Disney Announces End of ‘High School Musical’ Series

In 2006, Disney released the first film in one of its most successful franchises to date — High School Musical. It may be hard to believe, but both High School Musical and High School Musical 2 were both Disney Channel Original Movies. It wasn’t until the third film that fans got to see Troy, Isabella, Chad, Sharpay, and their friends on the big screen. The series was such a hit that special stage shows were created for Disney Parks, and a new series — High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — was produced for Disney+.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premiered on Disney+ when the streaming service launched in November 2019. The series took place at the school that was used to film the original High School Musical movies. The first season showed the students who attend the school putting on a production of High School Musical, hence the name of the series. The series was a hit and some of the stars of the show expanded their careers and now have found success in the music industry — most famously Olivia Rodrigo.

The show stars Rodrigo as Nini, Joshua Bassett as Ricky, Frankie Rodriguez as Carlos, Sofia Wylie as Gina, Kate Reiders as Miss Jenn, and Julia Lester as Ashlynn.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has been a staple on Disney+ for almost four years, but sadly, the show will not be around for year five. According to showrunner Tim Federle, the show will be ending after season 4 airs this summer. Federle shared the news on Instagram.

We’re all in this together — one more time. Stream the final season of #HSMTMTS this summer on @DisneyPlus!

Credit: Tim Federle Instagram

Federle then released a short statement to The Hollywood Reporter:

“This series was always about found family, and about making something you love with people you love. In other words, it was a tribute to theater kids. I can’t wait for our dedicated fan base to watch this world-class cast take a final bow.”

Season 4 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series will premiere on Disney+ on August 9. What will make this season special is that many cast members from the original films will show up in the series. This includes Corbin Bleu (Chad), Monique Coleman (Taylor), Lucas Grabeel (Ryan), Bart Johnson (Jack Bolton), Alyson Reed (Ms. Darbus), and Kaycee Stroh (Martha). The actors will return to their original HSM roles for the “movie-within-the-show”.