Should You Get Ready (Okay!) To Cheer For Cheer Squad?

What Is This Thing?

The Great White Sharks cheer squad, out of Cambridge, Ontario, triumphantly won the top prize at the 2014 Worlds. What will it take for them to keep the magic going and defend their title?

When Is It On?

10 PM ET on Freeform, every weeknight starting Monday, August 22.

Why Was It Made Now?

Because Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team is too American and Bring It! is too much like Dance Moms? I'm just guessing. It seems like there's lots of room on TV for unscripted shows about cheerleaders.

What's Its Pedigree?

The closing credits display the usual mix of Canadian production companies and funders that will be familiar to Canadians (and to fans of Property Brothers or Love It Or List It), but there aren't any familiar faces among the cast unless you're a cheer superfan.

...And?

If the "Great White" in the team name or the girls' references to "Grade 12" didn't tip you, it might still be pretty clear that this is a show made by and (initially) for Canadians: it's the first original docuseries produced for ABC Spark, Canada's version of Freeform. And while I do what I can personally to push back against even positive stereotypes about Canadians...you know, by and large we do tend to be pretty nice! Everyone on Cheer Squad certainly is. Producers try to wring what drama they can from the girls' real interactions, but the irritation Knoxy feels rooming with slovenly twins Ashleigh and Jenna is about as far as that goes. Instead, what makes it onscreen is what elite athletes' lives are actually like: the practices are hard; an injury can derail a season; teammates are closer than family.

And speaking of family: the cheerleaders' actual parents are mostly absent. We see Bruney's mother accompanying her on trips for physical therapy and to check in with her orthopedic surgeon as she works on rehabilitating a shoulder injury that has kept her from practising for the past ten months, but otherwise, the only parental figures present are the team's coaches. If you're expecting the tumbling world's equivalent of Abby Lee Miller, though, no such person is affiliated with the Great Whites: lead coach Ali is firm and she wants the girls to win, but her style of instruction is based on encouragement as opposed to abuse. In short, if you're looking to replace the Dance Moms-shaped hole in your TV schedule, this isn't going to do it.

...But?

But if the show's ethos is to prioritize the athletics over manufactured drama -- of which I approve! -- then I would love to see more of the actual sport. In the series premiere, we do see the Sharks' full performance at the 2015 Worlds, but they must have shot so much more footage that isn't making it to air. Even when a stunt isn't working, for instance, it's interesting to see and hear why from both the women's and Ali's perspectives. It's definitely more interesting than watching a twin try to learn how to drive stick. (Which, btw, on the street where they live?! Drive her out to an empty parking lot before you put her behind the wheel, damn!)

...So?

I admire the philosophy behind Cheer Squad, and the actual cheering -- when we see it -- is incredible and exhilarating to watch. But there might only be a half-hour's worth of content in any episode of this hour-long show, so maybe skip it and just watch the Sharks' routines on YouTube instead.