Questionable Things We Ignored In Hannah Montana
Disney Channel in the late 2000s was dominated by "Hannah Montana," a sitcom about a young teenager named Miley Stewart who secretly lives a double life as the show's titular pop star. With the help of her country singer father and her two best friends, Miley balances living like an ordinary girl with the pressures of being a celebrity. A hilarious cast and catchy tunes helped make "Hannah Montana" a massive success that spawned several soundtracks, two movies, and household name status for Miley Cyrus.
Since "Hannah Montana" was on a children's network, the show was tame when it came to its humor. Still, like many kids' shows, the writers still knew how to have fun and placed some sly innuendoes here and there that would fly over the heads of younger viewers. Not only that, there were also several instances where certain plot points either didn't make sense or should never have happened in the first place. Here are some of the more "questionable" jokes and moments from the "Hannah Montana" series that most of us choose to ignore.
Oliver's inappropriate comments and behavior
Miley's best friends are Lilly Truscott (Emily Osment) and Oliver Oken (Mitchel Musso). When he's first introduced, Oliver is both unlucky in love and obsessed with being Hannah Montana's boyfriend. He talks constantly about watching her every day and shampooing her hair, which should set off some major red flags. Oliver's obsession with Hannah takes center stage in "Miley, Get Your Gum" when he tells Miley that he loves Hannah. She worries that if he finds out about her alter ego, she'll become the object of his fixation, too — which doesn't sound fun, given that in this episode Oliver goes as far as chasing down Hannah's limo and sticking his hand through the window asking for a kiss. He really needs to learn some boundaries.
Once Oliver finds out about Hannah's true identity, though, his obsession goes away, and he returns to pining for other women. Many of his efforts in this area are comical, but there are still times when he makes comments that aren't really suitable for the kids in the audience. In "Oops, I Meddled Again," Oliver finds out a girl has a crush on him, and says she wants to take a ride on the "Ollie Trolley." Younger viewers might not have gotten Oliver's joke about a woman "riding" his trolley, but older audience members know what he probably meant.
The Stewarts' neighbor and his revealing robe
Mr. Dontzig (Paul Vogt) is a frequent recurring character in the early seasons of "Hannah Montana." He's a nosy neighbor who always tries to find ways to antagonize Miley's dad Robby (Billy Ray Cyrus) and her brother Jackson (Jason Earles). His introduction comes in "Miley, Get Your Gum" when he arrives at the Stewart house to complain about leaves from their yard landing in his hot tub.
As Mr. Dontzig approaches, Jackson laments that he is wearing his robe again. Robby then reminds Jackson to be relieved that at least it's the "long one" this time. While Mr. Dontzig is certainly free to wear whatever size robe he wants, he should consider the fact that there are other people around. The idea of there being an even shorter robe than the one in this scene — one that reveals even more and that he clearly wears outside where the Stewarts and some of his other neighbors can see — is not something any child needs to think about.
Jackson gets a sign stuck in an uncomfortable place
Even though Jackson and Miley don't always seem to get along all that well, they do tend to get into some crazy adventures together in a number of episodes, whether they like it or not. In "She's A Supersneak," Miley and Jackson plan to sneak out of their house after their father grounds them. They end up at a movie theater, only to discover that Robby is there as well. The siblings are then shocked to discover that Robby is on a date with a woman and didn't tell them.
Feeling betrayed, Miley convinces Jackson to help investigate the woman to see if she's right for their father. After locating Robby's mysterious date at her office, Miley and Jackson hide in a closet when their father walks in. It is here that Jackson gets a For Sale sign stuck "in his backyard." Older viewers know exactly what area Jackson is talking about even if younger viewers don't: That is definitely not a place you want to get something stuck. It seems unlikely that this would happen in real life, but we overlook that for the sake of the joke.
