Hannah Montana

It is early June in Los Angeles, but you wouldn't know it by the weather. Gloomy gray skies hang overhead, and occasionally this wet stuff keeps emerging from the sky. In most parts... more of the country, they call this stuff rain. Here, it is an affront. But hey, this is Hollywood, a place that in a quick drive and a few short strides into a soundstage, even the climate can change. In my case, it is getting Disneyfied, as I walk from cloudy and cold onto the cheery, brightly lit, bustling set of smash hit/cash cow, "Hannah Montana." In fact, the first thing I see when I hit the set is a ... beach -- a wonderfully sunny, sandy, palm tree-laden beach. In the corner is Rico's Surf Shop (owned by the closest thing "HM" has to a villain) and in front is a small Tiki food stand (complete with real nachos!). It's here, under the intense lights and amidst the smell of catered breakfast, that I will talk to the young cast of the biggest tween show in America.

(Sorry folks: Neither Miley Cyrus nor her papa, Billy Ray, did press on this visit, though Miley was present throughout the day. The scrutinized teen appeared cool and cheerful most of the day, whether she was meeting kids from the Make a Wish Foundation, munching down on some chicken fingers, huddling with her director, shooting repeated takes of the same scene or simply goofing around with her co-stars.)