A Long Wet Summer of Hannah Montana

So the Met Office informs us that September will be better than this long wet August we've been having - not an Indian summer, mind you, just a wee bit dryer.

Which is comforting. This past summer's wet weather drove my household into the arms of Hannah Montana and her other sitcom cohorts on the Disney Channel (courtesy of an ill-conceived cable TV upgrade).

Watching the Disney Channel (incessantly) has it's educational side to a wannabe children's writer. I suppose one could view Disney Channel content as competition.

I mean, the programme ideas are not far off the stuff we try to think up for our own books - the list reads like SCBWI story pitching competition:

Hannah Montana - superstar goes undercover as girl next door

That's So Raven - teenage psychic who always jumps to the wrong conclusions

The Suite Life - identical twins live in hotel where their mom works with a resident millionaire teenager thrown in

Wizards of Waverley Place - teenage wizards-in-training ... in New York

Camp Rock - High School Musical redux ... except it's rock not pop and it's a camp not a school.

Cory in the House - teenager moves into White House with his chef dad and must cope with life in the capitol plus the president's smart-aleck little daughter

I remember in my childhood that the Disney factory spun out film after film, using actors from the same stable in the same way that these sitcoms seem to swap actors back and forth.

Kurt Russell, now a proper actor, used to be in the Disney stable, starring in such badly made films as The Strongest Man in the World (1975), Superdad (1972), and Now You See Him Now You Don't (1972). I watched them all.

Now, Disney's doing the same thing using the internet and TV - my daughter is this minute watching Wendy Wu Homecoming Warrior - Wendy's destiny is to save the world but all Wendy wants is to become homecoming queen (nice idea!) - stars Brenda Song, who plays the airhead millionaire teenager from The Suite Life. Jeez, Disney works its actors hard ... I found out that Brenda Song also maintains this video blog on the Disney site.

School totally re-opens tomorrow. I haven't written a single word since the holidays began so though I will miss my little people, I CAN'T WAIT!

Meanwhile, here's a wistful look back at the summer that wasn't quite: