Make It Or Break It [US] **Spoilers**

Richard Dower

This premiered Monday a 9pm ET on ABC Family in the US, it's lead-in was the season 2 premier of the hit The Secret Life Of The American Teenager.

Basic premise, you ever see that 2006 movie Stick It?....well that's it in a nutshell. Teenie girls competing in gymnastics at an exclusive Bolder Colorado gym. All the usual trimmings, one super bitchy girl who schemes and sabotage her competiton...even her friends! :eek:

Her hareem of lackies, the outsider just moved from somewhere tryna make her place on the team and reach nationals. Odd smattering of parents, hot guys...no doubt temptation, hookups and boy vs. career decisions to come.

I have to say i was looking forward to this as usually ABC Family have been really good. I'll use Kyle XY/Wildfire and Greek as an example....but this left me very much meh.

The characters from the pilot seem generic and unlikable, the editing and directing is not good...IMO. It's like the director is half heartedly going for the shaky Friday Nights Lights camera look, the music i thought was poorly chosen and did not suit the scenes.

The girls aren't even that hot!!!!....what the hell??????? :rolleyes:
One chick the uber bitch with an uber bitchy face Cassie Scerbo is hot though tbf....but she's a right cow in this show! :mad:

Anywhoo....it's a pilot and it seems it has an initial 10 episode run...maybe it gets better?
I'll stick with it, not much else on really :rolleyes:

Btw...American Teenager was MUCH better, loads of new twists, Brendan Hampton writes some very clever and whitty dialogue

10 min promo on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GCWzDD8Jjg

Richard Dower

So watched ep. 2 - thought it was better then the pilot, more focused in terms of story, seems they are not solely gonna focus on the girls but also parents storylines, this worked well for The OC. Still not a patch on other shows but gonna give it time, some shows take a few eps. to get going...also producers have a tendency for a "mid season intervention", as in if ratings drop studio execs chime in to spice things up and make changes.

Have a strong feeling this show will have such an intervention, so we'll see if it helps.

Richard Dower

Ep. 3 dropped Monday....tis getting better folks!, the scripts seem more focused and the actors seem to be settling into their characters. Weirdly the girls seem to be getting better looking?
Hey!...i know the are playing teens but in real life these girls are in their mid twenties...so don't hate! :-)

Big new character introduced this week, head coach....and i can tell ya, he's good...dude has screen presence (and an accent), have a feeling he could create some drama.

Overall it is definately improving.

Mr E

Sorry Richard.
FWIW, I know what its like to start a thread that everyone ignores. *sniff*

Richard Dower

It's not a competition, this show will only appeal to a small amount of Boards posters, point being it might spur some to give it a shot....and i like sharing my observations about shows i watch.

Mr E

And I like reading them, Richard. Don't stop, man... seriously.
My tongue was firmly in cheek when I posted that picture. No offense intended.

Richard Dower

Fourth episode done and dusted, IMO....best ep. thus far, this one focused in the four primary girls and the inter-relationships and problems they have. It's definately keeping me interested...must check how it's doing in the ratings.

Richard Dower

I wanna bump this with an update: first off i have to say that i was glad i stuck the series out as with each episode it got better and better!, i should also note this has been a BIG ratings winner, in fact it has become the second highest rated original series on ABC Family. It has been given the green light for a second 10 episode run to start in early January 2010.

If you come across it and like these kind of shows i'd recomend it!

Richard Dower

My fave scene from the series, love the music....can't wait for it to return in January!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhLjHUY8GRc

JP Liz

might give it a go

Richard Dower

Woot!...new promo for the new upcoming eps. of this US hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nmLys7cK4w

Richard Dower

Yippee!....the second part (10 episodes) of season 2 starts on ABC Family tomorrow, here's hoping it continues on the success it had with the first 10 eps.

Richard Dower

Darn!...took ages to come out, but thank the gods!...off to watch the new ep. soon! :-)

Richard Dower

Wow!...record ratings!!!!!!!

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/05/the-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-and-make-it-or-break-it-set-records-for-abc-family/37729

Richard Dower

Absolutely fantastic episode last night!!!....best of the entire season, i'm not 100% sure but i think Make It was competing with the premiere of Life Unexpected and as such creator/episode writer Holly Sorensen really ramped the quality of this episode WAY up.

Much much better script, acting and lots of comedy, very very enjoyable. Payson has really grown on me in the last three eps., she's just utterly adorable and you really feel for her and her injury.

Easily the best of the season, his show is much better then Secret Life Teenager.

