Austin & Ally

Austin & Ally is an American television sitcom that first aired on the Disney Channel on December 2, 2011, in the United States. The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011. On May 25, 2011, the Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up for a December 4, 2011, release date. The first promo was released on October 14, 2011, during the Disney Channel's Make Your Mark: The Ultimate Dance-Off event. A series preview followed the premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! The show has been renewed for a second season, and has resumed production as of the summer of 2012.

Premise
Set in Miami, Austin & Ally is a multi-camera comedy about the unique relationship between a teen aspiring songwriter with stage fright named Ally, and Austin, an aspiring singer who obtains celebrity status overnight after performing one of Ally's songs online. The two form a partnership and struggle with how to keep Austin's newfound fame and profit from it, while keeping up with their high school and everyday lives. The series has been described as a "pint-sized" version of HBO's hit comedy-drama Entourage.

Plot
The series follows the partnership between two polar opposites—fun-loving Austin Moon, an extroverted musician/singer who can't stop getting into trouble; and serious Ally Dawson, a brilliant yet shy songwriter with an extreme case of stage fright—and their respective best friends, Dez and Trish. Unbeknownst to Ally, Austin and Dez "borrow" one of her songs from her songbook/journal/diary, record it, create a video, and post it on the Internet, after which Austin becomes an overnight sensation. When Trish convinces Ally to tell the world she wrote the song, Austin pleads with her to write another hit for him. Instead, the duo and their friends combine their talents to create a true musical tour-de-force.

Main cast

 * Ross Lynch as Austin Moon, A singer who became an "overnight" Internet sensation. Austin's friends are Dez, Trish and Ally. He loves singing, dancing, having fun, and pancakes. He helps Ally when she has trouble writing a song and also with personal problems that arise. It is revealed in the episode "Burglaries & Boobytraps" that his middle name is Monica. He has a fear of umbrellas, and his three favorite things are pancakes, LeBron James, and cheerleaders. He also has been known to do and like childish things such as liking stuffed animals, coloring in coloring books, and laughing at the word "underwear".
 * Laura Marano as Ally Dawson, a singer-songwriter with extreme stage fright (which she developed after watching a girl who played a wonderful piano solo being rejected for an esteem music academy). She wrote the first hit song that Austin performed, "Double Take", on her piano, and ever since then she has been his songwriter. She works at her parents' music store, Sonic Boom. She is shown to have unusual habits, such as biting her hair when she's nervous, & cleaning when she's sad and having a big love for pickles. She and Austin have become good friends, and they label their relationship as being "partners".She overcomes her stage fright in "Costumes and Courage."It is shown that she is a very talented singer and can play the piano but is terrible at dancing.
 * Raini Rodriguez as Trish, Ally's best friend and Austin's manager. Her jobs change frequently due to her lack of effort and presence at work. Even though her jobs change very often, she takes her job as being Austin's manager very seriously. She has a complicated love/hate relationship with Dez. Her full name is revealed to be Patricia Maria de la Rosa in the episode "Club Owners & Quinceañeras".
 * Calum Worthy as Dez, an aspiring director with a weird style of clothes (and noticeable lack of intelligence) who films everything he can. He films all of Austin's music videos and is Austin's best friend. He has a complicated love/hate relationship with Trish. He often pulls a variety of items from his backpack, ranging from a toaster to ten types of jelly, a basket of pickles and even an ice sculpture. It is revealed in Backups and Breakups that he loves romance movies.

Recurring cast

 * Cole Sand as Nelson, an awkward young boy who takes music lessons from Ally. He is known for saying "Aw, narts!" He tends to mix up a word for a word that sounds alike, such as "oboe" and "hobo". He has a crush on Megan Simms.
 * Andy Milder as Lester, Ally's father. He is the owner of the music store Sonic Boom, and is completely ignorant of Ally's musical talents. He has been heard saying that she has a billion-to-one shot at making it, just like Austin's parents have told him.
 * Noah Centineo as Dallas, Ally's crush and a former employee at a cell phone accessories cart. He rejects Ally when she asks him to dance at Trish's quinceañera in the episode "Club Owners & Quinceaneras", but only because he cannot dance. In the episode "World Records & Work Wreckers", Ally accidentally hires Dallas to work at Sonic Boom and is forced to fire him once it becomes evident that Dallas is a clumsy worker. Dallas now works at the library nearby.
 * Ashley Fink as Mindy, a mean girl who is the manager of The Melody Diner in the episode "Diners & Daters", She has a huge crush on Dez but he doesn't like her at all. Mindy was first introduced in the episode "myTAB & My Pet".
 * Richard Whiten as Jimmy Starr, he is the owner of Starr Records, and has signed Austin Moon to his record label on the episode "Successes & Setbacks".
 * Trevor Jackson as Trent, Trish's ex-boyfriend & Team Austin's rival. He first appears in Backups & Breakups when he was Austin's backup dancer. He fakes dating Trish, so he can be Austin's backup dancer. Then he dance-offs with Austin. Then he appears in Crybabies & Colonge when he steals Austin's song, Double Take video, best friend, & T.V. appearances. Then he destroys the Wanda Watson show.
 * Aubrey K. Miller as Megan Simms, a 10-year-old Cheetah Beat photographer, Nelson's crush, and Ally's best friend. Megan can quickly be as mean as Trish if people don't appreciate her or what she says but not in front of Nelson though. Although Nelson likes her, She tells him that her career comes first. She also uses short words such as totes, hilar, etc. and she likes to use a singy-songy voice whenever she says the short words.
 * John Henson as Mike Moon, Austin's father, He owns Moon's Mattress Kingdom, a mattress store. He knows a lot about mattress and the history of them. He is first introduced in "Successes & Setbacks".
 * Jill Benjamin as Mimi Moon, Austin's mother, She co-owns Moon's Mattress Kingdom. She used to be a hand model before she went into the mattress selling business. She is first introduced in "Successes & Setbacks".

