Perfection has its price, and ABC is obviously not willing to pay it. Behold the new ABC show Make It or Break It:
Welcome to the make or break world of competitive gymnastics, where the intensity of competition is matched only by the drama of life off the mat. Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs) is thrilled when she joins a team of Olympic hopefuls, but fitting in — like everything else — won’t be easy. Her teammates include top gymnast Payson Keeler (Ayla Kell), super-talented Kaylie Cruz (Josie Loren), the ultra-competitive Lauren Tanner (Cassie Scerbo) and resident hottie Carter Anderson (Zachary Burr Abel). Together they’ll train, compete, fight, cry, laugh, stab each other in the back, make up, break up and grow up — all in pursuit of a spot on the U.S. Olympic team and a shot at the one thing every gymnast dreams about: a perfect routine.
A two-minute look at some of footage:
This looks ridiculous. That’s not gymnast posture, it’s Melrose Place posture. Why do these clothes (and some of the leotards) look like they’re from the 1980s? (Actually, more than that’s from the 1980s — one of the show’s characters is Candace Cameron-Bure, who played DJ on the sitcom Full House).
May 29, 2009 at 1:14 am |
it kills me that they cant even get actors that look remotely like they are any type of athletes nevermind gymnasts.
May 29, 2009 at 3:46 am |
It’s like a mini-series of the movie “Stick it” only a zillion times worse. At least in Stick it, there were actual gymnasts (Nastia, Isabelle Severino…) and a talented, athletic lead actress.
May 29, 2009 at 3:54 pm |
Grrr.. I can’t watch the preview.. I only wish I could get the show here in Canada. At least just to see if it was any good or not (I have my doubts).
May 30, 2009 at 12:53 am |
Try this preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COWnR_F612Y
I don’t think it’s something you want to watch. I can’t get over the lead girl’s chicken arms.
May 29, 2009 at 4:06 pm |
BC- I had a thought about the body type that they cast.
Initially, I laughed at it too, as there’s not a shred of muscle on these girls that resembles an elite gymnast. And I even thought, considering all the thousands of wannabe-starlets in Hollywood, surely some of those actresses are athletic, and surely a small portion of them are small enough that they could plausibly be gymnasts, and surely all of them can act well enough to say these lines.
But then I remembered we’re talking about a TV teen drama, and not a show competing for Emmy awards. So what is most important to these producers? Accuracy, or viewership?
Whether they admit it or not, expressly or not, they are impliedly using the sexuality of the actresses to sell the show. Which means they’re likely going to cast girls who fit the more traditional TV defined “look” of attractiveness. Why else cast pretty people?
If they cast girls who look like elite gymnasts, they may run the risk of sexualizing a pre- or under-pubescent body type, or at least be accused of doing it. Since most actresses always play down for age on TV (as in, 20 somethings playing teenagers on Gossip Girl, etc.) a girl who looks like a 16 year old elite gymnast will, with make-up and lighting, look 12, and that both won’t appeal to the average teenage viewer the show is appealing to, and also might be a dangerously controversial move in general.
I’m not defending their inaccuracy, but it may be understandable. It’s still comically “wrong,” especially when we see them attempt athletic movements. But maybe it was wiser that they cast girls whose sexuality won’t be controversial.
I don’t know if they deliberately considered that stuff, or if they just didn’t know what an elite gymnast looked like. I guess, possibly both.
May 29, 2009 at 6:28 pm |
I agree with you. It sucks but it happens. I mean there was an interview with James VanDeer Beek (the blonde from Dawsom’s Creek) who said that he sometimes hated shaving because he had to shave so close to look like a teenager.
May 31, 2009 at 4:31 am |
[...] interesting comment on ABC’s new show, Make It or Break It: Initially, I laughed at it too, as there’s not a [...]
July 24, 2009 at 10:35 pm |
I know it is so hilarious. Not at all the actual skill level that really displays how gymnastics is. This girl should be the model that ABC should go after.