The first information I read about Hellcats was, as with Nikita, just a few days before it premiered. The show was described as Glee meets Bring It On, so two of my favorite things. I was also told that it appears to be a show all about girls showing their midsections, making it three of my favorite things. I can forgive you for not seeing how a someone (especially a young, heterosexual male) can like both Glee and half-naked girls. I don’t think I’m Hellcats‘ target demographic (or maybe I am, as I’ll describe later), but that won’t stop me from watching.

Hellcats seems to be aimed at teenage girls, what with casting two Disney Channel pop music stars, Aly Michalka of 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) and Band Slam, as well as Ashley Tisdale, known best for her roles in the High School Musical movies and her music career afterward. Then there’s all the basic themes of school (college in this case), boys, drama, cheerleading, female empowerment, following your dreams, etc. However, I am reminded of the movie Boat Trip starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Roselyn Sanchez. It’s not a great movie (which it and this show also have in common, more on that in a moment), and most of the movie revolves around gay men, their antics, and how it’s OK to be gay. But then there’s Roselyn Sanchez. She spends most of the movie in very little, and often times very revealing, clothing. I dare say it is impossible for a straight man to watch that movie without feeling like they need a cold shower. I’ve seen the movie a few times, and while I do enjoy the humor, I mostly just watch it to see Roselyn Sanchez.

The same could be said about Hellcats. The show wastes no time in showing off the natural assets of the shows leading characters. The pilot episode even has Marti (Aly Michalka) absent of all her clothes after exiting the shower. There are actually very few times where you will see her character not showing most of her upper body.

So far, that’s really all the show has going for it, for me at least. Like I said, the target audience will probably enjoy the appearances of their favorite Disney stars and all the cheer leading they do, but there’s not a lot else to the show.

Before I watched the premiere, I was told that Aly Michalka’s performance wasn’t all that great. And while that is true, I actually think there are a lot worse performances given. Let’s forget the fact that the show takes place in Memphis and almost none of the characters have southern accents, and those that do only seem to have them half the time. If we just focus on the writing of the show, we can see that they’re not really trying too hard. A lot of the dialogue is stated very matter-of-factly to give some insight into why characters are the way they are, but it feels very forced, and not something the characters would normally say. Even with these drawbacks, Aly actually seems to have some potential, whereas Ashley Tisdale seems to have forgotten she’s no longer on Disney and needs to act more realistic in her roles to get ahead.

Unless you happen to be a 14- to 19-year-old girl with an unhealthy obsession with either of the actresses or cheer leading, you probably have no reason to watch. Unless you’re of a reasonable age and have nothing better to do on Wednesday nights. Me? I’ll keep watching, at least until the show gets canceled.