History Series / WizardsOfWaverlyPlace

* ThreeAmigos: Justin, Alex and Max. [[SiblingRivalry Sometimes...]]
** Also Justin, Alex and Harper. See "Justin's New Girlfriend" as an example.

** In "Franken Girl", Justin brings his creation to life using [[Film/BackToTheFuture 1.21 gigawatts]] of electricity.

* HardTruthAesop: The special "Alex VS. Alex" shows that is better for you and everyone else to be accepting of your negative qualities rather than forcing someone. Alex is constantly pressured by her parents to change, but she eventually realizes that she should stay true herself no matter what everyone thinks.

[[caption-width-right:327:[[DysfunctionalFamily Power]] [[SiblingRivalry Trio…]] [[BlatantLies right?]]]]

-->-- '''{{Music/Selena Gomez}}''', ''[[ThematicThemeTune Everything Is Not as It Seems]]''

''Wizards of Waverly Place'' (2007-2012) is an Emmy Award-winning Creator/DisneyChannel [[Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse sitcom]] about three siblings growing up in New York and dealing with the typical problems all teenagers go through. The catch? [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin They're wizards]]. Shares [[FollowTheLeader some]] [[Manga/SallyTheWitch qualities]] [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch with]] [[Series/{{Bewitched}} other]] [[Series/Charmed1998 shows]] and [[Film/HarryPotter movies]], but manages to distinguish itself with clever writing, and (in later seasons) a [[ContinuityCreep strong focus on continuity]]. [[HilarityEnsues Hijinks ensue]] as Alex (Music/SelenaGomez), Justin (Creator/DavidHenrie) and Max Russo (Creator/JakeTAustin) try to deal with being wizards while not exposing magic to the normal world.

The show finished airing its 4th season on January 6, 2012, and boasts a successful [[TheMovie made-for-TV movie]] and ''two'' consecutive Emmy wins. This is one of only six times Disney has ordered a 4th season of one of their [[Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse live-action shows]], the others being ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'', ''Series/AustinAndAlly'' and ''Series/{{JESSIE}}''. It is also their longest running live-action series with 106 episodes by production order - only ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', which runs episodes in an 11-minute format (and ran three more years, from 2007-2015), has more on the network.

TheMovie (simply titled ''Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie'') concerned the Russo family spending their vacation in the Caribbean; Alex makes a wish that goes awry due to magic and she must team up with her siblings to reverse the effects. ''Wizards'' also participated in a Massive {{Crossover}} Event titled ''Wizards [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck On Deck]] with Hannah Montana''.

The series finale aired on January 6th, 2012 with the Family Wizard Competition that will decide which of the three siblings will become the family wizard.

A one-hour TV special called ''The Wizards Return: Alex [[VersusTitle vs.]] [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Alex]]'', reuniting the main cast of the show, was broadcasted in March 2013. Music/SelenaGomez not only returned to her Wizards role, but [[DirectedByCastMember was also an executive producer of the movie]]. Creator/DavidHenrie did not reprise his role, citing various reasons.

** Justin: His Pride. Due to his intelligence and skills in magic, Justin fails to realize that sometimes he makes a mistake and how his ideas are not always the best, which backfires on him a couple of times throughout the series. [[spoiler:A key example is in the opening of season 4, where Professor Crumbs tested him and his siblings, which he revealed the existence of Wizards to a government agency because he thought he was helping them fought an alien invasion because they used a language Justin and his friends made up in his "Alien Language League" club, getting him demoted from a level 5 wizard to a level 1 wizard by Professor Crumbs as punishment for failing the test.]]

** Max, on the other hand, is now made of this trope. Hmm... make things harder for your older brother to win the family wizard contest by taking a book with every single type of monster in existence, release all of these monsters into [[CityOfAdventure New York City]] - and when [[RedshirtArmy all of the other Monster Hunters]] are [[CurbStompBattle killed by the hordes of monsters]] (not to mention God knows how many [[{{Muggles}} normal people]], not a word is said or anything done to Max. Hell, they were going to take away Alex's powers FOREVER for turning her parents and a teacher into guinea pigs...

