Fall TV: Hellcats

There's actually really no reason for anyone to read a review of Hellcats...you pretty much already know if you're going to like this show or not. Considering I'm a fan of such movies as Bring it On (which this show borrows from pretty liberally) and Stick it and ABCFamily's Make it or Break it, I obviously had to watch it. I'm actually kind of surprised it took this long for someone to come up with a cheerleading show...there have been what, three straight-to-video/TV sequels to Bring it On already?

Alyson Michalka is the lead, and she's pretty perfect for this. She's fun and sassy and doesn't look stupid or like she's trying too hard. Her character is Marti, the new girl on the fictional Lancer University's squad, and from her leather jacket and bike-riding, I gather she's supposed to be kind of an edgy outsider. The pilot was all set-up getting Marti onto the squad and was probably more complicated than it needed to be...all this random stuff with scholarships and her mom and gymnastics that didn't all make sense but this isn't the kind of show you should be thinking too hard about.

The rest of the cast is pretty well filled out. Ashley Tisdale plays Savannah, the team captain, and Marti's new roommate in the cheerleading house. We didn't get too much on her but I guess she's supposed to be a slightly uptight and prissy Southern belle. Also on the team are Lewis, who will inevitably be in a love triangle with Marti and her townie friend Dan, and Alice, who's been sidelined by an injury and is supposed to be the "villain." There's also a few adults...Sharon Leal (who for some reason I remember from this short-lived UPN show Legacy) as coach and former Hellcat Vanessa, who it seems will be having her own little love triangle with her current boyfriend, team doctor Derrick (played by D.B. Woodside, aka Principal Wood from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Wayne Palmer from 24) and former flame Red who coaches the football team.

There's a lot of Bring it On here, obviously (Marti even preps for her tryout by watching the movie), and also maybe a little Glee in that the Hellcats have to place at Nationals or else their funding will be revoked. So I expect there will be periodic competitions and probably rival teams and such along with the usual teen drama.

Oh, and um, I think I'd be remiss to not point out that Alyson Michalka has a pretty rockin' body. She's tall and thin but actually looks toned rather than bony. The Hellcats' midriff-baring cheerleading outfits are definitely done justice by those abs...