What's Next for the Disney Channel?

More of the same, really. Jim Hill wrote an excellent post last week on some of the projects that are currently in the works, and I'll recap them here:

Camp Rock 2: Final Jam - Without even delving into the plot, it seems a bit premature to call this installment the "Final Jam," because - if the current business model still stands - Disney will obviously want to think about a third movie if this one does well. But I know you're just dying to find out what happens to Shane and Mitchie, so let's move on. In Camp Rock 2, Mitchie (Demi Lovato), Shane (Joe Jonas), Nate (Nick Jonas) and Jason (Kevin Jonas) all go back to Camp Rock for reasons unspecified (why do rock stars attend regular person camp? is it because friends are like, totally awesome?) only to find that all the former Camp Rockers are now attending the unfortunately named Camp Star, which is like, way better. Things become more complicated when Nate falls in love a Camp Star hottie, who also happens to be the camp director's daughter. Lots of angst, stomping around, and an inevitable sing-off occur.

High School Musical: East Meets West - Yes, its a fourth installment and no, this one isn't coming to the big screen. And it will have a whole new cast! But it won't have Troy, Gabriella, Chad, or more importantly, Kenny Ortega. So we'll see. While I'm sure a zillion kiddies will tune in, this is still a big "we'll see." Based on the title, let me speculate wildly: East High Wildcats and West High Knights are thrown together through some plot hole that results in integrating the two high schools. Conflict arises. Some dude from East High loves a girl from West High. Zomg, dramz. Sing-off occurs.

Hannah Montana's fourth season - The final stretch of Hannah Montana moves off of the beach and into Malibu for a completely superfluous last season. Of course, without the beach, there is virtually nothing for Jackson or Rico to do (the last episode had them singing introductions to each scene in various musical styles). And based on the last episode of Hannah Montana, it looks like the next season is all about - surprise - a love triangle. Will Hannah choose movie star and Dancing with the Stars loser Jake Ryan or bad boy hottie guitar player Jesse? (Jesse, duh, he's way cuter.) Or will she choose neither because friends are more awesome than boyfriends and let's sing a song about it? It will be interesting to see how Disney chooses to wrap up the show.

And on that note ... I think I hear my DVR calling.