Beck/Smith Hollywood

David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, Jennifer Stone, Selena Gomez, David DeLuise, Maria Canals Barerra

Selena Gomez just got her driver’s license last week, joining “Wizards of Waverly Place” cast mates David Henrie and Jennifer Stone as legal behind the wheel of a car.  Her TV younger brother Jake T. Austin, meanwhile, has applied for his learner’s permit – and has undergone a dramatic growth spurt since last season.

That’s the word from “Wizards” creator-producer Todd J. Greenwald, who is back into production of the popular Disney Channel series — for what will be its fourth and final season.  “It’s definitely bittersweet,” admits Greenwald.  He says he’s set up the number-being-served sign on the show’s deli set so that “it’s counting down the episodes we have left to shoot.  When we get down to zero, it’s going to be pretty emotional.”

On the sweet side, both the series and its 2009 telepic spinoff are up for Emmy honors.  Last year, “Wizards of Waverly Place” was named Outstanding Children’s Program.  The awards will be a family affair for Greenwald, whose mom is coming from New York to be on hand – and whose real-life son and daughter, Jordan and Julia, served as the models for Henrie’s and Gomez’ characters on the show.

As “Wizards” fans are well aware, the series is moving toward a day of reckoning when one of the three siblings will become a full-fledged wizard and the other two will go on to lives as mere mortals.

“Alex is going to have a wave of not wanting to be a wizard and then really wanting to be a wizard.  Max is definitely getting a little wiser, beginning to look like someone who could win.  And Justin, who has graduated from high school, is becoming more prominent in the wizarding world,” he notes of Gomez’, Austin’s and Henrie’s characters, respectively.  “With their maturity, anyone could win competition.  What I’m really looking forward is doing that episode.  It’s where we’ll go for broke.  We’re getting so many ideas, from classic games shows to shows like ‘Survivor,’ to high tech productions like ‘Avatar.’”

As for the already-greenlit next “Wizards” TV movie, he says, “I think it’s a great idea to explore what the family is like after one of the kids becomes a wizard – what happens after the big event.”

Hutch Dano

Hutch Dano, best known as the first half of “Zeke & Luther” on Disney XD, says he got a real kick out of playing a not-so-nice guy for a change in his “Den Brother” Disney Channel Original Movie, coming up Aug. 13.  In it, he’s a self-absorbed high school hockey player who winds up posing as the den mother – complete in old lady gear — of his little sister’s Bumble Bee troupe.  He then takes advantage of the situation and uses the little girls as his personal servants.  “I read the script and thought, ‘This guy is the worst big brother ever,’” notes Hutch, who has a little sister himself.

He is much nicer in real life, of course, and also as Henry Huggins – the children’s literature character he plays in “Ramona and Beezus,” opening today (7/23).  Dano admits he didn’t know Huggins until prepping for the part.

“I was trying to figure him out, to get as many layers as possible.  Not so much that he’s complex, but I had to find that gentle balance of his fun side and his shy side, and his wanting to be with Beezus,” he says, referring to Selena Gomez’ character in the 20^th Century Fox adaptation of the beloved Beverly Cleary book.

“One of the best things about working with Selena is, she’s a very giving actor,” he observes.  “She’ll help other actors with scenes.  I’ve seen her ask, ‘Would you like me to read this a different way?’  It’s really nice.”

With Season 2 of “Zeke & Luther” airing, Dano is awaiting word on Season 3.    “I’ve heard a lot of rumors that it’s happening,” he says of the series, which has performed well with the male kid and tween audience at which it’s aimed.  “But I try not to get too excited about anything until it’s confirmed.  I love doing the show.”

Corbin Bleu Samuel Goldwyn photo

Twenty-year-old “High School Musical” cutie Corbin Bleu is more than glad that his character’s family in his new “Free Style” movie is biracial, just like his own family.  He made a point of seeing to it that casting was done that way.  

He tells us that, with himself and his father two of the producers on the feature, opening tomorrow (10/9), “It was one thing we definitely wanted to play to.  So many times in films, you’ll have interracial kids, but they’ll still have two black parents.  At this time, right now, where we are now, you’re seeing many more interracial families.  So many people are mixing and it’s wonderful and that needs to be portrayed more in our films.”

Corbin notes that, being a producer, “This is the first time I got to take hold of some of the reins and I’d like to do more.  I was involved in locations and casting and wardrobe and all that.” 

He has other projects in development, including “a cool horror flick we’re working on.  It’s going to be fun.  You have to expand yourself out as much as you can. You can’t be stifled in any genre, any one thing.”

Hence, “Free Style,” in which he plays a gung-ho motocross racer.  For Corbin, it meant lots of training in motorcycle riding, which he’s come to love.  “Luckily, it was my dad who came out with me the first day on the course and not my mom, ‘cause if it was my mom, the first fall it would have been, ‘This movie’s not happening,’” he says with a laugh.

