Confessions of a TV-holic: Make It Or Break It - Portrait Magazine, June 2010 Issue
Confessions of a TV-holic: Make It or Break It
By Angela Lee (Age 22, Australia)
“Hi my name is Angela and I’m a TV-holic...”
I watch way too much TV for my own liking – I think that’s all you really need to know about me. Since I watch so much TV, I’ve decided to channel it into good use and write a column every month, each focusing on different television shows. I will admit that I have an unhealthy obsession for teenage dramas but my tastes to expand beyond that – so give up on me just yet! I’d also love to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave me a comment!
Do you have what it takes?
The cast of Make It or Break It
With most of my TV viewing over for the season, I’ve either been playing catch up on shows I kind of lost along the way (yes second half of season three of Gossip Girl I’m looking at you), or discovering new shows that aren’t so new but are new to me. In this case I’m talking about Make It or Break It. Make It or Break It is a teen soap on ABC Family that focuses on a group of Olympic hopeful gymnasts. It’s a little show that is gathering moderate amounts of media attention. So what made me decide to give it a chance (just in time for the start of season two and our Make It Or Break It special this month might I add)?
I’m excited to see Candace Cameron, who plays Summer back on my screen.
Firstly, one of the executive producers is Paul Stupin, who was an executive producer on Dawson’s Creek - the very first show I ever became obsessed and fangirly about before I even knew what the term ‘fangirl’ was! Secondly, it was Candace Cameron’s – now known as Candace Cameron Bure – television comeback. If you’re a child of the eighties like me or born in the early nineties, then you’ll remember her as DJ Tanner from the awesome family friendly show Full House! (Oh Full House, how I used to love you as a kid. They sure don’t make television like that anymore!) And third, I heard that the hilarious Jessica Walters from 90210 and Arrested Development was appearing in season two!
Make It or Break It Premiere Promo:
Make It or Break It gives us an inside look at what it’s like trying to pursue your professional dreams while still being a teenager too.
For the uninitiated, Make It or Break It is a teen drama that focuses on a group of teenage gymnasts with Olympic dreams at the prestigious Rocky Mountains gym, also known as ‘The Rock’ in Boulder, Colorado. Like teenage dramas such as Gossip Girl, the show has its fair share of typical teenage dramas like love, friendship, and family, but also goes beyond this scope of popularity and relationships. Make It or Break It, although sometimes full of clichés, also tackles important issues such as body image, sexuality, career pressures and questions how much are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your dreams.
Kmetko family
In the show’s pilot, we are introduced to Emily Kmetko (played by Chelsea Hobbs), who has just moved to town with a scholarship to The Rock to further pursue her professional gymnast dream. She moves with her wheelchair bound younger brother Brian (played by Wyatt Smith), and her eccentric and not very responsible mother Chloe (played by Susan Ward). Immediately, her introduction to The Rock is not the most welcoming one, with the other girls somewhat hostile and disapproving of the street smart new girl in town. The attempt to make friends with them isn’t helped either when Emily beats Lauren in a competition. As the show progresses on, it feels like Emily has to constantly prove herself to everyone to show that her spot at The Rock is well deserved. For a street smart tough girl like Emily, this isn’t always easy, nor is it helped by her constant clashes with coach Sasha over her attitude and independent streak.
Emily
That being said, it isn’t always all work and no play for Emily. Just like any other teenager, Emily has her share of drama in the romance department and eventually finds herself torn between nice guy rock star Razor (played by Nico Tortorella), and cool and snarky Damon (played by Johnny Pacar) who not only is Emily’s co-worker at the pizza place she works at, but also Razor’s friend, so you know what happens when you break the bro code right? Not to mention there’s also some guy named Leo on the scene as well now? Boys galore I tell you! And did we mention The Rock has a strick no dating rule?
Emily/Damon Fanvid:
Carter and Kaylie
Speaking of love drama, then there’s Kaylie Cruz (played by Josie Loren) and Carter (played by Zachary Burr Abel), who were secretly dating (due to that no dating becaus it's a distraction rule), so Kaylie and Carter keep their relationship a secret. They also keep it a secret because rich girl Kaylie’s parents - her mother a former pop star and father a baseball player - may not approve either. Then one night while at a party, Kaylie and Carter get into a fight and he hooks up with Kaylie’s teammate Lauren, who happens to have a crush on him anyway. Kaylie finds out, and although Carter realises how much he screwed up, everything has changed now.
