Late in the second episode of NBC’s college cheerleading mockumentary, Stumble, elite coach Courteney (Jenn Lyon) addresses her squad. “Now, when I look at this team, I see grit, determination, heart,” she says. “That’s what people are going to want to be here to be part of.”
As pep talks go, it’s boilerplate — nothing you haven’t heard already in a million other underdog sports stories, often in more creative or stirring language. But it feels off in this one, like the setup for a joke you only belatedly realize isn’t a joke at all.
Such is the experience of watching the new series from siblings Liz Astrof (Pivoting) and Jeff Astrof (Shining Vale). The comedy is a tonal mess, veering between underdeveloped jokes and unearned sentiment. But it’s a mess that’s trying so hard, and with such a big smile, that you still…
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