Make It or Break It, but like it? That's another issue altogether

A still from the pilot episode of ABC Family's "Make It or Break It."

Commenter Samantha wonders:

Am I the only gymnastics fan who slightly LIKES Make it or Break it? I know it is a crappy portrayal of the gymnastics world but still, it is really fun to watch and I love Payson! I only wish they showed slightly hardr gymnastics – the kind of standard they had in the film Stick It – NCAA rather than Olympic level, but acceptably difficult gymnastics – a bit silly to imply Lauren, the world’s ‘best beamer’ does a flic tuckback dismount! However, any exposure of gymnastics on primetime has to be an improvement! I just wish they had a bit more time focussing on the training the girls are always doingin the background.

Samantha, you’re not alone — I kinda like it too. Sure, none of the girls carry themselves like gymnasts, or look like they’ve ever been forced to do more than 10 pushups. Sure, it passes off level 9 skills as Olympic-caliber gymnastics. But in spite of that, it’s not a bad show. And at least there’s some real gymnastics, and some real gymnasts.

"Make It or Break It" is turning into a hit for ABC Family, which ordered another 10 episodes made earlier this week.

Entertainment Weekly concurs. Although it acknowledges that MIOBI is “cheese-tastic,” EW published an article listing six reasons to watch Make It or Break It, which is turning into ABC Family’s most well-received show — other than The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

1. The cute rocker boy Emily (the scrappy one from the wrong side of the tracks) works with at the pizza place (where she’s not supposed to work because it’s a distraction from her Olympic training…omg dramz everywhere!). Emily, upon his expressing interest in coming to her meet: “I could use the moral support.” Cute Rocker Boy: “The morality of my support is definitely in question.” Sorta dirty, sorta hot, sorta nonsensical. Just the way I like it.

2. The love triangle among the girl who looks like Whitney Port, good girl Kaylee, and Kaylee’s boyfriend (who, oops, had sex with the girl who looks like Whitney Port). Here’s why you do a show about gymnasts: Because they have a “no dating” rule to — like the work rule — cut down on distractions. Everything’s more interesting with rules to break. And will-have-sex vs. will-not conflict is better than watching folks on Secret Life of the American Teenager talk sex to death.

3. More fun with gymnasts: What other show could have a cortisone-shot plot line? Except maybe a show about people with arthritis, which would probably be a tough sell on ABC Family. There seemed to be hints of possible eating disorders to come, too, when Kaylee’s dad made her weigh in at home — a great issue for a show like this to tackle responsibly.

4. The hot new blond, scruffy coach. Age appropriate goodness for anyone over 21! Bonus points for Kaylee’s pop star mom having an affair with the old coach, who ditched the gym for a shinier, bigger one (under threat of blackmail…man, there’s a lot going on here).

5. Candace Cameron vs. Whitney Port. Loving former D.J. Tanner playing the hot, young now-future-stepmom fighting Whitney Port for her single dad’s attention.

6. The gymnastics, duh. As if all the drama isn’t enough, you get to watch a gymnastics meet at the end! And they do a great job of keeping you up on what’s happening — thanks mostly to crowd gasps and groans and the play-by-play announcer — without getting too annoying about it. Now we finally know the truth: When an Olympic gymnast blows a dismount, obviously it’s because the guy from the pizza place didn’t show up like he said he would or the guy she slept with is waving at someone else or her mom is sleeping with her ex-coach or her dad just got engaged.

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