Sonny with a Chance

Premise

Sonny Munroe, a cheerful and ambitious 15-year-old from Wisconsin, gains online fame through comedic videos and is discovered in a nationwide casting call. She moves to Hollywood to join the cast of So Random!, a sketch comedy series for teenagers. The series follows her life on set and at home, as she navigates difficulties with her castmates, particularly the self-centered Tawni Hart. The So Random! cast also includes Nico Harris, Grady Mitchell, and Zora Lancaster. Comedy sketches from So Random! are included, and the cast works alongside a rival drama series, Mackenzie Falls, starring teen idol Chad Dylan Cooper. The show explores a teenager pursuing an ambitious dream, a theme common in Disney Channel series.

Production

Disney Channel first announced the show in May 2008 under the title Welcome to Mollywood, with the lead character named Molly, planning a premiere for the 2008–09 season. Gary Marsh, the network's president, said the series would follow the core Disney theme of "following your dream" and called it a "hybrid show" because it would include fully produced comedy sketches from its fictional show-within-a-show, So Random!. Other early titles included Welcome to Holliwood, and critic Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times suggested the final name, Sonny with a Chance, might be a play on the phrase "chance of rain."

The series was created by Steve Marmel, a cartoon writer and producer. Executive producers included Brian Robbins, co-creator of Nickelodeon's All That, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett, also an All That veteran; their company Varsity Pictures produced the show with It's a Laugh Productions and the network. Michael Feldman also served as an executive producer. The show's premise drew inspiration from 30 Rock.

Demi Lovato stars as Sonny Munroe, a character originally called Molly and then Holli. Lovato first worked with Disney on As the Bell Rings and then landed a breakout role in the 2008 TV movie Camp Rock, originally built around the Jonas Brothers. She auditioned for both Camp Rock and Sonny with a Chance in summer 2007 and got both parts; Marsh praised her as a "gifted comedian." Lovato's debut album Don't Forget came out on Disney's Hollywood Records in 2008, and she also filmed Princess Protection Program with Selena Gomez.

She sings the show's theme song, "So Far So Great." Fellow Disney actor Bridgit Mendler also tried out for the role of Sonny before Lovato was cast.

Reception

Sonny with a Chance did not receive wide critical coverage. Robert Lloyd stated that the show-within-a-show So Random! possesses an authenticity that Sonny with a Chance does not achieve, describing the set as 'violently designed' with 'riots of colour'. Natalie Finn of E! referred to the colour palette as 'eye-popping' and described the actors' performances as exaggerated, while Lloyd praised Lovato's acting ability as 'very good'. Kelvin Cedeno from DVDizzy.com said the series has an 'outrageous tone' and feels more like a Nickelodeon show than a Disney Channel product, noting it does not feature a lesson in each episode and is not funny. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media wrote that the series does not promote lessons or positive messages, but added that Sonny's confidence and leadership qualities make her a worthwhile role model.

Other media

Walt Disney Records released a soundtrack album for the series on October 5, 2010, including songs from and inspired by the series. Disney Interactive Studios released a video game based on the series for the Nintendo DS in 2010, composed of over 40 minigames inspired by episode plots and So Random! sketches. A DVD compilation titled Sonny's Big Break was released on August 25, 2009, containing four previously aired episodes, one unreleased episode, and bonus features including a clip from Mackenzie Falls.