfaced on TMZ.com that both Cyrus and father, Billy Ray, were so eager to get out of their "Hannah Montana" contracts, that they were late showing up to work.
According to the gossip site's sources, Billy Ray told people on set that he and his daughter would only film 12 of the scheduled 24 episodes before leaving the series. Disney's response was to increase the third season episode count to 30.

By the time "Hannah Montana: The Movie" premiered in April, things settled down. Cyrus told reports that it was unlikely that she would do another "Hannah"-themed movie, but "would love to do another season [of the show]. That would be what we would all agree on." The long break between seasons will give Cyrus time to work on her music and movie roles. She's signed on to star in "The Last Song," a film that Nicholas Sparks ("The Notebook") wrote with her in mind for the lead role.

With the exception of Mitchel Musso, who plays Miley's friend Oliver Oken on the show, all of her other "Hannah" cast members will be there when filming is scheduled to begin early next year in Hollywood. Musso is being listed as a recurring character for next season.

(c) 2009 The New York Post. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

Targeting Teens For Sexting

Article Source: CBS News

(AP/CBS) More Youngsters Are Transmitting Racy Photos Of Themselves Via Cell Phones And The Web, Running Afoul Of Child Porn Laws

When celebrity teenager Vanessa Hudgens took some racy photos with her cell phone and sent them to a boyfriend, the star of the "High School Musical" films never expected them to show up on the Internet.

For her the result was embarrassment and fodder for gossip columnists and blogs.

But legally, sexually explicit pictures of minors can be classified as child pornography.

And "sexting" among everyday teens can mean big trouble …

"My life's been, it's just so different, I can even say upside down," said Orlando teenager Phillip Alpert. "It's just so far out there, something I never expected."

For Alpert it all started when he was a senior in high school. He had a girlfriend for a couple of years who sent him some pictures of herself.

"She was not wearing clothes in the pictures," he told Braver.

"And then you two started not getting along so well?" she asked.

"Yeah," Alpert said. "It was a few months after that, that basically things just kind of fell apart with the two of us."

"What'd you do?"

"I took the pictures she had sent me, and like at 3:30 in the night, I just hit the select button for contacts, and I just hit 'send,' and I went back to bed."

It was a few days after his 18th birthday, so legally Albert was an adult. Three days later, the police came to his home:

"They arrested me," he told Braver "They wanted to charge with, I think, like 76 counts of sending child pornography, which just means jail or prison for the rest of my life, or I could plead to five years probation, which can't be cut short - no contact with the victim or her parents, no Internet."

But what Phillip Alpert did NOT realize is that he would also be listed on Florida's Registry of Sexual Offenders, now and for 20 years AFTER his probation ends...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE