Cool News
Hercules Descends Deep Into The CW's HELLCATS!!
I am – Hercules!!
A drama about a hot Memphis pre-law student (and former champion gymnast) who finds herself forced to join her college’s competitive cheerleading squad when she loses her scholarship, “Hellcats” is the brainchild of writer-producer Kevin Murphy, whose credits include “Ed,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Reaper,” and “Valentine” but NOT “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
It stars Aly Michalka (“The Roommate,” “Bandslam”),
Ashley Tisdale (“High School Musical”), Heather Hemmens (“CSI: Miami”), Robbie Jones (“One Tree Hill“), Matt Barr (“Harper’s Island”), Sharon Leal (“Dreamgirls,” “Private Practice”) and Gail O’Grady (“NYPD Blue,” “American Dreams”).
It reminds me of “Glee” in that the comedy is awful, the drama is poor, the characters are flat, the acting is broad, the music is utilized expertly and the choreography can border on spectacular. “Hellcats” also feels like something that might have slithered up out of the development offices of The Disney Channel.
If tonight’s pilot appeals to you, you’re encouraged to seek out also the “Citizen Kane” of outsider cheerleader movies, the 2000 Dunst-Dushku-Union epic “Bring It On.”
USA Today says:
… what you get from Hellcats is a wildly derivative wish-fulfillment view of college life made to appeal to junior-high girls, most of whom are too young to recognize how many shows and movies Hellcats has appropriated. Yet if you keep in mind the audience it's designed to serve, you may conclude the show serves that audience fairly well. …
The New York Times says:
… absolutely awful. … “Hellcats,” inspired by the 2000 movie “Bring It On,” doesn’t even try. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… an energetic and occasionally sophisticated fish-out-of-water mash-up of "Glee" and "Bring It On" with top notes of "Flashdance," aimed squarely at audiences perhaps too young for "Gossip Girl" but seriously too old for " Hannah Montana." … Despite this silly and derivative setup, the pilot is actually a lot of fun. The performances are uniformly good and there are moments of promising depth to balance all the peppy hair-swinging, abs-flexing dance numbers. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… You can't blame the CW (except maybe for leaving out the creativity, for having a terrible script and for the acting, which hurts to witness). …
AOL TV says:
… will not change the face of television as we know it, but the execution of the core concept is knowing and competent, and this show understands its limitations and wisely stays inside those narrow parameters. If you've ever gotten sucked into those real-world cheerleading competitions on TV or any kind of 'disparate team takes it to Nationals' film or show, you could do worse than the spirited, sarcastic 'Hellcats.'…
The Washington Post says:
… Pick any antonym for "glee" and this show defines it. It is mean-spirited, painfully dumb and badly acted. … "Hellcats" tosses your brain up high and lets it splat on the gymnasium floor. It depicts a college experience that only a tween could envision, where everyone is deceitful, partially naked and late for class. …
The Boston Herald says:
… “Hellcats” is poorly paced and its attempts at comedy and drama stumble. … The network figures to get a jump on the fall premieres by airing this, the first new show of the season, two weeks before the Sept. 20 premiere week. Any audience it might gather will flip once the other networks return with new episodes. …
The Boston Globe says:
… could become one of my little secrets in the new season, if the folks in the writers’ room ever wake up. Story-wise, the show is awful — stock characters, nonsensical motivations, obvious plot turns, bad acting. … But I’m drawn to the cheerleading routines in “Hellcats,’’ uncool as that may be. The show wants to be like “Glee,’’ building story lines around music-and-dance-driven cheerleading sequences in each episode. And it succeeds, in that the routines — and the dynamic filming of them — are dazzling enough to distract from the surrounding lousiness. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… while there's plenty of meanness, soap opera antics and titillation (plus lingering camera shots of Marti's smokin' bod) going on, "Hellcats" stacks up well against expectations. Three cheers.
Variety says:
… premiere isn't quite unabashedly trashy enough to completely qualify as a guilty pleasure, but one can see it developing into that -- as well as posting reasonably impressive scores by CW standards, even if the execution doesn't quite nail the landing. …
9 p.m. Wednesday. The CW.
Follow Herc on Twitter!!
Follow Evil Herc on Twitter!!
Blu Zone!!
185 Blu-rays Under $10!!
Follow Evil Herc on Twitter!!
-
+ Expand All
-
and I watch TV all the time. weird.
-
rail against it all you like for how its model will destroy the music industry, or how the characters are flat but it is funny
-
this show does notlynch saves glee, even when it is at its worstseems that what this show will do when the writers have no clue, is show as much skin as they can get away with on network tvhas a chance to capture the 14-24 crowd of both females and males i wont be watching, im out of the demo....and if i wanna see nubile young babes jumping around in cheerleading costumes, i can watch youtubenot sure what hercs hate is for glee though...it is what it isi think their main prob here is that they are doing college....ez to buy the mean girls scenario in high school....not so much in university
-
because the two leads made their bones on disney channel shit shows?if you wanna know why teen fare is so bad nowadays, go and check out what disney has been putting out for tweeners the past 10 yearsthat shit makes the stuff that used to be produced for the mickey mouse club look like citizen kanei wish disney would make a remake of the barefoot executive....cuz i am sure that a monkey makes all the programming decisions over at disney
-
indian guy.
