Austin & Ally

Austin & Ally is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel, premiering on December 2, 2011, and ending on January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Calum Worthy.

Plot
Austin & Ally follows the exploits of the title characters, polar opposites who combine their talents to try to create a musical tour de force. Austin is an extroverted musician and singer. Ally is a brilliant, but shy, songwriter. Austin and Ally's best friends are Trish and Dez, respectively. Without Ally's knowledge, Austin and Dez "borrow" one of her songs, make a music video out of it and post it on the Internet. The music video catapults Austin into an overnight sensation. But when Trish tries to convince Ally to let people know she wrote the song, Austin pleads with her to write him another song that he can turn into a hit. And that begins their musical collaboration as they try to profit from Austin's newfound fame.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Amazing set designs, most notably Sonic Boom.
 * 2) The 4 main characters, Austin, Ally, Dez and Trish are not only likable and hilarious but have very different personalities and work very well together as a team.
 * 3) The acting talents of Ross Lynch and Laura Marano do not go to waste, but it's Calum Worthy as Dez who really steals the show with his eccentric personality and flamboyant movements.
 * 4) Sometimes focuses on mature topics, such as bullying, the emotional effects of a bad review online and legally framing people.
 * 5) Awesome love songs, such as "I Think About You", and amazing songs with important messages, such as "Break Down The Walls", which talks about ignoring your fears and taking a big chance.
 * 6) The laugh track mostly plays very conveniently and not on every line, unlike most other teen sitcoms.
 * 7) Season 4 mostly focuses on how the characters grow up and how they carry out their aspirations and follow their dreams.
 * 8) Very emotional moments, such as when the 4 characters have an argument and separate purely out of fear of missing each other.
 * 9) Generally good for aspiring children and teenagers who are interested in creative hobbies and jobs, such as directing and music.
 * 10) Accurately shows what it's like to be performing under a famous record label.
 * 11) Sharp writing and great episodes, such as the first episodes.
 * 12) Funny parodies, such as one of their favorite shows, Groovy Goat and the Mystery Bunch, which is essentially a parody of both the Scooby-Doo franchise and The Brady Bunch.
 * 13) Teaches kids about life lessons, such as relationships, honesty and self-esteem. It also teaches survival skills, such as avoiding a bear depending on its color, which actually saved a girl's life.
 * 14) The main couple of the series, Auslly, is amazing and adorable.
 * 15) Funny moments, such as...
 * 16) *When the 4 main characters find out that Tilly Thompson has disguised herself as multiple characters, including a baby, one of the main characters question Tilly on if that baby was actually her, then Tilly says "WAAH! WAHH! BURP ME!" in a threatening manner.
 * 17) *Ally's ridiculous dance.
 * 18) *The entirety of Freaky Friends & Fan Fiction is a complete riot.
 * 19) *Austin hugging a vat of ice cream.
 * 20) *Dez deep-frying an entire restaurant.
 * 21) Iconic running gags, such as Trish entering Sonic Boom with a different outfit saying "Guess who got a job at..."
 * 22) It spawned a crossover with Jessie called “Austin & Jessie & Ally: All Star New Year”.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Sometimes the laugh track does play every line.
 * 2) The love triangle between Austin, Kira and Ally and how fickle Austin was during the triangle got annoying fast.
 * 3) Some bad special effects, such as the scene of Austin dunking a basketball in the episode "Freaky Friends & Fan Fiction". He is practically running in the air.
 * 4) Although the 4 main characters are great, they can also be very unlikable at times.
 * 5) Austin Moon can be egotistical, annoyingly fickle, as mentally dense as Dez and just straight up shallow and sexist. For example, when Dez shows Austin a picture of a girl named Piper in her nerd phase, Austin looks disgusted. But minutes later, he is dating the now-prettier Piper and when she finds out about all of this, she says she doesn't want to go out with a guy that shallow. Austin then openly admits that he is not shallow, he just "likes pretty girls". Thankfully, he realizes that it sounded bad seconds after.
 * 6) Ally can be annoying nerdy and was painfully awkward when talking to her ex-crush Dallas. The writers try to make it come off as funny but it just comes off as cringey.
 * 7) Trish can be very mean-spirited (especially to Dez), and seems to hate her family. At her quinceanera, she acts like the usual "Sweet-16 bratty girl who wants everything". Who would hire a lazy teenager who gets fired from every job in Miami? Plus all her headbands from her other jobs are eyesores.
 * 8) Sometimes Dez's mental density can just be irritating, but the show sometimes makes fun of this.
 * 9) In episode “Real Life & Reel Life” Austin and Ally (mostly Austin) were both acting like huge babies about keeping secrets from each other.

Reception
Most critics gave the show a bad review for its flawed humor, flawed characters and annoying teen sitcom style, but the show quickly became one of the most popular sitcoms on Disney Channel, proving that most people don't care about what critics think. The show currently has a 6/10 rating on IMDb and a 91% approval rating on Google. Many considered the show good for kids who want to be musicians.

Trivia

 * Calum is older than Ross and Laura by almost 5 years. Ross is exactly 1 month younger than Laura.
 * Ross and Laura argue a lot on set.
 * Ross Lynch has won the Kid's Choice Award for Best TV Actor three years in a row for his role of Austin Moon. (2013-2015)
 * Both Laura Marano and Raini Rodriguez guest starred in Dexter (2006) when they were young. Dexter, like this show, also takes place in Miami.
 * Laura Marano signed a record deal with Big Machine Records, the same record label as Taylor Swift - 2015.
 * Has been confirmed that the show's 4th season will be the final season due to Ross going on tour with his band R5.
 * Dez's last name was deliberately concealed until the episode "Fanatics & Favors."
 * If you look closely in the last few minutes of the last episode, on the reward it states that Ally's full name is Ally Edgar Dawson.
 * Calum Worthy also guest starred 2 times on another Disney Channel Show called Bizaardvark as “Victor” in Episodes “The Collab” and “In Your Space”.