REVIEW: Hellcats Pilot

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10 years ago, Bring It On was released and turned former child actress Kirsten Dunst into a teen star. Now, Hellcats will do the same for 21-year-old Alyson "Aly" Michalka who got her start on the Disney Channel. Michalka is attractive and has a spunky attitude that will appeal to the targeted demographic. And, while the series pleases the young female viewers that watch the CW, it has potential to become a guilty pleasure to a wide audience. It's a show about cheerleaders. Who doesn't like to watch cheerleaders? Plus, it has a lot of the cheesy drama that's a tradition in the teen genre.

In the pilot, we're introduced to Marti Perkins (Michalka), a pre-Law student at Lancer University in Memphis, Tennessee. She's a local resident who has to balance school with taking care of her alcoholic mother (Gail O'Grady). Things get worse when she loses her scholarship and has to join the cheerleading squad to get a new one. Luckily, she has a gymnastics background and is able to impress everyone except Alice (Heather Hemmens) who is quickly threatened by her. Alice is the "villain" in the pilot and does everything from stealing Marti's towel in the co-ed shower room to inviting her alcoholic mother to a competition. Marti's closest ally is Savannah (Ashley Tisdale, another Disney star) who initally gets into a cat fight with Marti before try-outs but afterwards begins to worship her. She also begins to flirt with one of the boys on the squad named Lewis (Robbie Jones) who just happens to be Alice's ex-boyfriend.

Many of these plotlines will make you wonder if you're watching a soap opera or teen comedy, but thankfully, the cast and crew don't take themselves too seriously. The actors approach their roles as tongue n cheek and the producers (which include Smallville's Tom Welling) know they're making a show about cheerleaders and focus more on the eye candy than the storyline. Had this series been made in the `70s it would have been considered part of jiggle TV. So, give Hellcats a chance and check it out tonight at 9pm. If you hate it then atleast you got to check out some hot girls.