'Hannah Montana' stays true to the end

"Hannah Montana" is no more. The hit . . . the franchise . . . the Disney Channel meal ticket . . . even the blond wig (especially that wig) were all officially retired Sunday night. How did it all end after four seasons? With a big hug and tears - not Miley Cyrus' but the audience's.

The ending was precisely as fans would have expected and almost certainly demanded: Miley decides to forego a Stephen Spielberg offer to star in a movie filmed in Paris - not an insignificant temptation - to head to Stanford with best friend Lilly Truscott (Emily Osment). Education trumped career. Friendship trumped both.

Fade to credits - and repeat episodes. It's on to another career for Cyrus, whose tempestuous, can't-be-tamed, off-screen life long ago turned into a cautionary fable for young starlets and the Disney machine that turns them out so effortlessly.

Except for the teen stars themselves, nothing much seemed to change over four seasons on "Hannah Montana," a sweet, gentle, by-the-book sitcom that carefully eschewed any references to sex, drugs or booze, making it sort of an alternate universe show to "Jersey Shore" or "Skins," which bows Monday night. Cyrus became a huge star in the process, struggled to segue into a more adult image and career, suffered a few indiscretions along the way (bong, lap-dancing), and alienated millions (mostly parents) who couldn't quite stomach the (ummm) creative dissonance.

But Sunday night, all was forgiven. Miley Stewart (Cyrus) headed off to college, and life - at least in sitcoms like "Hannah Montana" - does end happily ever after.