After guest spots on Disney Channel shows like JONAS and Wizards of Waverly Place, the 17-year-old actress has finally landed her own show, Good Luck Charlie. Bridgit plays Teddy Duncan, and she’s definitely bringing a bit of herself to the role.

I am,” she said. “I feel like I get some me out of Teddy when I’m having a nerdy moment especially because I’m kind of a nerd myself.”

When her parents have a new baby, Teddy and her brother, played by Jason Dolley, decide to make a video diary for the baby (nicknamed Charlie) for her to watch when she’s older. So what’s it like shooting her own Disney com? In a word, “fun.”

“We have dress up days, usually on Tuesdays,” she said. “One day we wore capes – we had ‘Cape day.’ That was fun, we ran down the halls in our capes.”

Check out our full interview with Bridgit below to hear her talk about her celebrity crushes, her BFF and who she’d like to work with in the future.

Source: JSYK

Bridgit stars as Teddy in Good Luck Charlie, along side Jason Dolley who plays her brother. “It’s about this family of 5 who has another child, and the parents have to go back to work so the kids have to help out with the baby, and all sorts of chaos ensues.” Bridgit said. “It’s been really fun to do.”

Bridgit even revealed that she often relates to her character, being a teen girl. “I’ve had a lot of fun with some of Teddy’s more nerdy moments – I’m kind of a nerd myself, like in one of the episodes Teddy had to be a bad dancer which I had some fun with, got to give her some nerdy dance moves and just little stuff like that where Teddy isn’t as cool as she might seem.”

With the premiere happening tonight, Bridgit is super excited for people to see what she’s been working on. “I’m so excited! It was so surreal for me to actually become part of the Disney family, and I’ve been watching Disney channel all my life so it was just so crazy to actually become a part of it.” She confessed. “We’ve been working on the show since the end of August last year, and now things are gearing up for it to be released, and I’m so excited for everyone to actually be able to see what we’ve been working on.”

Even though Bridgit is good friends with the rest of the cast, she did say that she would love to have her real life friends join her on screen in an episode! “I’ve already had one of my really good friends guest star, so that was awesome to have her on the show. I would love to have my best friend on the show. She’s visited a couple of times, but she hasn’t actually been on it.”

“Generally we do live audience episodes and it’s really cool.” Bridgit said about filming the sitcom in front of a live studio audience. “What definitely puts me at ease is having all my lines memorized. If I don’t have my lines memorized and I go out there in front of the group of people, and I mess up, it’s kind of embarrassing. I wanna have all my lines down so I know what I’m doing in the scene, and I’m ready to go.“

Be sure to tune in to Disney tonight at 8:30pm to watch the show! Brigit also appears on the Disney Mania 7 CD, where she sings When She Loved Me. The CD is in stores now!

Source: Teen Daily

Take the biology joke originally considered for the network’s new sitcom “Good Luck Charlie,” which is slated to premiere in the spring. A teenage girl and her “hot” classmate are snuggled on the couch during a study date. When he reaches to turn off the light, she was to say: “Now I’m in the mood for some biology.”

The line received a hearty laugh at a table reading but also raised the eyebrows of Adam Bonnett, Disney Channel’s senior vice president of original series, who jokingly asked the show’s creative team if they could convey the same information without being “so . . . biological.” The dialogue was eventually replaced by a chaste glance. “There was sensitivity that she was being a little too forward,” Bonnett said.

At most other networks, where many sitcoms swim in the muck of lowbrow humor, the joke in question might well have been thrown out too, but for an entirely different reason — namely, that it wasn’t “biological” enough. And even with most other programs on Disney Channel, which courts and still has a dominant hold on the tween audience, the line probably wouldn’t have made it to the table read stage.

But Disney is trying something different with “Good Luck Charlie,” a show it hopes will reach across generations in the same way that NBC’s “The Cosby Show” and ABC’s “The Wonder Years” once did. In seeking out this older demographic, however, the network faces a dilemma: Can it craft a comedy sophisticated enough — and realistic enough — to appeal to adults without alienating its core viewers, who, after all, come to Disney to avoid racier programming?

“What ‘Good Luck Charlie’ represents is an evolutionary step to really put the family into our kid-driven family brand,” said Gary Marsh, Disney Channel’s entertainment president. “Do I think this will be a first choice for 35- to 40-year-old moms? Not necessarily . . . . But if we do our jobs properly and we create the authenticity we’re talking about, it will allow us to tackle stories in a more grounded way that will be more appealing to parents than other shows we’ve done before.”

Disney Channel’s attempt to capitalize on the timeless appeal of the family sitcom in hopes of luring children and adults reflects a larger industrywide return to more inclusive comedies — such as ABC’s “Modern Family,” CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and Fox’s high school-centered musical comedy “Glee.”

For now, Disney Channel maintains a prime-time ratings edge over its principal cable rival, Nickelodeon, among tweens on the strength of shows such as “Sonny With a Chance,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “The Suite Life on Deck.” The shows, which appeal to adolescents ages 9 to 14, revolve around the exploits of teen stars Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Dylan and Cole Sprouse. But Nick is gaining momentum at night, airing reruns of such sitcoms as “Malcolm in the Middle” and ” George Lopez.”

Like those programs, “Good Luck Charlie” seeks to mine the mirth of the everyday. But unlike the traditional, adult-centric family sitcoms, the series is told principally through the eyes — and video diary entries — of the show’s 17-year-old protagonist, Teddy, played by Bridgit Mendler. Together with teenage brother P.J. (Jason Dolley) and 10-year-old brother Gabe (Bradley Steven Perry), Teddy pitches in to help their working parents care for their new baby sister, Charlotte (a.k.a. Charlie).

