# "In Living Color" creator sues Disney over "Hannah Montana" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928 "2007-08-25T21:16:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/1 "2007-08-25T21:16:22Z")
Buddy Sheffield, a Los Angeles-based writer who created the Fox sketch series _In Living Color_ and the minimalist Nickelodeon sketch comedy series _Roundhouse_ is suing The Walt Disney Company claiming that one of their most popular shows was stolen from one of his ideas. In 2001, Sheffield pitched an idea to Disney for a TV show entitled _Rock and Roland_, which would have revolved around Roland Dillard, an ordinary kid who, unbeknownst to most of his friends, is also a famous singer named Rock Ryder. In 2006, Disney launched a TV series entitled _Hannah Montana_, starring Billy Ray Cyrus and his real life daughter, Destiny “Miley” Cyrus, who plays Miley Stewart, an ordinary kid who, unbeknownst to most of her friends, is also a famous singer named Hannah Montana. I only point this out because I haven’t thought about _Roundhouse_ in years, and _Rock and Roland_ is a great name for a show. [source: [E!](http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=fbb0caac-e257-4f07-9fa7-0ca5ee357387), [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2440535620070824)] ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/2 "2007-08-25T21:50:52Z")
Are either of these shows intended to be set in the same universe as Superman? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/3 "2007-08-25T21:56:12Z")
Someone should introduce Mr. Sheffield to a little cartoon from the 80s called Jem and the Holograms. I’m sure the story idea goes back further than that as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/4 "2007-08-26T00:10:39Z")
Back in the late 80s, I read a YA novel about a boy named Ronnie who wanted to be a rock musician, but his dad was very strict and didn’t like him to play guitar, though he was talented. So Ronnie recorded a demo tape as “Spartacus”, sent it to a record label, and wound up becoming a rock star, using the Spartacus persona to hide the truth from his parents. He wore a ski mask to all personal appearances, to maintain the aura of mystery. I wish I could remember the kid’s last name, 'cause it was part of the title, “You’re a Star, Ronnie [Lastname]!” I can’t believe that’s the only thing about that book I don’t remember. So, no, the idea of a normal teen living a double life as a rock star is not a new one. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/5 "2007-08-26T05:57:44Z")
So, Ronnie made a record, went straight up to number one? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/6 "2007-08-26T06:07:34Z")
Never seen the show, but Wikipedia/IMDB didn’t make this clear. How can you be a secret pop star? [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493093/plotsummary) also says that her best friend, Lilly, has a double life as Hannah Montana’s best friend Lola: > [@](#): > > Miley Stewart’s huge secret is she leads a double as the famous pop singer Hannah Montana along with her friend Lilly who also has a double life as Lola, Hannah’s friend. So, her friend’s secret identity is just being the best friend of her rock star persona? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/7 "2007-08-26T13:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] How can you be a secret pop star? [/QUOTE] She wears a wig when she’s Hannah Montana. Hey, Superman hid his secret identity with just a pair of glasses … . ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/8 "2007-08-26T13:49:30Z")
Its television targeted to ten year old girls - don’t look for the reality here. Basically Mylie lives a normal teenage girl life (young teenage girl, she doesn’t have a drivers license). She sings under the stage name “Hannah Montana” Interested in having a normal teenage life (where she is kind of an unpopular geek) her normal identity is secret. Hannah’s dad takes her to her concerts in a limo (in a disguise worse than hers), she wears a wig. Her two best friends know - her best friend Lily is Hannah’s best friend “Lola” also in a wig. Why the photographers don’t follow her home (they do at least once), why she can go to normal school and doesn’t do the constant travel concert schedule required of most music stars, is left to the “plot holes of TV written for people without critical thinking skills”) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/9 "2007-08-26T13:55:19Z")
Most of the Disney sitcoms, including _Hannah Montana_, are written by graduates of the Miller-Boyett School of Sitcom Writing and are saved only by the talented acting. I only pointed this out because _Hannah Montana_ is a cash cow for Disney. That, and the past writing credits of Mr. Sheffield combined with this lawsuit give me this bizarre mental image of Hannah Montana performing while an angry black clown shouts “Homey don’t play that” and a father in a motorized easy chair goes around the stage. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/10 "2007-08-26T15:06:16Z")
