Beginning with "Lilly, do you want to know a secret?", we are introduced to Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), a mild-mannered and likeable young lady with a big secret. Hidden beneath Miley's unassuming exterior is the teen pop-star Hannah Montana. However, Miley wants to lead a normal life, away from the glitz and glamour. To this end, she spends her days in school, among her friends and rivals, dealing with issues such as school bullies, fashion trends and crushes. Miley is the opposite of Hannah, being a bit nerdish and unpopular. Older viewers will have to overlook the obvious flaws in visual logic that would argue these possibilities, but if one can successfully manage to suspend their disbelief, the show is actually quite charming and entertaining.
Miley's real-life father (country singer / achy-breaky heartthrob) Billy Ray Cyrus stars as her father and manager in the series. His lack of polished acting ability carries with it a certain charm that makes his performances seem all the more genuine. Emily Osment co-stars as Miley's best friend Lilly, the only person outside of her family that is privy to her secret identity. Jason Earles has an amusing role as her bumbling, but good-hearted and well-meaning brother.
The show is full of the standard tween anecdotes, gross-out moments and over-the-top humor, but also contains nice underlying themes regarding family values and good morals. There are several notable appearances by guest stars in the show, including Dolly Parton, who plays Miley's Godmother, and even a cameo in the first episode by High School Musical's Corbin Bleu.
I was a bit disappointed in the bonus features offered in the Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season release. Each disc contains a bonus feature entitled "Hannah's Highlights." In essence, the feature is just a replay of one of the episodes on the disc, with occasional pop-up screens featuring Miley Cyrus giving a little background or behind-the-scenes information. While this would seem an interesting concept, in both of the episodes I screened, these pop-ups only appeared twice per show, leaving me feeling like I had been somehow shorted. The fourth disc features the only other bonus features in the set. "Back Home Again with Miley" is a 7-minute visit to the family farm in Tennessee where Miley grew up. It features Miley and Billy Ray giving a little tour of the area and sharing some stories from her childhood. It was sweet and seemed sincere, if not very long, and was undoubtedly the best of the bonus features offered. The final bonus feature, "The Disney Channel Games Episode 1," is the first episode of a series that features many of the Disney channel stars who are divided into teams in order to participate in fun and often silly competitions. The running time on this episode is approximately 22 minutes. This is really more of a prolonged trailer for the show as opposed to a real feature in respects to Hannah Montana. In my opinion, the lack of any substantive behind-the-scenes materials or off-the-set hijinx is an unfortunate oversight on the part of the producers of this release.
Despite the lack of bonus features, the series is overall very good and can be appreciated by younger and more mature audiences alike.