Hellcats - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

If you missed its debut on Wednesday night, you can see it tonight on the CW, paired with the re-airing on the pilot episode of Nikita.

 

With "Bring It On" being one of my guilty pleasures, I thought "Hellcats" was entertaining enough if you like that sort of thing, plus this all takes place at college, so they can go with less teen angst, but I'm hoping the writing doesn't let the show down. Lots of familiar faces in the cast if you've watched TV in the past decade.

 

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/hellcats

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I had nothing better to do that hour on Wednesday, so I ended up watching the pilot. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. While the dialogue was generally terrible, the plotting was decent. I was happy to see that the bitch cheer captain that had the blow out with the main girl from "Phil of the Future" turned out to be a real professional of sorts, putting aside her bad first impression for the good of the team. It was also neat seeing all of these veterans of great Vancouver shows popping up, like Aaron Douglas from "Battlestar Galactica" and Andrew Airlie from "Reaper". It's probably not going to be appointment viewing for me, but it was fun and a lot better than it had any right to be.

 

[Bob Graz]

OK, I admit I watched Hellcats as well. Not a bad first show. Alyson Michalka, all I can say is wow.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Aly looks a little uncoordinated when she starts to run, but her stunt/gymnastic double is amazing. I think I'm in for the entire season with this show unless the writing stumbles, mainly because it is such a guilty pleasure for me, and I don't find them on TV all that often anymore. Heh.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The sister of the head cheerleader (played by Ashley Tisdale) looked like a younger Kate Winslet from some angles. Aly looked really yummy in the ending party segment. I don't know how they will pull off all these competitive routines for an entire season. I'm guessing some episodes won't have routines in them, and they'll have to rely on character-driven episodes to fill out the running times.

 

[DaveF]

My wife thought I was kidding when I told her to Tivo it. [/url]

Aly looks a little uncoordinated when she starts to run, but her stunt/gymnastic double is amazing.
[/quote] I actually thought the lead was doing her own dancing / tumbles! You've ruined the illusion for me! Oh well.
 

 

[mattCR]

I immediately noticed characters from shows I followed.. the principle from Season 7 Buffy, the teacher from "Boston Public" (who still looks fantastic.. how the hell does she keep that up??) and so on.. the cast is great.


The routines are fun, at times laughable... the "southern christian academy" doing a routine that made me laugh. Actually, the cross of boston public characters made me think of the episode were people were crazed about pornographic cheerleading routines

 

It's fluff. It's slightly above TruTV's "Rehab: Live at the Hard Rock" weekly bikini show, but several notches below say, Glee. But it's fun for its own thing.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm really enjoying Ashley Tisdale's Savannah character. I don't think I've seen a character quite like her before. While she's an easy character to poke fun at for obvious reasons, it takes a lot of courage to be that earnest and unfeigned. Even the way Tisdale carries herself speaks volumes about her character. For a character like Aly's that constantly wears a mask of sarcasm and bemusement for her own protection, Savannah has to be terrifying. I also liked Savannah's prayer for her sister; it's so rare for religion to be taken seriously by prime time television, especially in a personal and non-pushy way.

 

[DaveF]

Hellcats is surprisingly solid. As I joked with my wife this episode, it has layers, subtleties. Except I'm not wholly kidding. For fluff, it's got solid characters and plotting. I find I'm more thoroughly engaged than with Nikita. My wife noted it was ironic for s show named Hellcats to have one of the better rakes on a Christian character in tv shows.

I may be hooked. This might be a solid season for me

 

[mattCR]

I appreciate that none of the lead characters are being played as ditzy stereotypes. They may have their own quirks or whatever, but it'd be hard to argue that any of the girls portrayed are "airhead cheerleader". Enjoyed last night, and the StarTrek callback was a great one

 

[Lucia Duran]

Been watching this one since it started and I was hoping that I would really get into it more. I'm already bored.