Richard Dower

High ratings continue, the upfronts for ABC Family take place at the end of January...Secret Life and Make It Or Break It are 100% guaranteed new seasons, i think Greek might be cancelled though:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/20/abc-family-delivers-cable%E2%80%99s-top-3-telecasts-in-female-teens-with-%E2%80%9Cbring-it-on-fight-to-the-finish%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Csecret-life%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cmake-it-or-break-it%E2%80%9D/39485

Richard Dower

Season 1 finale last night, which was very good...beats Gossip Girl and gets near record ratings: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/09/spring-finale-of-abc-familys-make-it-or-break-it-delivers-at-near-record-levels-in-key-demos/44456


Very interesting that it's trouncing GG!

Richard Dower

Season 2 kicks off Monday June 28th! http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/make-it-break-it

Richard Dower

Season 2 kicks off tonight on ABC Family!. New charcater is added which should cause the girls some trouble :-)

Season 1 was pretty darn solid, i like the show alot, just hope that it being on at 10pm won't hurt the ratings. Monday is now a big night for ABCF with Secret Life Of The American Teenager on at 8, Huge at 9pm and MIOBI at 10pm.

Richard Dower

Woot!...Season 2 Episode 1 "Friends Close, Enemies Closer"....

Richard Dower

Very solid start...but if the head coach leaves it'll be a travesty for the show!....he's the best part of MIOBI imo.

Richard Dower

Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin guest stars in this weeks (tomorrow) MIOBI!

Dilynnio

Hey!

Really enjoying this show.....have watched the first 10 episodes of Season 1!

The characters are great especially Lauren......Blair hasn't a patch on her!

Thanks for the recommendation.

Richard Dower

10 episodes already???....jesus, you must be powering through them!

:-)

Ep. 13 "California Girls" is a fave, watch the part with Payson when she gets kissed...watch her face, soooo cute!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3CIHfbd-H4

Watch at 6:45...utterly adorable!

Dilynnio

Just watched season one and the start of season two!

I am hooked. It is a great show with cool characters.

Also the first Teen show that made me shed a tear( when Payson returned to the gym for the first time)! I will not admit my age here!

Also the most cringe bit of TV I have ever seen...was at the end where Damon was on the radio confessing his love to Emily.....I could hardly watch.

Glad it has been moved to Tuesday night...PLL and MIOBI back to back.....super!

Thanks Richard for the great recommendation.

Right now back to having a life................:D

Richard Dower

Ep. 3 tonight at the new time and day!...i have to say MIOBI + PLL are the best ABC Family shows being broadcast, and can't wait for Greek to return!

Dilynnio

That Tucker guy is interesting......I wonder what drama he will stir up at the Rock.

I like Lauren but come on will someone please put her in her place!

Missing the Pizza Shack.....it put me in the mood for pizza!:D

Richard Dower

PLL helped MIOBI in the ratings this week, but it's still down on season 1 in overall viewers, hopefully paired with PLL ratings go up over the next 7 eps. - it needs to to survive!

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/14/abc-family%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cpretty-little-liars%E2%80%9D-hits-another-series-high-in-key-18-34-demos/57160

Richard Dower

The final numbers are very bad, basically even lower then last week, i really thought the move to Tuesdays would help, but at this rate....with these numbers it won't get renewed past it's current 10 eipsode order/run.

Make It or Break It
- 1.561 million viewers
- 1.0/2 HH
- 0.6/2 A18-49
- 1.1/3 W18-34
- 1.8/7 T12-17

Richard Dower

So, if the ratings don't improve SOON it's dark days for IMOBI, but as stated if Huge keeps falling i *hope* ABCF chooses MOBI to survive the cut....we'll see what the new ep. tonight brings.

Final numbers for Monday on ABCF:

Secret Life of the American Teenager (8pm)
- 2.559 million viewers
- 1.6/3 HH
- 1.1/4 A18-49
- 2.5/8 W18-34
- 2.4/10 T12-17

Huge
- 1.584 million viewers
- 1.0/2 HH
- 0.6/2 A18-49
- 1.5/5 W18-34
- 1.5/5 T12-17

Dilynnio

I am still watching it...........just about!

It has gone down hill big time this season.

Sacha is beginning to annoy me with his stupid grin!

Meh.....I will stick it out and see where it goes!

Richard Dower

Tbf...you're not the first person to say this, i'm still watching...but i think they've gone into overdrive in making Lauren the most hated character...ever!

I still find it enjoyable, i'm not sure why it's losing ratings by the week.......?

Who's your fave character?, in order: Payson/Lauren/Kaylie/Emily....did you know the actress who plays Emily is married with a child?

Richard Dower

Pretty good ep. last night, i *knew* from the first few minutes before the credits rolled it was written by Holly Sorensen (show creator)...as the writing was better then other eps. she has a habit of character development and humour.

But be advised, next week we'll see the thing most feared, from a moral standpoint, it's been hinted at for the last few eps. but now it's on!

