It would be hard not to notice that The Disney Channel has become one of the most successful cable channels in recent history. Aside from the vault full of classic movies at its disposal, the team behind the scenes chose to aim for a specific demographic, smartly targeting those viewers that fall between small children and teenagers. Commonly referred to as tweens, this group makes up a large viewer base, and The Disney Channel's campaign at grabbing this group has met with incredible success. Unless you have been hiding under the proverbial rock, you have likely heard of Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Camp Rock and the Jonas Brothers. Slightly lesser known, yet equally as smart and entertaining, was the series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which actually pre-dates all of the previously mentioned titles, running from 2005-2008. The story followed a set of twins growing up in a plush hotel, being raised by a single mother who was the lounge singer at said hotel. It differs from all of the other big hit shows in that it is not musically affiliated. In the Fall of 2008, the series was re-envisioned and renamed The Suite Life On Deck, moving the main cast out of the hotel and on to a ship where the boys and their friends are enrolled in a semester at sea program.

The recently released DVD entitled The Suite Life On Deck: Anchors Away! features six episodes from the new series. Included is the two-part pilot episode and four other non-sequential shows from the first season. Many of the cast have made the transition to life at sea, including obviously Zack and Cody Martin (Dylan and Cole Sprouse), London Tipton (Brenda Song) and Mr. Moseby (Phill Lewis). Notably absent is Ashley Tisdale, who, after achieving an impressive amount of success in her recurring role in the High School Musical movies, has moved on in her career. She does make a guest appearance in one episode, which is included on this DVD. Some newcomers join the regular cast, including Bailey Pickett (Debby Ryan), a small-town girl who had to masquerade as a boy to get accepted into the school at sea program, and Woody (Matthew Timmons), who plays Cody's noisy and smelly roommate.

The show continues with the standard antics of the boys, although, being older, there are noticeably more flirting and romantically inclined hi-jinks. None of this material goes beyond a "G" rating, but it is a shift nonetheless. The show is well acted and scripted, being silly, yet entertaining enough that adults will not feel the immediate need to vacate the premises. In addition to the six episodes included on the disc, two of which are listed as "bonus episodes," there are also two other bonus features. The first is a short interview with Debby Ryan entitled "Debby On Deck." The second is a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on the premiere of the new series. All in all, the show remains a fun and entertaining series. The change of venue allows for some different antics, but it is pretty much more of the same that has kept the show going for four years now. As I've stated before in other reviews of Disney series DVDs, I am not a fan of releasing random series episodes on individual discs, much preferring to have the entire season in one package, but for entertaining younger audiences or as a quick and easy gift, there are far worse ways to spend your money than The Suite Life On Deck: Anchors Away!".