'Make it or Break It': TV Series About Gymnasts Premieres on ABC

For viewers who have experienced the typically confusing, often-roiling social hierarchy of teen girls, Make It could resonate. Set at The Rock, an exclusive Colorado training center, the showcenters on Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs), a nice newcomer who arrives on scholarship, decidedly unfashionable and lacking confidence.

Her budding talent threatens queen bee Lauren Tanner (Cassie Scerbo), whose ruthlessness is matched by that of her father, Steve (Tony Starke). Gilpin is Kim Keeler, the well-adjusted mother of perfectionist Payson (Ayla Kell). Friends and foes take sides, some parents worry about paying bills, others prematurely calculate post-Olympic endorsement deals, and some even bully Coach Walsh (Erik Palladino).

No doubt there will be many lessons about the importance of pulling together and being true to oneself, etc., but "Make It or Break It" seems prepared to take on not only the obvious Life Lessons but also the crucial undercurrents that move so many lives well into adulthood. And that, as much as the graceful wonder of gymnastics, will make it worth watching.

The good part is that the drama should be fun to watch for us. And for the guy at Pizza Shack, too.

The pilot ends on a cliffhanger that shakes up the Rock and should leave the viewer anxious to see what happens next. The series moves the familiar story of teenager cliques and backstabbing into the gymnastics arena. It may not be breaking new ground, but it’s worthy of a bronze medal.

It’s like high school on steroids: scantily clad girls backstabbing each other at every turn, boys in spandex lusting after them, dictatorial parents and coaches barking on the sidelines. And after the impish Shawn Johnson and leggy Nastia Liukin vaulted themselves into the collective heart of America’s youth, competitive gymnastics became an inevitable target for teen TV. But ABC Family’s new series “Make It or Break It,’’ which premieres tonight at 9, misses the mark. Despite its fancy flips and dizzy floor routines, “Make It’’ is unconvincing as a portal into this subculture and numbingly hollow as a commentary on teenage life.

With Gossip Girl, 90210 and The Hills on hiatus for the summer, you can get your weekly dose of raging hormones, competition and high school drama with ABC Family's new show Make It or Break It, which debuts tonight.

Plus, now we don't have to wait another three years to watch Olympic-level gymnastics on TV! ABC Family, which seems to be increasing its edge factor daily, is branching out with a show that centers on the lives of teenage gymnasts as they climb their way to the top of the heap.