Development, production and reception
The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011. The pilot was directed by Shelley Jensen. Casting for the series regulars were held nationally around the United States and shooting for the pilot began in early March 2011. On May 24, 2011, Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up as a series. On September 29, 2011, it was announced that Disney Channel had extended the show's episode order from 13 episodes to 21. Shooting for the first season completed on January 27, 2012. It was announced on March 11, 2012, that the show had been renewed for a second season and production would resume that summer, though the cast's first day back for the second season was earlier than that, on June 4, 2012.

The series preview attracted 5.7 million viewers and the official premiere garnered 4.0 million viewers. Austin & Ally was ranked the No.1 Telecast on Sunday premieres among pre-teens 9-12 and teens 13-18.

Songs
Songs with an * are not on the soundtrack
 * Can't Do it Without You (Theme Song): All episodes (opening credits), Acoustic version in Albums & Auditions
 * Double Take: Rockers & Writers
 * Break Down the Walls: Rockers & Writers & Successes & Setbacks
 * A Billion Hits: Kangaroos & Chaos & Club Owners & Quinceaneras
 * Not a Love Song: Secrets & Songbooks & myTAB & My Pet (Acoustic Version)
 * It's Me, It's You: Zaliens & Cloud Watchers & Burglaries & Boobytraps
 * The Butterfly Song: Bloggers & Butterflies & Magazines & Made-Up Stuff*
 * Trash Talka: Tickets & Trashbags*
 * Better Together: Managers & Meatballs & Parents & Punishments
 * You Don't See Me: Deejays & Demos*
 * Heard it On the Radio: Songwriting & Starfish
 * Suzy's Soups Jingle: Soups & Stars*
 * Heart Beat: Diners & Daters & Parents & Punishments
 * Na Na Na (The Summer Song): Everglades & Allygaters
 * The Way that You Do: Successes & Setbacks
 * Illusion: Albums & Auditions & Backups & Breakups
 * Crazy 4 U: Bonus Track
 * What Do I Have to Do?: Bonus Track
 * Don't Look Down: Costumes & Courage*
 * That's Just Who I Am: Magazines & Made-Up Stuff*
 * Got it 2: Crybabies & Cologne*
 * Christmas Soul: Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year*
 * Can You Feel It: Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year*
 * Face to Face: Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year*
 * No Ordinary Day: Ferris Wheels & Funky Breath
 * I'm Finally Me: Tracks & Troubles*
 * The Ally Way: Viral Videos & Very Bad Dancing*
 * Steal Your Heart: Tunes & Trials*
 * Timeless: Future Sounds and Festival Songs*
 * Living In The Moment: Sports and Sprains*
 * I've Got That Rock N' Roll: Beach Bums and Bling*

Soundtrack
The Austin & Ally Soundtrack is the soundtrack from the hit Disney Channel original series, Austin & Ally. The album features songs from the show's first season performed by Ross Lynch with two bonus tracks (not featured in the series) performed by the band R5. It was released digitally and physically by Walt Disney Records on September 11, 2012.

Background and release
During a commercial for the single "Heard It on the Radio", Ross Lynch announced that a soundtrack for the show was on its way. The track list was revealed on July 20, 2012. On August 6, 2012, the soundtrack cover was revealed by the magazine BOP and Tiger Beat. On the week of September 3, 2012, Radio Disney Planet Premiered songs from the album. Candice and Ross 'took over' the radio station every night at 8PM ET for one hour until September 7, 2012.

Charts and chart performance
The soundtrack peaked at #27 on the Billboard Top 200. It also debuted at #1 on the iTunes Soundtrack chart and remained there for four weeks. The soundtrack is currently #1 on Billboard's Kids Albums Chart and has held that position for 7 weeks.