* MoodWhiplash: The show is a lighthearted teenage comedy without any serious consequences for anyone for years until suddenly Justin's very old vampire girlfriend ages to her real age and Alex's boyfriend turns out to be a {{jerkass}} and is turned permanently into a wolf.
** For further context, Alex had helped Juliet reunite with Justin...and her boyfriend Mason blurts out that he used to date Juliet and says [[WhamLine he still loves her]]. That stops the happy feelings, and Alex [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness holes herself up in her room crying]], with [[BigBrotherInstinct Justin understandably angry on both his sister]] and his current girlfriend's behalf. Her mother even says it's not like her to be this upset. When Mason comes to try and explain himself, Alex gives a ListOfTransgressions about herself, and it becomes an OverlyLongGag until her parents say, "We get it, Alex; you screwed up a lot". Then Alex points out for all her faults, she never told someone "accidentally" that she still loved them while dating someone else. Mason's attempts to prove to Alex that he loves her and not Juliet end up backfiring when Justin picks a fight with him for breaking Alex's heart and Juliet has to bite Mason to save Justin, sacrificing her eternal youth in the process and Mason seems to become a wolf permanently.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: {{Inverted|Trope}}, in the movie. It was more like an Anguished Declaration of Admiration/Desperation. This is {{lampshaded}} in "Delinquent Justin." They're probably saving the 'I love you' for a crowner in the final movie/finale.
** Which didn't happen - perhaps because TPTB felt that having that happen would take the focus off the wizard competition and onto Alex/Justin - which is probably why they made Mason a StalkerWithACrush on Alex, and had her eventually get back with him ([[Literature/{{Twilight}} sound familiar, anyone?]]).

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: {{Inverted|Trope}}, in the movie. It was more like an Anguished Declaration of Admiration/Desperation. Justin and Alex may have IncestSubtext coming out of every orifice, but saying they love each other is the one thing they refuse to do. This is {{lampshaded}} in "Delinquent Justin." They're probably saving the 'I love you' for a crowner in the final movie/finale.

** [[spoiler: Then Professor Crumbs, impressed with Justin's honesty, rewards him by retiring as Headmaster of Wiz-Tech and making Justin his successor, allowing Justin not to just keep and get his full wizard powers, but also allowing to continue his relationship with Juliet.]]

* BigWhat: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", Alex and Harper discover that Max has been secretly dating a girl named Nancy, and had hidden it from the rest of the family so the wouldn't be embarrassed by them. Eventually Theresa finds out, and she scolds Max for lying about Nancy and keeping secrets. Taking her advice to heart, Max decides to be more honest with Nancy and tell her the truth about who his family is, which leads to this:

* BigWhat: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", Alex and Harper discover that Max has been secretly dating a girl named Nancy, and had hidden it from the rest of the family so the wouldn't be embarrassed by them. Eventually Theresa finds out, and she scolds Max for lying about Nancy and keeping secrets. Taking her advice to heart, Max decides to be more honest with Nancy and tell her the truth about who he is, which leads to this:

* BigWhat: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", Alex and Harper discover that Max has been secretly dating a girl named Nancy, and had hidden it from the rest of the family so the wouldn't be embarrassed by them. After Theresa later finds out, she scolds Max for lying about Nancy and keeping secrets. Taking her advice to heart, Max decides to be more honest with Nancy and tell her the truth about who he is, which leads to this:

* BigWhat: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", Alex and Harper discover that Max has been secretly dating a girl named Nancy, and hadn't told the rest of the family so the wouldn't be embarrassed by them. After Theresa later finds out, she scolds Max for lying about Nancy and keeping secrets. Taking her advice to heart, Max decides to be more honest with Nancy and tell her the truth about who he is, which leads to this:

* BigWhat: In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", this is the Russo family's reaction to learning how Max misinterpreted Theresa's advice about telling his girlfriend Nancy the truth about who he is.

'''Jerry, Theresa, Justin and Alex:'' ''YOU '''WHAT'''?!''

* BrotherChuck:
** Gigi, the school AlphaBitch and Alex's archenemy, disappeared early in the second season and hasn't been referenced since (probably because [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Alex was becoming alot worse than her now]], so their rivalry had little point any more.)
** Brad, who said he'd [[SecretChaser find out why the Russos were so weird]] then was never mentioned again.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Miranda, Riley, Gigi (and by extension, the Wannabes), the Monotone Lady, and Juliet's parents. Briefly Dean suffered this syndrome after season 2, before being brought back in season 4. Kelbo also doesn't appear in season 4, though mentioned.

%%* DysfunctionalFamily: ''[[SarcasmMode This night should be like any other family game night]]''.

* {{Expy}}: Alex is basically a female version of Hyde from ''Series/That70sShow''. And looks like she could be Jackie's sister.
** The Alex and Mason relationship is very much like another relationship - and the episode where Alex met Mason's family (all of whom wanted to eat her) makes the entire relationship (after ''Wizards Vs. Werewolves'') seem like a bad rehash of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.