“I like the realness of it. I like the more authentic tone,” said Dolley, who has been in the Disney Channel films “Hatching Pete” and “Minutemen.” “I like the family sitcom. That’s something different for Disney, which also appealed to me.”

The new comedy makes a calculated departure from the cruise ship and rock star fantasies of the channel’s other shows, which can seem off-puttingly opulent in today’s anxious financial times. Instead, its creators — Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, the forces behind “Suddenly Susan” and “What I Like About You” — opted for the living room.

“What we want to do is acknowledge the reality of the times in which we live, where two parents work, where kids are expected to help out around the house in meaningful ways. Real-life issues happen,” Marsh said. “Everyone isn’t living ‘The Life of Riley’ all the time.”

The higher ambitions for the show, however, remain grounded in the ultra-safe Disney brand. The writers are constrained by that sensibility, which make sexual double-entendres and bawdy wordplay out of the question.

“We will try to do something that’s made to appeal on an adult level, but we don’t want to exclude the kids,” said Vaupen. “If it is something that plays to the adults and not to the kids, our rule is: Will this elicit a conversation between parents and child that might be uncomfortable? So, if the answer to that is yes, then we probably won’t do it.”

Take, for example, the Darwinian outcome of one joke based on the evolution chart.

“[Disney] wanted us to go away from that for fear of [upsetting] people who don’t believe in evolution,” Vaupen said. “We’re going to shoot that line but have an alternate just in case down the road we can’t go that way.”

Something the show did not turn away from during a recent shoot was physical comedy — specifically, projectile vomit. Baby Charlie splatters Teddy’s jacket as her big sister leans in to coo over her. And then there was a suggestion to up the stakes. “Can we take this a little bit further and have the baby spit up on her face?” Bonnett asked. “I would love to just see it right in her face.”

Dan Staley, a veteran television writer and one of the show’s executive producers, wondered whether that would be excessive. “Not for our audience,” Bonnett replied. “You’ve got to give them that punch.”

The show also didn’t flinch when it came to an airborne baby. One scene called for the baby-toting father to trip down the stairs, momentarily launching the little one (who is safely caught moments later). Like anything else in the carefully controlled world of Disney, the comic idea was focus-tested to assure that it drew the desired response: laughter.

“There was a lot of talk about it. There were a lot of meetings about it,” said Bonnett. “The way it’s done. It works in execution. It scared a lot of people on the page, but it works in execution.”

Even more unusual is the exchange it elicits between the husband and wife, in which she confesses to feeling overwhelmed by the conflicting demands of career and parenthood. That conversation wouldn’t happen on most Disney Channel series, where the parents play an unfailingly supporting role to the tween stars.

“The mom confesses that she’s overwhelmed; she’s not sure she can pull this off,” Bonnett said. “And just playing that scene the way we did, a very real scene between husband and wife, kind of makes this show different.”

Source: LA Times

A wholesome celebrity- academy graduate, Bridgit Mendler, 16, is the star of the next new Disney Channel sitcom.

Bridgit Mendler is a willowy, blond teen with a sweet singing voice and decent comic timing. She’s also the show-biz equivalent of the next iPhone — a young Disney star-in-waiting. Mendler, 16, is getting the full Disney Channel rollout. Introduced with recurring guest spots on two of its hit shows, Jonas and Wizards of Waverly Place, she will star in her own series, Good Luck Charlie, in 2010. “I’ve been told to brace myself,” says Mendler. “If we have the success I hope we have with the show, everything will change.”

Mendler is following a path to fame the channel has mapped over the past three years as it has launched serial stars into orbit: the supernova Miley Cyrus in 2006, Selena Gomez in 2007, the Jonas Brothers in 2008 and Demi Lovato this year.

Source: Time (click to view full story)

The 16-year-old actress is the newest girl that the network is banking on, but she’s already been around for quite some time.  On Wizards of Waverly Place, she’ll be portraying the character Juliet who ends up forming a romance with Justin (David Henrie).

Beginning with “Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place,” we’ll get to know Juliet as she moves in with her batty family and rivals the Russo’s restaurant.  A new sandwich shop called the Late Night Bite opens in Waverly, so Jerry (David DeLuise) sends his son in to spy.

Justin obeys, but when he locks gazes with Juliet, he immediately falls for her.  Unfortunately, their opposing backgrounds turn their parents wary, so both are forbidden to date the other.

While we watch out for the talents of Bridgit Mendler as the Wizards of Waverly Place episode airs on July 24, let’s see what other shows she’s been in.  Born on December in Washington D.C., she has landed plenty of roles since she expressed an interest in acting.

Mendler began her career with a small role in the soap opera General Hospital, before playing the part of Pamela Jones in 2007′s Alice Upside Down (with fellow Disney star Alyson Stoner).  The next year, Bridgit got a part in the teen flick The Clique and was followed by an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show.

For the Disney Channel, she made her debut on the comedy J.O.N.A.S., as Penny, the love interest of Nick Jonas.  Appearing on two episodes, Mendler was later signed for a lead role in her own sitcom.  After working on Wizards of Waverly Place, she set out to film the upcoming series Good Luck Charlie which will air next year.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mendler will be playing the character Teddy Holliday.  Joining her is Disney actor Jason Dolley as her brother.  Good Luck Charlie revolves around these two siblings as they try to take care of their little sister Charlie while both parents are out working.  The twist of the show is that Teddy’s making a video diary of her sister’s everyday adventures.

Source: Buddy TV