Wizards of Waverly Place is an Emmy Award-winning live-action Disney Channel Original Series which premiered on October 12, 2007 on Disney Channel. The series was created by Todd J. Greenwald, and stars Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin as three siblings with magical abilities. The series began filming in July 2009 in High Definition for its third season.

Premise

Wizards of Waverly Place centers on the Russo family, which includes Alex (Selena Gomez), her younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin), and their older brother Justin (David Henrie); Alex's best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone) is also part of the storyline. The three Russo siblings are wizards in training and live with their Italian-American father Jerry (David DeLuise), a former wizard, and their Mexican-American mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) who is a mortal. The siblings have to keep their secret safe.

The children are not allowed to use magic without supervision, and only one of the three will keep their magic abilities once they are adults; this will be determined by a magic competition. Typical episodes revolve around Alex using magic to solve a problem, and then ending up with even more problems than she began with.

Characters

Main cast

• Selena Gomez - Alex Russo: a wizard in training, the middle child and only daughter in the Russo family. To most people, Alex is little more than a poor student and compulsive prankster. Often selfish, unkind, snarky, conceited, and immature, Alex does nonetheless care deeply for her friends and family.
• David Henrie - Justin Russo: a wizard in training, the oldest child in the Russo family. In many respects, he is the polar opposite of Alex in terms of personality, and often on the receiving end of Alex's insults and pranks.
• Jake T. Austin - Maxamilan "Max" Russo: a wizard in training, the youngest child in the Russo family always is doing odd things.
• David DeLuise - Jerry Russo: Justin, Alex, and Max's father and former wizard, who teaches his children about magic
• Maria Canals-Barrera - Theresa Russo: Jerry's wife and Justin, Alex, and Max's mother. She isn't a wizard, but knows about the magical world and power of her children.
• Jennifer Stone - Harper Finkle: Alex's best friend who becomes aware of the Russo's wizard powers after Alex tells her in the second season. She moves in with the Russo family in the third season.