Starring Autumn Reeser as Sharpay….what?

Okay, so Disney really hit big on High School Musical, no? Like big, big. And not only did they cash in on the franchise with an ice show, stage tour, merchandise that’s pouring off the shelves, a Japanese kind of version, but MTV wants a part of it? Hell, why not?

MTV, not only known for bringing us the first music videos ever on television – we thank you ten fold – but also those addicting reality shows that you just can’t get enough of – The Hills, Laguna Beach, Real World, Making the Band, The Newlyweds – is now cashing in on the franchise as well. Seriously they are….and it’s starring not only Miss Taylor Townsend as the Sharpay-antagonist character, but also So You Think You Can Dance hottie, Neil Haskell. Shirtless scenes please!

But let’s get on to the good part, right? Right. So, we exchange the school for a mall, cast some Vanessa Hudgens & Zac Efron look-a-likes and cast them as the protagonist and a Gene Kelly-like janitor, throw in an actual Mrs. Montez who owns a music store, & Taylor Townsend as the girl who tries to take it all down, and I present to you: MTV’s Mall Musical! or, by MTV’s website, The American Mall.

Nina Dobrev, most known for her stint as Mia on Degrassi: The Next Generation, will play “Ally”, the Gabriella Montez-type role. Ally is the daughter of a music store owner, trying to save her mom’s store from going out of business.

Rob Hayes, hottie!, is not really well known, but damn, and this is between all you and me – tops Zac Efron ten times over! Have a look, I told ya, right?

And that’s not even the good part – MTV, I’m convinced, just wants to be Disney. Not only are they cloning High School Musical into Mall Musical, but they’re filming in Utah and they’re “borrowing” Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush for the production. Borden and Rosenbush are the producers of HSM. And just when you think I’m finished, I’m not.

The similarities between the two are uncanny. See, before Kenny Ortega, “God”, was a director he was a choreographer, right? Right. So, Borden and Rosenbush bring in Shawn Ku, who is what now? Yes! A Choreographer.

So what do we think? Will we watch it? I know, from my point of view, I liked Reeser’s character on the O.C., so I will tune in just for her. And who knows, it might surprise me.

sources: Billboard, Hollywood Reporter