-
...they look to be exactly as horrible as stuff like "Saved By The Bell" which for some reason people only slightly younger than me remember fondly. So really, since the advent of horribly written, horribly unfunny, horribly acted shows with a horrible laugh track it seems enough children with horrible tastes have been eating them up.
-
Think that's worth a review? I do!
-
you post this up and dismiss Sons of Anarchy? The new season premiere was fucking awesome! I can't wait to see Jax unleash his inner beast! Also, though at first it wasn't even a blip on my radar, Glee actually grew on me. My ex recommended it to me and I have to admit I rather like it.
-
if you enjoy it, sit back and reconsider. It needs to be killed with fire.
-
if it bothers you that other people enjoy it, sit back and reconsider. There's hundreds of fucking channels as well as Ondemand and streaming and DVDs and whatever else. Who gives a shit if for one hour on one night on one channel there is a show that you don't like? I don't like Two and a Half Men. When it's on I do something else. It's really that easy.
-
People aren't watching this show for its story. They're watching it see Aly Michalka in her softcore porno midriff baring cheerleader outfits. That's it. That's all. Nothing more to see here. Move along.
-
Sep 08, 2010 10:36:44 AM CDT
Rats, I thought this would be a TV version of that MST3K episode
by nasty in the pasty
Roses are blue...violets are red...JOEL: ...I like to shoot heroin straight into my head.
-
Whos also a fan? >.>
-
Which would obviously be awesome.
-
Just always suspected something was going on under all that Disney fluff.
-
Well done, Ben.
-
because it is so bad it will be their #1 show at some point. The dumber and worse it gets, the higher in the ratings it will climb.
-
and I usually don't like the waif look. As far as Hellcats - first thing I said when I saw the commercial was hey its Bring It On (which I love) without the charm. Gotta agree with ChewToy - I have kids and the Disney Channels shows nowadays are as cheesy as Saved By the Bell and the others shows of that ilk back then. Some times though the shows can surprise you and actually have some wit and funny moments.
Glee sucks - not funny and I have given it a couple of shots. I usually like Jane Lynch but she can't save it. Oh yeah and SoA was awesome last night! (I was also looking for the talkback last night but thats about par for Herc) -
'Cause this show has some serious tail starring in it. If thers lots of tight tiny cheerleader skirts flying up in the air and lots of slo-mo panty shots....who cares about the plot?
-
Tom Welling is producing this show, thus the herc hate!
-
And not one of these girl is jerkoff material!BTW, whats up with CW outdated look?I swear on my HD it look like the network had gone back to the Nowhere Man era!Fuckin' UGH!
-
Most of these chicks do. They look great in those little skirts. The first ep is pretty tame, but there are lots of peekaboo panty-and-ass-cheek glimpses in the trailers and coming attractions. Did a double-take when I saw Gail O'Grady, though- another woman who has FUCKING BUTCHERED HER OWN FACE. She is virtually unrecognizable from her NYPD Blue days. WTF, ladies? WTF are you thinking?! Your self-loathing must be immeasurable, to go to such lengths to pay some hack to carve yourself a different face.
-
Sep 08, 2010 10:33:59 PM CDT
"There's lots of peekaboo panty and ass cheeks?"
by hollywoodhellraiser
Please stop! That has to be the lamest reason to watch a dismal, terribly acted show on the CW!I'm sorry but you must be heavily invested those .002 sec of quick shoots that you will no doubt rewind and slow-mo endlessly!Do youself a fave and watch Make It Or Break It where you'll at least get longer ass-cheeks shots to jerkoff too!Forget the rest and jerkoff to the best, matey!
-
No one cares about your Glee hate Herc. Keep jacking off to Doctor Who S2 you freak. Aside from the main chick on this show being hot, why is Herc even reviewing this show?
-
shit out a rhinoceros and eat it. That's how hot I think she is.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- A hot redhead (not Harry) is set to play lead in Fede Alvarez's remake of EVIL DEAD! -- 170 total posts 170 posts
- The Friday Docback Spelunks 'The Caves Of Androzani'!! DOCTOR WHO Story #136, And More!! -- 103 total posts 86 posts
- Here Comes THE GODMOTHER! -- 74 total posts 74 posts
- Rest In Peace Ben Gazzara -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- UPDATED: Talkbacker Bob Orci tweets STAR TREK old set pics! -- 244 total posts 51 posts
- ABC Has Cast The Lead In Its Future Nuclear Nation Pilot!! And They’ve Chosen Wisely!! -- 44 total posts 44 posts
- RIDDICK Sequel Details Via A New Press Release!! -- 88 total posts 40 posts
- AWAKE, This Season’s Best Broadcast Pilot, Gets NBC’s Old ER Slot March 1!! THE FIRM To Burn Off On Saturdays!! -- 38 total posts 38 posts
- INSIDIOUS-ER? -- 120 total posts 31 posts
- The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day is going on an overnight drunk and in 10 days it’s going to set out to find the shark that ate its friend and destroy it. -- 31 total posts 31 posts