shows in all of Disney Channel History). As That's So Raven ended (and its spin-off Cory in the House, came onto the air), a gap was made in Disney's live-action entertainment and thus, with the popularity of High School Musical, further live-action Kid Coms were punched out.The Verse in which the shows exist was first established with 2006's That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, followed by 2007's and 2009's Wish Gone Amiss Weekend and WizardsOn Deck with Hannah Montana, respectively. I'm In The Band episode "Weasels On Deck" placed it into the DCLAU, and showed that Disney XD shows could be in the DCLAU as well.Compare Disney Channel Animated Universe for Disney's animated equivalent and Nick Verse for Nickelodeon's equivalent. Not to be confused with the DCAU.Series confirmed to be in the Disney Channel Live-Action Universe:
Being a Spin-Off of That's So Raven and having several Crossovers with its parent show in the episodes "That's So in the House", "And the Weenie Is..." and "Uninvited Pest".
An indirect Crossover with Cory in the House and Hannah Montana in the episode "Super Twins", which takes place during the same time as the Cory in the House and Hannah Montana episodes "Gone Wishin'" and "When You Wish You Were the Star", where Zack and Cody, Cory, and Miley all wish on the same shooting star.
Disney XD's first original series, Despite going against the usual formula of the DCLAU the game Hero Rising appears in the Good Luck Charlie episode "Let's Potty".
The fictional TV program Teen Court, which features in the episode "Judge It Up", featured earlier in the Hannah Montana episode "You Are So Sue-able to Me".
Zeke And Luther - Different format than the DCLAU shows, but I'm In The Band references the show in "Road Tripp" when Burger yells "Skateboard on the sidewalk, Zeke!" after almost running someone over. However, it is in the same universe as "Pair Of Kings" and "Kickin' It" due to the character Dale Davis appearing in the episodes "An Ice Girl for Boomer" and "Wax On, Wax Off". It helps that both both of those episodes, plus the Zeke and Luther episode "Ice Heist Baby" all premiered on the same night and involved a Heat Wave.
Dog With A Blog - Has yet to establish any connection to the rest of the DCLAU.
Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The only DCOMs not adapted from any of the series that would be in the DCLAU, possibly linked by an Iron Weasel song from the final jam in the first movie.
Peter Punk - A sitcom produced by Disney XD Latin America. While it doesn't really follow the format, it had a direct crossover with Zeke And Luther.
Violetta - A Telenovela/Teen Drama produced by Disney Channel Latin America. It doesn't follow the format either, but Rock Bones, the band in the aforementioned "Peter Punk", has performed on the show.
Shows which are not in the DCLAU (aka Disney Channel independents):
JONAS - Despite its use of the Jonas Brothers, in the JONAS world, they are the Lucas Brothers and portray only Expies of their real-world selves. Contrast to their appearance on Hannah Montana, where they act as they would in real life.
Lizzie McGuire - The Spiritual Ancestor to the DCLAU, but it's not being referenced in current shows.
Also: "Yeah, well, Chad still believes that Miley and Hannah are two different people."
That was really the first actual line to put Sonny With A Chance outside of the DCLAU, and might've been a bit of a Retcon of a line Chad gave in 'Three's Not Company', an earlier episode, where Chad got rejected by Sonny and said that he knew someone would do it someday, but he expected it to be a "Tisdale" or "Montana". Maybe it was to make it so Gomez's guest starring episode would make sense, given that both Wizards Of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana are in the DCLAU. Plus, it freed them up to make all the Disney Channel jokes they wanted.
Mr Young - Another Canadian import made by a non-Disney house, unlikely to crossover with MBAV for geographic reasons - Young is based in Vancouver and MBAV in Toronto.
It is generally agreed that any show in production before That's So Raven is not in the DCLAU.
As well as any show not following a multi-camera laugh-track/live-audience format.
It is also agreed that the DCOMs that aren't explicitly adaptations of DCLAU shows are not in the DCLAU, and may be in a universe of their own.
Of course, all of the above are subject to change.
Tropes constant across the DCLAU
All There in the Manual: While not necessary to enjoy the shows, the information hosted on Disney Channel's website fills in a lot of the backstory behind the plots and characters. Is useful if you're dropping into the middle of something both plot- and continuity-heavy like Wizards.
Alternate History: Apparently, President Martinez takes the place of George W. Bush in the DCLAU, since by the Hannah Montana episode "Hannah Montana to the Principal's Office", Barack Obama is president.
Bigger Bad: Almost all DCLAU Show's have a Big Bad, but on Wizard of Waverly Place, Gorog seems to be the devil of the universe.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Done in kind of a weird manner in that often the characters will deliver a punch line and look directly at the camera while doing so, but not quite acknowledging that there is a fourth wall. It's just very weird.
California Doubling: Averted with surprising frequency in that a few of the series actually take place in California, but outside of The Movie filming virtually never leaves a Burbank soundstage.