Jackson becomes Miley's boyfriend
Jackson is usually dismissive about Miley's double life, choosing not to get involved with it if he can help it. However, he was thrust into the spotlight in "My Boyfriend's Jackson and There's Gonna Be Trouble." When a photographer follows Hannah back to her house, she tries to cover it up, knowing that if the paparazzi find out her real address, they'll soon discover her civilian identity. So Hannah lies and says she's just visiting her friend Jackson — but of course, the media quickly assumes that he his actually Hannah's boyfriend. A media frenzy ensues, and when Miley tries to publicly "break up" with him to put the matter to rest, Jackson abandons the plan, wanting to remain Hannah's beau in order to become more famous.
The premise of this episode raises a lot of eyebrows. Hannah may be an alternate persona for Miley, but they're still the same person, and the idea of Jackson pretending to be his sister's boyfriend is just creepy. It also doesn't help that Jackson's actor, Jason Earles, was almost 30 around the time he played Miley's brother, while Cyrus was in her early teens. What might have sounded like a funny idea on paper is actually very hard to think about in retrospect.
Hannah's bodyguard pretends to be a teenager
Speaking of massive age differences, another minor character from the show's first few seasons is Roxy (Frances Callier), Hannah's bodyguard and trusted family friend. Roxy takes her job very seriously, sometimes a little too much so. In "Schooly Bully," Roxy is tasked with looking after Miley while Robby and Jackson are away. A new girl at school starts bullying Miley and Lilly, and when Miley won't go to the principal for help, Roxy goes undercover as a student to confront the bully and protect Miley.
The idea of Roxy pretending to be a teenager shouldn't be too far-fetched. After all, this is a series that revolves around a teenage girl who puts on a blonde wig to become a completely different person, and somehow no one can tell that they're one and the same. Still, Roxy is clearly a much older person than everyone else at the high school: She should not have been able to pass as a new student. It would have made a lot more sense for her to pose as someone like a staff member or substitute teacher.
Hannah wins a 'Booty' award
This is one of those instances where the same double entendre gets repeated ad nauseam throughout the episode. In "Cuffs Will Keep Us Together," Miley learns that Hannah is up for a country music accolade called the Silver Boot Award — better known as the "Booty" award. This, of course, leads to several butt jokes throughout the episode. Miley fantasizes about going up on stage "holding her own Booty," which leads to Robby reminiscing about looking at his own "Booty."
The joke gets even more mileage when Miley and Lilly start fighting due to the fact that, earlier in the episode, Lilly didn't pick Miley to be on her team in gym class. When Miley points out that she won a "Booty" award, Lilly responds by saying that she could really use one. An obvious jab at Miley's figure in a fit of anger, it's yet another example of a more adult-geared joke that was used to its full potential (and maybe beyond) in the episode.
Miley gets in trouble with a 'giant wiener'
Another double entendre, this one isn't constantly repeated throughout the episode like the "Booty" joke, but it runs in a similar vein. When Miley loses her voice in "I Am Hannah, Hear Me Croak," she must undergo surgery in order to sing again. Understandably, Miley starts to worry that the surgery will go wrong and she'll never sing again. Jackson makes matters even worse by positing an absolutely outrageous worst-case scenario.
In this scenario, a convoluted series of events leads to a super-sized radioactive hot dog causing a massive power outage while Miley is on the operating table, causing the surgery to go wrong and the pop star to lose her singing voice. Miley runs off, shouting (as best she can with her damaged voice) that her career is going to end because of a "giant wiener." Kids will probably hear this joke and think about an actual hot dog, but older people with raunchier minds can clearly see what the writers were going for with this innuendo.
Jackson and Oliver's comments about Lilly's mom
There were plenty of big guest stars on "Hannah Montana." One of the biggest was Heather Locklear as Lilly's mom, who is also named Heather. In the episode "Lilly's Mom Has Got It Going On," Robby and Heather host a PTA meeting at the Stewart house. When the meeting ends, Jackson enters the room and sarcastically asks his dad to have the next PTA meeting in their hot tub so he can look at Lilly's mom.
It's a pretty crass joke to make about someone else's mother, made even worse by the fact that Heather was in the same room when he said it! But this isn't the only instance in the episode where one of Lilly's friends uncomfortably lusts after her mother. When Robby and Heather agree to go on a date together, Oliver asks Lilly to tell her mom to wear a specific dress because she looks "so hot" in it.