 

[mattCR]

Well, I guess I'm the reverse, this show is really growing on me. The way they are handling Ashley Tisdale's character is fantastic. I really love the way that character is coming about. And the song number at the end would rival what you'd see anywhere else. Good stuff tonight.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's fascinating to watch a network show starring two Disney Channel veterans. Ashley Tisdale is a talented actress playing a character well within her wheelhouse but far more complex than her previous roles. Savannah is becoming the heart of the show, even as it's ostensibly about Marti. It's pretty brave for a CW show to make one of its leading ladies a truly earnest character, for whom religion is a bedrock part of her life and not a punchline. Alyson Michalka is a perfectly adequate actress that carries the show without problems but doesn't quite rise above her mediocre material. On the other hand, as half of one of the Disney produced musical packages, she is a platinum-selling recording artist and very experienced stage performer. I've always wondered how the Disney singers would sound if the weren't overproduced and autotuned to within an inch of their lives. Ms. Michalka holds up very well, with a charismatic performance and rock solid vocals.


This show is slowly moving from guilty pleasure to just plain pleasure for me.

 

[DaveF]

Hellcats rules! A Kobayashi Maru reference? A great arrangement of a great Sting song? They're tapping directly into the pleasure center of my brain

This is not high drama. It's not TV to stand the passage of years. Bit it's great fun. It's breezy, it's unrealistic. But it's smart. The plotting and writing are good. The music and dancing and silly bits are thrilling.

I'm hooked.

 

[Lucia Duran]

I will say that the Sting cover was amazing!

 

[Patrick Sun]

I knew of Alyson Michalka from "Bandslam", so I knew she could deliver on the singing, but I liked her singing number as well.

 

[mattCR]

It's breezy fun, but this is really a weekly highlight now. Cute stories well told.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A lesser show would have had Marti and Dan Patch steal a kiss after Savannah and Alice left with the bid video to "ratchet up the tension", which really means make you hate all of the main characters. Instead, Marti was honest but not solicitous. She cares about Savannah even if Dan being with Savannah means she's no longer the apple of his eye. Alice would be a terrible team captain, sure she "gets things done", but she's divisive and uninspiring. Savannah pushed too hard with the avant-garde bid video, but Alice's constant twitters behind her back were responsible for the first attempt failing. Savannah is enthusiastic and selfless when it matters, and that's what people want in a leader.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

A lesser show would have had Marti and Dan Patch steal a kiss after Savannah and Alice left with the bid video to "ratchet up the tension", which really means make you hate all of the main characters. Instead, Marti was honest but not solicitous. She cares about Savannah even if Dan being with Savannah means she's no longer the apple of his eye. Alice would be a terrible team captain, sure she "gets things done", but she's divisive and uninspiring. Savannah pushed too hard with the avant-garde bid video, but Alice's constant twitters behind her back were responsible for the first attempt failing. Savannah is enthusiastic and selfless when it matters, and that's what people want in a leader.

I'd say this: a lesser show would have had a "let's rally" moment, and everyone would have realized Savannah was right. Instead, Savanah showed she was a stronger character and she was willing to bend and listen to those around her, and take their idea. A lot of shows would have given Dan some redemption; but having him work with them on a different project at the end showed that he also wasn't tied to his ideas like a petulant little kid.


I really like the subtle flow to this show. And, this show has had some of the best use of music in a series this year.

 

[DaveF]

Ellcats is unexpectedly sophisticated about its relationships. Even with Vanessa arguing with Derrick about whether he should accept a significant job promotion, because she's insecure in their relationship and sublimating it to him.

As said above, I like the flow of the relationship between Marty and Dan. I'll criticize it for being like every show I've seen: I've never known youth be that open and honest about their relationships with each other. But it make for good tv so thats how it's written.

And the music! Again with a super closing number.

This is becoming a favorite show of the season. It's that great book you read on the beach: fun and breezy but has some satisfying substance.