Canon Welding: The three main founding shows of the universe (That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana) were initially not connected at all. However, when Disney Channel got the idea for That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, the shows were connected to be in the same universe (which itself had then been immediately established). As of this writing, Disney Channel continues to use this tactic to connect more shows to the universe.
Cash Cow Franchise: As the most popular shows on the channel, they get quite a lot of merchandise.
The idea and official recognition of a DCLAU seems in part motivated to establish the DCLAU itself as a (Cash Cow) Franchise, much like the shared universes/franchises of the Marvel (now incidentally owned by Disney) and DC franchises (or alterantively, Disney's own "Princess" franchise).
Played with as well. In The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Cody tells Max that she's a better dancer than the girl in the Missy Eliot video; both are portrayed by Alyson Stoner. Also in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Maddie believe that she looks exactly like Ashley Tisdale, to which everyone else replies with "I don't see it."
Comedic Sociopathy: Pretty common in most Disney Channel live action comedies, actually.
Crisis Crossover: The specials That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana and Wizards On Deck with Hannah Montana.
Red Skies Crossover/Cross Through: The Wish Gone Amiss Weekend, in which, rather than interact, three shows were impacted by the same event (a magic shooting star).
In the That's So Raven episode "Checkin' Out", Raven uses a device called a Secretech. The Secretech previously appeared in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody episode "Forever Plaid", where London used it in class to check her schedule.
In the Hannah Montana episode "Would I Lie to You, Lilly?", Miley, Lilly and Oliver have a class trip to the White House, which uses the same sets from Cory in the House.
Continuity Overlap: The single episodes in each series' that are a part of the Crisis Crossovers usually have an impact on other episodes in the crossovers, so much that it becomes downright confusing if you miss part of a crossover. Examples of this are Raven missing her flight in "Checkin' Out", causing her to stay in Boston in "That's So Suite Life Of Hannah Montana", and Bailey and Alex cheating in the Hannah Montana tug-of-war challenge in "Cast-Away (To Another Show)", which leads to Bailey trying to find another way to get concert tickets in "Double-Crossed".
Do It Yourself Theme Tune: A solid Disney tradition given how many shows promote musical talent, though there are notable exceptions (both Suite Life series and Shake it Up being some of the most prominent subversions, though the latter's is still sung by Selena Gomez).
Executive Meddling: Most prominently and visibly, when all of the shows are mandated to have a common theme or plotline to promote said common theme (a "mystery weekend" where all of the shows have plots centered around solving a mystery or a "vacation getaway weekend" where all of the shows focus on the main characters getting away on a vacation). Don't be surprised if at least one of the shows puts a serious Lampshade Hanging on how ridiculous or out of place such a contrived plotline seems, if not a more blatant Take That (the Scooby-DooShoutOuts on "Whodunnit Up?" being a borderline example for the latter).
The various Cross Overs being another example of Disney Channel Executive Meddling in practice.
So Random!! an example of an entire show being created/ReTooled half because of Executive Meddling (the other half due to the departure of Sonny With A Chance star Demi Lovato - really, the executives were just trying their best to salvage the situation)
Fleeting Demographic Rule: With few exceptions (presently only That's So Raven and Wizards), every series has ended at about 65-75 episodes.
Good Luck Charlie has been renewed for a fourth (and likely final) season (now the third series to likely reach 100 episodes), potentially indicating that 100 episodes may be the new benchmark.
High Concept: With only one real exception (Good Luck Charlie), all of the shows in the DCLAU have followed the high concept formula.
Hot Mom: If there is a mother figure in a starring role, chances are she'll be just as hot, if not hotter than her onscreen daughter, if any.
Loads and Loads of Characters: Obviously for the DCLAU as a whole (and regarding the combined rosters of crossover events), but many individual shows in the DCLAU tend to have large casts as well at least when including recurring roles.
The Movie: Wizards, Suite Life on Deck and Good Luck Charlie all got a television movie. A Jessie movie has been approved. Good Luck Charlie also got two hour-long specials and so did A.N.T. Farm. Shake it Up: Made in Japan is somewhere in between with a 90-minute air time; although not promoted as such, it's effectively a television movie too. And in at least one case (Hannah Montana), The Movie was an actual theatrical release.
Guest Appearances shouldn't mean anything. After all, Maddie Fitzpatrick and Ashley Tisdale apparently both exist in the DCLAU (and apparently, only Maddie herself ever noticed any resemblance between herself and the High School Musical star).
Running Gag: Offering fruit juice sweetened cupcakes (mostly in the more recent shows).
Running Gags in general: after all (and excluding the crossovers), running gags are what link the universe together in the first place. And of course each show will have its own set of running gags.
Secret Keepers: And the necessary supporters of those secrets.
Shouldn't We Be In School Right Now?: For the most part played straight in most series, but many shows (Wizards of Waverly Place, Shake it Up, the second season of Austin & Ally), the school setting actually features very prominently if not factoring into the plot in some fashion roughly Once an Episode. A.N.T. Farm is the most notable and largest Aversion as the high school and its social dynamics are the main focus.
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