He also gets a romance with the “stunning” (his word) Sandra Echeverria.  He got to “have the chance to cast my leading lady and it was great,” he says, beaming.  And the presence of the Latina actress, “ended up bringing in another whole thing culturally.” 

SIBLING REVELRY:  Laura Silverman, the real life sister of comedienne Sarah Silverman, also plays her sister on the Comedy Central series “The Sarah Silverman Program.”  While Sarah is certainly the more known of the two, Laura tells us they couldn’t be more encouraging of each other in life and on the show.  “At first I was very hesitant during the first season.  I was very conscious of not trying to upstage Sarah in any way – to try to be completely supportive of her being the funny one.  It turns out we are equally supportive and we both have our moments to be funny on the show.  We are always in such awe of each other.  We watch each other at work with big smiles on our faces.  Unless she’s faking it, she seems to like what I do,” adds Laura with a smile. 

Laura Silverman

 While Sarah plays a chaotic, out there, fictionalized version of herself, Laura plays the responsible younger sister, which lends itself to a different kind of humor.  “I studied at first how to be the ‘straight’ person.  It’s something that has actually always interested me,” she tells us.  “There’s a little bit of theory behind it. You are responsible for setting the baseline of what’s normal in that world so that the main character can exist being the way she is instead of looking like she’s crazy or just a total a-hole.  The way I react to her allows her to exist in that way.  It’s been really fun exploring that world with Sarah and the rest of the cast.”  

MAGICALLY SPEAKING : When it comes to adolescent stars, “Wizards of Waverly Place” creator Todd J. Greenwald is an expert – having such shows as “Saved by the Bell” and “Hannah Montana” on his credit sheet.  So when he says he’s confident the “Wizards” teen trio won’t be ruined by the perils of fame, it’s worth asking why.  “It all starts with family, and everyone’s family from our cast is solid,” he says. “I love what I’m seeing with them.”  For instance, of Selena Gomez, he says, “She went to Africa as a speaker for UNICEF this past summer.  She’s really taking responsibility and trying to give a good example and I’m so proud of her for that.”

All this month – “Wiztober” – the Disney Channel series is featuring episodes that tie into Halloween themes.  The Oct. 16 show has family eldest brother Justin (David Henrie) bringing a real ghost into a neighborhood spooky house.  Now, there’s a prank. 

Peter Murietta, David Henrie, Maria Canals Barrera, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Stone, Jake T. Austin, Todd J. Greenwald

Greenwald tells us he’s savoring the moments with “Wizards,” which garnered Emmy honors last month.  They’re in production on their 35-episode third season, and, given that the cast is growing up fast, ‘Season 4 could be the last season.  It goes so quickly,” he notes.  “You’re doing a show and then suddenly it’s a memory.” 

Like “Saved By the Bell.”  Greenwald is still friendly with “Saved” cast members.  “I just saw Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley a couple of months ago,” he notes.  “That show was like a sitcom camp, and a bunch of them have gone on to do great things, like Mark Paul” – Gosselaar, that is.

WHO SAYS TV IS OUT OF IDEAS?:  Casting forces have been interviewing actors to reenact real-life drama for a forthcoming show called “Injured and Pregnant” – from the makers of “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.”  Honestly!  It’s for Discovery Health. 

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

David DeLuise and Maria Canals Barrera – a.k.a. Dad and Mom on the Disney Channel’s “The Wizards of Waverly Place” – were both taken by surprise by last week’s Emmy nominations announcements, in which their series received a Best Children’s Show nod. 

“I didn’t even know they were doing the announcements – or that we were in contention,” David says.  And Maria notes, “I have two little kids, so your mind is in a lot of places early in the morning.  It was a complete, wonderful surprise.  Everybody is really excited.  We all want to go together,” she adds, referring to their series children, Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin as well as cast mate Jennifer Stone.

The duo are busy working on the third season of their series, and they have the Aug. 28 “Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie” Disney Channel Original in the can.  Come September, Maria will be doing double duty, simultaneously shooting “Wizards” and “Camp Rock 2: The Final Showdown” – in which she reprises her role as the mother of Demi Lovato’s aspiring performer character.  The first “Camp Rock,” with Demi and the Jonas Bros., scored a megahit for the network, with ratings second only to “High School Musical 2.”

“The script is fantastic,” she says of “Camp Rock 2,” which has all the young stars back, and now pitted against each other in rival camps.  Of traveling back and forth between the series set and movie location, she says, “I’m thrilled to be doing it.”  And of her five and three-year-olds, “I’m bringing them with me!  They’re too little to be without mama and dada.  My husband is going to be coming with us.”

 AND:  DeLuise also is doubling up his jobs, but in his case, it’s all on “Wizards” as he is set to direct two episodes of the show this season.  “You have to be on your toes and be on top of everything that’s going on,” notes the youngest son of the late Dom DeLuise.  “I’ve done several episodes now, and I definitely enjoy behind the cameras.  As far as the future, what the world gives me, I go with.  If the directing continues, great.  I hope it does.  It’s very satisfying.”