Slight hijack: Is anybody picking up traces of multiple personality disorder here? Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/11 "2007-08-26T15:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Its television targeted to ten year old girls - don’t look for the reality here. Basically Mylie lives a normal teenage girl life (young teenage girl, she doesn’t have a drivers license). She sings under the stage name “Hannah Montana” Interested in having a normal teenage life (where she is kind of an unpopular geek) her normal identity is secret. Hannah’s dad takes her to her concerts in a limo (in a disguise worse than hers), she wears a wig. Her two best friends know - her best friend Lily is Hannah’s best friend “Lola” also in a wig. Why the photographers don’t follow her home (they do at least once), why she can go to normal school and doesn’t do the constant travel concert schedule required of most music stars, is left to the “plot holes of TV written for people without critical thinking skills”) [/QUOTE] Good lord, I would have \*loved \*this show as a ten year old girl! What “unpopular geek” didn’t have fantasies in which her mean classmates didn’t know she was secretly the princess of Luxembourg or a famous movie star or the daughter of Simon Le Bon? Uh…that last bit might be TMI… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/12 "2007-08-26T19:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Good lord, I would have \*loved \*this show as a ten year old girl! What “unpopular geek” didn’t have fantasies in which her mean classmates didn’t know she was secretly the princess of Luxembourg or a famous movie star or the daughter of Simon Le Bon? Uh…that last bit might be TMI… 😃 [/QUOTE] watch the show and you’ll probably change your mind. It’s absolutely beyond dreadful. I swear to you, Hannah Montana is a scourge upon the earth. It’s too stupid even for ten-year-old girls.\* Naturally, my little sister is obsessed with it. \*trust me. I watch and mildly enjoy _Full House_ when I’m bored. I KNOW dumb. Hannah Montana is way past dumb. Raven is so much better, even though it also sucks. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/13 "2007-08-26T19:53:24Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] watch the show and you’ll probably change your mind. It’s absolutely beyond dreadful. I swear to you, Hannah Montana is a scourge upon the earth. It’s too stupid even for ten-year-old girls.\* Naturally, my little sister is obsessed with it. \*trust me. I watch and mildly enjoy _Full House_ when I’m bored. I KNOW dumb. Hannah Montana is way past dumb. Raven is so much better, even though it also sucks. [/QUOTE] Although I’d normally agree with that sentiment, they’re sure as heck doing **something** right. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/14 "2007-08-27T15:00:12Z")
_Hanna Montana_ is braindead dreck that makes one long for the intellectual stimulation of _The Brady Bunch_. That being said, I have to admit that Ms. Mylie Cyrus has talent and charisma to spare. And as far as the whole “secret identity” concept goes, to my eye Mylie and Hannah look like two completely different people. If I didn’t know the gimmick to the show, I’d certainly be fooled. My daughter Kizarvexilla (who started third grade today and is right in the target demographic) watches the show daily and gives me constant plot updates. Fortunately, she herself overdosed on the music at daycare over the summer, so I am not subjected to the soundtrack on a regular basis. I’ll never forgive my mother for buying Kizarvexilla the _High School Musical_ CD for her karaoke machine. As if a single father didn’t have enough incentive to lock himself in his room and never come out whenever the apartment is invaded by a gaggle of my daughter’s school age friends. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/15 "2007-08-27T15:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] watch the show and you’ll probably change your mind. It’s absolutely beyond dreadful. I swear to you, Hannah Montana is a scourge upon the earth. It’s too stupid even for ten-year-old girls.\* Naturally, my little sister is obsessed with it. \*trust me. I watch and mildly enjoy _Full House_ when I’m bored. I KNOW dumb. Hannah Montana is way past dumb. Raven is so much better, even though it also sucks. [/QUOTE] Hey, its heads and shoulders over “The Suite Life of Zac and Cody” or “Corey In The House.” There is some smart kids TV (Kim Possible, Avatar) - most of it is really dreck. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/16 "2007-08-27T17:11:34Z")
It makes me long for the days when Nickelodeon had some really smart, funny and quirky TV shows. Where would shows like “Pete and Pete” or “Clarissa Explains It All” or “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” fit into a world like this? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/17 "2007-08-27T18:00:55Z")
I thought they ripped it off from Henry V. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/18 "2007-08-27T21:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Hey, its heads and shoulders over “The Suite Life of Zac and Cody” or “Corey In The House.” There is some smart kids TV (Kim Possible, Avatar) - most of it is really dreck. [/QUOTE] This is true. My little sister is also obsessed with Zac & Cody. Not so much (mercifully) with Corey in the House. But I’ll grant that Hannah Montana is worlds better than Zac & Cody. But they all suck horribly and in stereo. The only one I like, and it’s an old one, is Boy Meets World. The rest is… high-gloss stupidity with incessant laugh tracks. I like Fairly OddParents, though. She hates it, but it’s apparently my exact brand of humor. Because I tend to laugh myself stupid watching it while everybody else is staring at me like I’m from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/19 "2007-08-27T21:16:40Z")
Anybody remember [Who Is Bugs Potter?](http://www.gordonkorman.com/whobugs.htm). I loved that book. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928/20 "2007-08-27T21:22:30Z")
Reading the description, it also sounds a lot like the old Disney show _The Famous Jett Jackson_, where the main character had a double life as normal teenager and action movie star. Maybe they can argue that they only ripped off themselves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-living-color-creator-sues-disney-over-hannah-montana/416928.md?page=2)