Hannah Montana[i] is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March 2006 and January 2011.

Episodes deal with Miley's everyday struggles to cope with the social and personal issues of adolescence while maintaining the added complexities of her secret identity, which she sustains by wearing a blonde wig.

The series concluded on January 16, 2011, as a result of Cyrus's growing popularity and music career, and her desire to move into more mature acting roles.

[5] At the start of the series, the family have moved from Tennessee to Malibu, California, to allow Miley to develop her musical career; Robby Ray works as her manager.

[1][12] In the final season, Miley is faced with extra difficulties in maintaining her double life, which affect her capacity to attend college with Lilly.

[1] Faced with the choice between continuing being Hannah Montana and divulging her secret,[13] she ultimately reveals her true identity to the world and has to deal with the effects of this decision before leaving for college.

[14][15] The central conflict of the series is the disconnect between the public and private lives of Miley Stewart, and the lengths to which she must go to secure her life as a normal teenager and protect her relationships with her friends.

This is made evident in the pilot when she fears her friends might not treat her the same way if they become aware of her celebrity status; Miley's friendships and social opportunities at school are important to her.

[9] Jacques Steinberg of The New York Times said the series suggests celebrity status should not be confused with real life and that happiness comes as a result of staying true to one's self.

[17] Morgan Genevieve Blue of Feminist Media Studies distinguished Hannah Montana from other programs about secret identities because of the public nature of Miley's alter ego.

[18] Series creator Michael Poryes said his goal was not to focus on the gimmick but to write about characters and relationships, exploring the real issues Miley faces and how they would be affected by her celebrity lifestyle.

Bickford described these relationships as the "emotionally fraught", "intensely valued" core of the series, reflecting the way best-friendship is an important element of childhood.

[3] The series is primarily aimed at a preadolescent female audience,[iv] however, its framework as a family sitcom allows it to have a wider appeal.

[30] After receiving the script from her agents, Miley Cyrus, aged eleven at the time, auditioned against over 1,000 applicants for the lead role, originally named Chloe Stewart.

[8] The series also stars Emily Osment as Lilly Truscott, Mitchel Musso as Oliver Oken, and Jason Earles as Miley's older brother Jackson Stewart.

[44][45] The network dropped Musso's character Oliver to a recurring role in the fourth season because he had been cast in Pair of Kings, which was developed for the sister channel Disney XD.

[49] The final season includes guest roles from musicians Sheryl Crow and Iyaz; actors Christine Taylor, Ray Liotta, and Angus T. Jones; and television personalities Phil McGraw, Jay Leno, and Kelly Ripa.

[8] The soundtrack album Hannah Montana was released in October 2006; many of the songs' lyrics allude to the show's premise and Miley Stewart's secret identity.

[36] While filming the pilot, Cyrus performed a concert as Hannah Montana at Glendale Centre Theatre to acquire footage for the show.

Club's Marah Eakin found fault with the writing of Hannah Montana, criticizing its "oppressive" laugh track, and its use of stereotypes.

[67] She explained that the primary female characters, Miley and her alter ego—Hannah, are positioned as post-feminist subjects in a way their representation is confined to notions of celebrity and consumerism.

[71] In the book The Queer Fantasies of the American Family Sitcom, Tison Pugh analyzed the subtle sexualization present within the characters of Hannah Montana, such as Jackson's girlfriend Siena, who works as a bikini model.

[73] Pugh stated that the program obscures the divergence between fiction and reality, due to the character of Miley Stewart sharing similarities to Miley Cyrus, Robby Ray Stewart being difficult to distinguish from Billy Ray Cyrus, and guest actors such as Parton and the Jonas Brothers playing fictional versions of themselves.

[75] Pugh explained that displaying Miley as an authentic and likable character was a key marketing strategy, which led to Cyrus becoming closely associated with the Hannah Montana branding;[76] Mayes-Elma explicated that Disney was selling Cyrus—a then-sixteen-year-old girl—to consumers as a "form of pop cultural prostitution".

[67] The series premiere of Hannah Montana was aired on March 24, 2006, as a lead-in to a rerun of High School Musical, and received 5.4 million viewers.

[24] Cyrus, however, continued to develop an increasingly provocative image as Hannah Montana progressed and the series received criticism for appearing to be a negative influence on its younger audience.

[1] The following year, Cyrus was listed as the worst celebrity influence in a JSYK poll voted on by children, following the leakage of a video showing her smoking the psychoactive plant Salvia divinorum at the age of eighteen.

[127] Miley Cyrus expressed her annoyance at her history with the program in 2013, stating she wanted to suppress her previous music and re-establish her career as a mature artist.

[133] The initial proposal was unsuccessful, and in August 2007, Sheffield filed a lawsuit against the network based on the similarities between his pitch and Hannah Montana.

[152] Hollywood Life reported in 2020 that a potential prequel about Miley Stewart's rise to fame as a pop singer, with another child actor playing the character, was being discussed for Disney+.