Show of hands, fellow baby boomers -- how many of you remember Annette Funicello?
How many of you had your first crush on Annette? Yeah. Me, too. I'll pause here while you collect yourselves.
Sadly, our favorite Mouseketeer left us in 2013 at the age of 70 from complications due to multiple sclerosis. But her memory lives on in the hearts of all us guys who ever wanted to be Frankie Avalon on a blanket on the beach with Dee Dee (Annette).
And that includes not only 1963's Beach Party, but Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, and the classic of them all, 1965's How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.
Note that all those movies coincided with my highly impressionable high school years. Thank you, Annette.
All that to say this: Annette kept us glued to The Mickey Mouse Club beginning in 1955. Annette moved on, but Disney never stopped grooming sweet young things to win our hearts.
Over the years, cute and adorable Disney stars have included Hayley Mills, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Bridgit Mendler, Vanessa Hudgens, Zendaya and Bella Thone.
Some survived being Disney child stars. Others infamously crashed and burned.
So, who's next to roll the Disney dice?
A strong candidate for the next Disney Channel cutie is 13-year-old Jenna Ortega. You may recognize her as the actress who plays the young Jane on the CW's Jane the Virgin, or as Darcy on the Netflix series Richie Rich. Ortega is about to take off as the star of Disney Channel's family comedy Stuck in the Middle.
The comedy debuts at 8 p.m. Friday. Disney says the target audience is between the ages of 6 and 14.
Ortega, a California native, has the dimples and big brown doe eyes to be an Annette Funicello for a new generation. Let's enjoy her in this TV-G sitcom before she grows up and goes all Miley on us. I figure we have about five years.
I don't know if she has clowns to the left of her and jokers to the right, but Stuck in the Middle revolves around 12-year-old Harley Diaz (Ortega), the classic middle child "who lives life in the eye of the hurricane that is her large and busy family."
Large family? Tom and Suzy Diaz (Joe Nieves, Cerina Vincent) have seven kids. Seven! I know that doesn't make them the Duggars, but that's still plenty to cause a fair share of chaos in suburban Massachusetts.
As the 'tween middle child, Harley is characterized as "an inventor, experimenter, mediator and persuader."
The other Diaz kids are: Rachel, the self-involved eldest; basketball-playing Georgie; Ethan, Harley's closest ally; indestructible twins Lewie and "Beast"; and the strong-willed "baby" of the family, Daphne. They are played by (in order) Ronni Hawk, Kayla Maisonet, Isaak Presley, Nicolas Bechtel, Malachi Barton and Ariana Greenblatt.
In the season opener, "Stuck in the Sweet Seat," her parents forget her birthday, so Harley plots to use their guilt to get the ultimate birthday gift.
Getting everyone to the park where she is to receive a young inventor's award proves to be no easy task. Georgie has a basketball game, and Rachel is serving at a soup kitchen.
After that, Rachel decides to spend time with her boyfriend, against her parents' warnings. Additional TV-G high jinks take place.
Gather the entire clan and check this out together. We can't pass up a family-friendly opportunity in this day and age.
• 60 Days In. Not into Disney stuff? This new reality show debuts from 8-10 p.m. today on A&E.
In the series, seven volunteers become undercover inmates "in an effort to root out crime and corruption" in Indiana's Clark County Jail. In the opening episode, "Unusual Suspects; First Timers," the participants attempt to make it through their first 24 hours inside the facility.
• Live on AETN. Dr. Mark Hyman will be live in AETN's Conway studios at 7 p.m. today to discuss his new book Eat Fat, Get Thin. The special explores "the health and weight loss benefits of a higher fat diet rich in eggs, nuts, healthy oils, avocados and other super foods."
Hyman, the author of 12 books, is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, the Pritzker Foundation Chair in Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine and Founder of The UltraWellness Center.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 03/10/2016