NBC’s Upcoming Sitcom Stumble Is The Perfect Replacement For Bring It On

Stumble, NBC’s upcoming sitcom, is set to scratch the itch left by one beloved cheerleading movie. The mockumentary follows Courteney Potter (Jenn Lyon), who is one win shy of being the winningest coach in college cheerleading history. She’s on top of the world – at least, until she’s unexpectedly fired from her job at the renowned cheer school Sammy Davis Sr. Junior College, and suddenly adrift.

Desperate to find a cheer coach position at a college, any college, Courteney agrees to take a job with the tiny, no-name Heådltston College. She’s determined to turn the school’s dysfunctional group of castoffs into a formidable cheering force, but she’ll have her work cut out for her. Stumble‘s competitive premise and its themes hearken back to one cult classic movie: 2000’s Bring It On.

NBC’s Stumble Has The Same Comedic Aspects Of Cheerleading As Bring It On

NBC has it slated for a mid-fall premiere, so we won’t see Stumble on our screens until November 7. Its delayed release explains why there hasn’t been any marketing for it yet, but it will undoubtedly fill the Bring It On-sized hole in our hearts when it finally does hit the airwaves.

Bring It On was the first bit of pop culture to focus on cheerleading and underscore just how cutthroat the world of competitive cheer can be. But we didn’t watch it for the competitive aspects; we watched it because it was laugh-out-loud funny at times, and one of the most quotable movies of the era. Like all good cult classics, lines from Bring It On are still quoted today, and it has permanently gifted to pop culture the concept of “spirit fingers.”

With its similar story of hapless cheerleaders forced to gel as a team and get better in a hurry, Stumble‘s comedy has the potential to pick up where Bring It On left off. In fact, it could even improve on the beloved cheer movie – as a TV series, Stumble can offer more jokes, more laughs, and better character development. In any case, it’s something we haven’t seen in a while: a comedic cheerleading story.

Only CW Show Hellcats Embraced A Similar Vibe – And That Was 14 Years Ago

It’s not as though there has been a dearth of cheerleading shows on TV in the past decade. Most of them, however, have been reality TV shows and docuseries, not scripted series. The few scripted series have largely taken a more serious route with their storytelling, choosing to focus more on the darker psychological aspects and ruthless nature of competitive cheer squads.

Only Hellcats, the sadly short-lived CW cheerleading dramedy starring Aly Michalka and Ashley Tisdale, incorporated comedy, making it a standout among the cheer-centric offerings on TV. And Hellcats ran from 2010-2011, meaning it’s been 14 years since we’ve gotten any kind of comedic cheerleading stories on screen (let’s not pretend the increasingly bad direct-to-DVD cash grab Bring It On sequels without the original cast count).

The arrival of Stumble this fall will remind audiences that cheerleading is competitive, yes, but there’s also a lot of room to poke fun at the sport. Not every cheerleading show has to take itself so seriously. If the NBC show is a hit, the new team of sweater monkeys will fly.