3/5 There are better things, but there are also far, far worse things
  by Alexander M. Walker (Chicago, IL USA)
Playing on the undeniable popularity of all things magic, courtesy of J.K. Rowling, Disney launched their own fantastical sitcom based on the adventures of a wizard family living amongst normal folk. Wizards of Waverly Place puts Disney star Selena Gomez front and center as Alex Russo followed by her two mischievous brothers Justin (David Henrie) and Max (Jake T. Austin). Trying to keep the normal folks unaware while dodging the pitfalls of school social spheres, Alex and her family find themselves getting into one crazy scenario after another.

Episode Listing:

"Credit Check"

Alex manages to score an internship at a top fashion magazine and discovers that in the big leagues not everyone plays fair. After a co-worker takes credit for her ideas she attempts to get back at him by setting him up to take credit for some of her less-than-great ideas. Little does she know the co-worker has had a change of heart and decides to give her exactly what she wanted. Stuck with a fashion show of ugly clothes, Alex might just have to use magic to get out of the fashion nightmare.

"Smarty Pants"

When Alex's best friend tells her that their trivia teams won't be able to compete thanks to a sick teammate, Alex steps in to prove she's got the smarts. To sweeten the pot she gets to go up against her older brother's team. But there's a catch - Alex really doesn't have the necessary smarts to compete, so what's a girl to do? Using a little bit of magic Alex gets what she wants but with a price.

"Beware Wolf"

Alex's older brother Justin, despite the warning of his parents, agrees to go out with a girl he met online. Trying to prove that they know everything about each other, Justin and his date spend loads of time together. Little does Justin realize - there's something she forgot to list in her online profile: she's a werewolf. Now, with a werewolf curse all his own, Justin must choose between her and being normal again.

"Graphic Novel"

When the school's popular girl gets her hands on - and then in - Alex's private diary, all three of the Russo kids must go after her to protect Alex's secret: the identity of her crush. Will Alex's secret be revealed or will they get inside the journal in time?

Here's a show aimed at a generation much younger than myself - but that's not to say I can't relate. Anyone above their teens should be able to remember the Melissa Joan Hart show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I'd be blind if I didn't see a strong set of parallels running between the two. Sabrina faced an uber-popular bully, so does Alex. Sabrina had an odd and geeky best friend, so does Alex. Sabrina's boyfriend was a jock; Alex has a crush on a jock. Wizards of Waverly Place takes the same formula and aims at a lower age demographic. To be honest, there's really no difference in writing quality between this and Sabrina it's just an issue of subject matter. Sabrina was firmly entrenched in the high school world while Wizards of Waverly Place seems to be rooted in some odd K-12 school. Unless we're supposed to believe Max is old enough to be in High School. We don't.

There's nothing wrong with Wizards of Waverly Place, but I'm hard pressed to find anything that truly elevates it beyond the overpopulated field of mediocre TV fare. The three main child actors all have their charms and there's more one-liners in any given minute than anyone could hope for - but it's still lacking in that area that makes the best shows stand out. It teaches your kids valuable social lessons, and that's good. But there are better shows they could be getting it from.

You could do better in terms of programming for your kids. But you could also do much, much worse.

DVD Extra Features:

"Backstage Disney"

The three child stars of Wizards of Waverly Place take you behind the scenes in this featurette dedicated to the fashion and style of the show. Each of the stars takes you into their wardrobe to check out some of the costumes seen specifically in the episodes on this DVD. They comment on whether or not the characters they play have styles similar to their own - the answer, these kids all dress much more conservatively than anyone on the show. And why wouldn't they? The show's characters all have a style that goes a little over the top - but hey, they're allowed to be eccentric. They're wizards.

5/5 I Like Wizards shows
  by Bryan K. Starr
This is one of the best Wizards show i've seen that's good for kids too

5/5 One Of The Best Disney Shows yet
  by
"BRILLIANT" No Other Way To Describe It I Can't Wait For Others To Come Out "Two Thumbs Up"