 HIGH STEPPING:  Nigel Lythgoe, who created “So You Think You Can Dance” and serves as one of the show’s judges, tells us he couldn’t be happier with how much the world and, in particular, the dance community has begun to respect the level of talent coming from their show.  “There’s an integrity now in it and the dancers are being recognized by their names and so are the choreographers,” notes the British TV mogul.  “Before we started, choreographers were just choreographers and a lot of people didn’t even know what they did.  Now people are like, ‘I love Mia Michaels!‘” 

Danny and Gretchen Bonaduce

Gretchen Bonaduce tells us she and ex-husband Danny have been able to remain on good terms for the most part since their divorce, but things turned ugly when he appeared on her upcoming reality show “Re-inventing Bonaduce.” 

“I asked him to come on my show because everybody wanted to see us together on TV and that turned into a nightmare.  I didn’t talk to him for a couple of months after that because I was really angry.  Now we’re trying to rebuild some kind of relationship,” she says of the former “Partridge Family” star. 

“On one hand, I was disappointed and completely traumatized because he went crazy again.  As a producer on the show, though, I did realize that it will make people watch.  They want to see how things worked out between us.  I’m not sure, though, had I known he was going to be so unkind that I would have traded that off.” 

However, Gretchen admits she does wish him the best.  “He’s engaged to a really nice girl and I’m just thrilled he’s doing fine.” 

Despite some bumps, Gretchen tells us the show, which she got as a result of winning “Gimme My Reality Show,” is generally lighthearted. 

“It’s about me being a single mother, getting my company off the ground, my 80′s band, and it happened to be something that people were interested in,” she notes.  “I wanted to do something positive.  I wanted to empower women in my age bracket to let them know you can do whatever you want.  I’m 43 years old and I’m singing in a cover band!  Mainly it’s an opportunity to show people me.  I’m having fun and I’m doing what I want to do.  The only time the show is negative is when Danny is on.”  The show premieres May 23 on the Fox Reality Channel. 

ANOTHER CHAPTER:  “Supernatural” costar Jim Beaver admits he had misgivings about publishing his “Life’s That Way: a Memoir” — which consists largely of emails to friends and family that he wrote during and after the terminal illness of his wife, actress and casting director Cecily Adams (daughter of “Get Smart’s” Don Adams).  Her lung cancer was discovered shortly after their daughter Maddie was diagnosed with autism.  Jim’s book has won widespread acclaim and been likened to such cathartic works as Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking” 

“The weirdest part of it is, within a month or two of my starting the nightly newsletter email, several thousand people were reading it.  Yet when it came time to think of turning it into a book, it seemed too personal and private to share,” says the actor, also known as kindhearted prospector Ellsworth on “Deadwood” and as the sheriff in “Harper’s Island.”  “There is a big difference between sending out emails and putting something into book form.”  Writing those emails was a healing journey for him, and, “As hard as it was, I think that was what empowered me to continue with it in its original period of creation.  It was tough to sit down every night and spend 90 minutes or two hours, especially when I was getting no sleep anyway, and feeling drained in just about every possible way.  But at the same time, it allowed me to process what was happening.

“If it’s helpful to other people, that’s actually gravy,” he adds. 

In fact, Beaver already has received scores of letters from readers who say they’ve been touched and helped by his book.  

He’s currently focusing on time with Maddie, as both his latest shows are out of production – and he’s mum about the fate of his “Supernatural” demon hunter character, Bobby.  “I can’t say much at this point.  Soon I’ll be able to.  The cat will be out of the bag,” he says.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE:  Bruce Greenwood, who plays Captain Christopher Pike in the new “Star Trek,” says that making the No. 1 box office J.J. Abrams movie gave him a whole new appreciation for the “Star Trek” universe.  “As a kid I’d watch the original episodes, more to see the crazy aliens and the kooky outfits and figure out which lump of rock was real and which rock was fake.  I had no idea that the conflicts were so classic.”  Pike is known as the Captain of the Starship Enterprise prior to James T. Kirk’s ascension to that role.  “My Pike’s dilemma is very different from Jeffrey Hunter’s on the old show,” notes Greenwood, who’s played parts from John F. Kennedy to Beach Boy Dennis Wilson thus far in career.  “Not to give too much away, but there was one day of shooting that was very uncomfortable for me.  When you see it, you’ll understand.”

A MUSICAL NOTE:  “Wizards of Waverly Place” lead Selena Gomez says she’s aiming for a late summer-early fall release for her first album.  It’s been slow-going on the record, partly because she’s been so busy with her TV show (it goes back into production in June) and her forthcoming movies – the June-airing Disney Channel “Princess Protection Program” and the currently-shooting feature, “Beezus and Ramona.” And also because, “I’m taking my time to make sure the album is perfect and right for me.  It’s been going really good, but we’re keeping it under wraps a lot,” she tells us.  However, she says, she wants fans to know “It’s going to be fun and energetic.” 

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster