Fall 2010 New Show: Hellcats

Hellcats is the first of the crop of the new fall shows I have watched. Wasn’t expecting much, after all, it’s the CW channel and produced by Mr. Superman, Tom Welling. At the most, I thought it would be a guilty pleasure ala The Vampire Diaries, another CW show. The premise is rather simple. Marti (played by Alyson Michalka - one half of the pop group Aly & AJ) is a pre-law student on a scholarship at Lancer University. Her irresponsible mother neglects to tell her that her scholarship was cancelled the previous semester. As luck would have it, the school cheerleading team (The Hellcats) has a scholarship available after one of their members suffers an injury during practice. Marti thinks the cheerleaders are just football groupies but she needs to stay in school, graduate, and get as far away from her mother – and lead a normal life. Therefore, she tries out for a spot on the team. Once selected, she has to learn how to navigate her new world.


As a former team dancer – Go Spartans! – I understand this world; it’s actually a sport, very competitive, full of catty girls and not too ethnically diverse. Marti’s tryout reminds me of mine; nerve wrecking and super fierce. Enough of my trip down memory lane and back to our regularly scheduled program. Hellcats is not a guilty pleasure for me. It’s a show I would tune into if it doesn’t coincide with the 20 billion other shows I watch during its time slot. I am looking forward to seeing how Marti’s relationship with BFF Dan (the very hot Matt Barr) will develop. I am also looking forward the potential love triangle between the cheerleading coach (played by the wonderful Sharon Leal), the team doctor who is also her boyfriend and the new football coach who I assume she had a relationship with back when they both attended college. How I adore love triangles…on tv that is. Based on the first episode, I’d give the show 2.5 stars out of 5.