Kaylie
Once the seemingly clueless nice girl, this inspires Kaylie finds her backbone and becomes fierce (as a result of not only Carter’s indiscretions but also the discovery that her mother is having an affair), realising that she wants the Olympic dream badly and needs to focus and dedicate her concentration on that, not relationship dramas. As for remorseful Carter, things seem to go from bad to worse, when he’s also kicked off The Rock team as a result of breaking the no dating policy.
Make It or Break It Season One Midseason Promo:
Daddy’s Girl: Lauren and Steven.
Every show has its obligatory insecure mean girl and Lauren Tanner (played by Cassie Scerbo) is Make It or Break It’s one. Spoilt, ambitious and manipulative, Lauren Tanner likes to get what she wants no matter the cost. Some might call her selfish for wanting her supposed best friend’s boyfriend (though she would argue that she wanted him first). Some might call her a brat for being petulant about that fact that her father Steven (played by Anthony Starke) is seeing his younger secretary Summer (played by Candace Cameron Bure). She knows that Daddy Dearest will do anything for her and
Lauren
Lauren does her best to use it to her advantage. Lauren may appear tough, but as the show goes on we discover that she does have a vulrenable side and has her fair share of secrets. Lauren’s mother is a drug addict her left her and her dad and Lauren resents Summer because to her it’s a sign that her dad is moving on and her mother isn’t coming back. Eventually Lauren even becomes friendly with Summer, even after Summer and Steve split up. (Summer ends up helping run the gym when there’s a management overthrow.)
Will Payson ever be able to fully recover from her injury and compete again?
Rounding off The Rock girls is Payson Keeler (played by Ayla Kell), the over-focused good girl.
Payson is a top gymnast whose life pretty much revolves around gymnastics. She comes from a middle class family and has parents who are quite supportive of her dream – so supportive that when her father loses his job, he hides it from the family and secretly takes up another one. As it seems Payson is getting closer and closer to her dream, half way through season one, she has a fall and breaks her back, shattering her Olympic dreams when she’s told she will never be able to compete again. What do you do when someone tells you that your life-long dream is now impossible? Do you give up or fight to prove them wrong, even when it means risking the fact that you may never walk again?
The Rock girls
Despite the predictable storylines and teenage dramas – but let’s face it, it’s not a teenage drama without your clichéd storylines that draw you in anyway - Make It or Break It is a pretty interesting show. I like the fact that it goes beyond your typical teenage drama and has the whole professional gymnastic setting and interweaves the behind the scenes industry take into all the drama, and am intrigued to see where season two is headed. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of Emily’s smart and funny brother Brian that’s for sure! Wyatt Smith, who plays Brian is a joy to watch onscreen, so fingers crossed!
ABC Family Summer of Secrets Promo Featuring The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Pretty Little Liars, & Make It or Break It:
So what are your thoughts on the show? Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to hear from you all! You can share your thoughts at: tvholic.portraitmag@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter where I tweet about my thoughts on what’s happening in the TV world. Follow me at: http://www.twitter.com/PortraitTVHolic.
Sheldon 54%
Leonard 23%
Penny 23%
Raj 0%
Howard 0%
2. Who is your favourite TBBT ship?
Sheldon/Penny 46%
Leonard/Penny 38%
Leonard/Leslie 8%
Howard/Leslie 0%
Howard/Bernadette 0%
3. What is your favourite TBBT friendship?
Penny/Sheldon 45%
Penny/Sheldon/Leonard/Raj/Howard 18%
Sheldon/Leonard/Raj/Howard 9%
Penny/Sheldon/Leonard 9%
Penny/Raj 9%
4. What is your favourite TBBT season?
Season 3 57%
Season 2 43%
Season 1 0%
5. What do you most enjoy about TBBT?
The humour and sarcasm 83%
The characters 17%
The comic book references 0%
The physics elements 0%
The computer geek humour and references 0%
Sheldon’s retro super hero shirts 0%
Howard Bright Retro throwbacks 0%