These two teenage boys aren't just making inappropriate comments about their friend's mom. No, it's beyond that. They're basically trying to orchestrate occasions to ogle her and get her to wear revealing clothing for their own gratification.
Aunt Dolly bounces in ... and that's all she has to do
Two other major guest stars who made their way onto "Hannah Montana" were comedian Vicki Lawrence and musician Dolly Parton. Lawrence played Miley's grandmother Ruthie, and Parton played her godmother Dolly (referred to as Aunt Dolly). These two come together in "I Will Always Loathe You" when Miley is up for another music award. While the two women initially want to celebrate Miley's accomplishment, Ruthie and Dolly can't stop fighting over a former lover instead.
According to Miley, Ruthie was dating Elvis Presley once upon a time and was deeply in love with him ... But then Aunt Dolly "bounced in," and the rest was history. It's never explicitly stated what exactly Dolly did to get Elvis to dump Ruthie for her, but it can be inferred from the descriptive language about "bouncing in" that Dolly used her figure to do exactly that. This is further suggested later in the episode when Dolly says Elvis loved her sense of humor, to which Ruthie replies that that wasn't the reason Elvis was with her: Ruthie is making the problematic assertion that Dolly doesn't have a personality and is only good for her looks.
A pop star named Isis
This instance is less of a controversy or inappropriate joke and more of an unfortunate coincidence. In the episode "Yet Another Side Of Me," Miley starts to get worried that her fans will grow tired of her if she doesn't drastically change her image and freshen things up. She starts getting this idea after meeting Isis, another famous pop star who is known for changing up her look and sound to perpetually stay relevant. She even ends up adopting Hannah's look at the end of the episode.
The most interesting thing about this one-off character is that she went through a name change. If you try to watch the episode on Disney+ now, the character has her name censored to Ice, with last syllable of her name edited out. There has never been a public explanation for this change, but it probably has to do with the fact that the pop star shares her name with the terrorist group ISIS, and Disney likely wanted to avoid that association. (There is also an ancient Egyptian goddess named Isis, but she's not nearly as salient in modern culture as the terrorist organization.)
Soot happens
Less of a double entendre and more of an attempted play on words, the "soot happens" joke is questionable because of how much of a reach it is. It all starts when Grandma Ruthie returns in "B-B-B-Bad To The Chrome," arriving at the Stewart home in her old, beat-up car. The family tries to convince her to get a new ride, but Ruthie is reluctant, protesting that her current vehicle has too many memories wrapped up in it. When she tries to start the car again, Miley and Jackson get blasted with soot as they're standing behind the car trying to get her bags out.
Miley eventually cleans herself off, and Ruthie apologizes for unintentionally blasting her with the exhaust pipe. Miley graciously forgives her and shrugs, saying, "Soot happens." Once you're past the age when you would just ignore it, it's pretty obvious which more-colorful adult phrase Miley is referencing when she says this. It is Disney Channel, after all, and it's extremely common for the network to replace certain four-letter words with more kid-friendly options that still get the joke across. But this one seems like a bit of a stretch, and it's not the only time Disney has tried a little too hard with one of these lines. Maybe by the end of the third season, the writers were been running on fumes in this joke department.
Feeling the goosebump
Jackson's closest friend throughout the series is Rico (Moises Arias), a rich and malicious little boy whom Jackson is employed by for most of the show. In the episode "It's The End Of The Jake As We Know It," Rico asks Jackson to help him secure a business deal, offering to pay him for his efforts. Jackson then dresses up as Rico's father to talk to a businessman Rico is trying to impress.
Fully committed to the role, Jackson starts overacting and begins asking the man to "feel his goosebump." He makes this demand several times, despite Rico's pleas to stop and the fact that the businessman is clearly getting uncomfortable. Jackson points to his arm whenever he asks the man to feel his goosebump, but would have been just as awkward, if not more so, with any other body part. The fact of the matter is, Jackson should not be pressuring anyone to "feel" any part of his body when they clearly don't want to.