Yup...Payson and Sasha getting it on!!, the third ABCF show to have a student/teacher relationship with PLL and Huge...wtf?
It's just WRONG!....she's 16 and he's in his mid thirties, they have great chemistry, no doubting that....but it's just wrong!, the promo for next week shows Payson going in for a kiss, i hope it's just a crush, i think Sasha is the kinda man/character not to go there....but you never know with ABC Family!

You can see the promo for next week here: http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/make-it-break-it

I just realised!...this could be a major plot point for Steve Tanner and Ellen Beals getting rid of Sasha from The Rock!, the promo shows Sasha taping Payson's performance, in ep. 7 Beals and Tanner agreed they needed dirt on Sasha to get rid of him....so, the video tape might be the evidence they need to get rid of Sasha!, as it'll show Payson kissing her coach!

:-)

Dilynnio

Yeah it was the first episode I have really enjoyed in ages!

Not another underage love story......whats up with ABC......!!!!

It will probably just be her going in for the kiss and then him pushing her away but they will catch enough evidence to make it look like they were kissing.....lol!

I hope they extend this show.

Richard Dower

^ hope so as well. i think it's a much better show then Huge....which is total rubbish, and it's NOT because they are fat kids, it's the scripting, acting and lack of true character development, add to which Huge has very little real drama....it's boring!

MIOBI has been improving, it's the kinda show well suited to ABCF....i think Huge is on the wrong channel, Nick or some other kids network would work better, i find Huge is aimed at a much younger audience then PLL or MIOBI.

Richard Dower

Ep. 8 was pretty good as well, i feel for Payson...guy shows her attention and she misreads it, bless her. Sasha is gonna get royally screwed by all this!...if mommy Keller see's that video Sasha is toast!

Lauren, jesus....she just gets worse and worse each ep.!, bitchy and vile!
Two more episodes and then we see if it gets renewed, the decision should come down pretty fast after the mid season finale.

New interview with Cassie (Lauren): http://www.tvguide.com/News/Cassie-Scerbo-Interview-1021927.aspx

Richard Dower

Lowest numbers yet:

Make It or Break It
- 1.303 million viewers
- 0.9/1 HH
- 0.5/1 A18-49
- 0.8/3 W18-34
- 1.4/5 T12-17

A 0.8W/18-34 = dead, no way it'll survive now...dreadful numbes for a 9pm show on a Tuesday. I can't see it being being renewed despite Cassie in the above ^ interview kinda hinting that it's getting another 10 episode order.

Richard Dower

NO!...Ellen Beals has a pic of Payson kissing Sasha in next weeks promo:

http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/make-it-break-it

Richard Dower

Really very good episode last night, one of the strongest of the season. Lauren...my god!, just when i think the character can't get any worse...she does!
I have to say the writers have absolutely SLAUGHTERED Lauren this season, they have turned her into a cold hearted sociopath!

I feel bad for Cassie Scerbo, the actress...'cause she has said in interviews she gets alot of abuse from fans for the character of Lauren, i doubt the actress is anything like the hateful Lauren, but alot of times fans don't seem to separte the charcter they play from the actress.

But all season long it's gone from one extreme to another with Lauren, they tunred her into a lothsome hate filled character, totally devoid of sympathy or redemption. Gone a bit too far imo, i'd like to see them write her a bit nice with a bit of humour.

I loved Payson's reaction to the kiss, and i loved that Sasha called her mom right away, and her mom just laughed it off saying it was a crush etc., she even said to Payson in years to come she'll look back at this and laugh, i think the wrtiers handled it very well, did it the right way and not made a huge deal about it.

Another show would have made a huge long running dramafest outta it, but Elen Beals now has the ammo along with Steve Tanner to get rid of Sasha in the mid season finale next week.

They seem to be going out with a bang next week: http://abcfamily.go.com/watch/clip/make-it-break-it/SH011551060000/PL5547512/VD5581534/at-the-edge-of-the-worlds-teaser/

Richard Dower

Ratings, bit up from last week....will it get renewed?. the crucial W18-34 demo rose from 0.8 - 1.3...phew!, still not great but will it be enough?

Make It or Break It (9pm)
- 1.419 million viewers
- 1.0/2 HH
- 0.6/2 A18-49
- 1.3/4 W18-34
- 1.5/5 T12-17

Richard Dower

So....mid season/Summer finale last night, right away i'm gonna say it was a poorly written finale, i'm not the only one with this opinion if you read the IMDB message board. That whole scene with Summer in the church was beyond stupid, it made no sense at all....like she gets a message from god and Steve Tanner walks in to blub and pray...hey presto!, he's the man for you Summer!...ugh!

The only thing i really liked about it was real life Olympic coach Bela Karoyli....playing Sasha's dad, proceeds to totally P'WN Ellen Beals "look lady, get lost!".....LOL!, i fell about, finally Beals gets the smackdown she deserves!

If you look close you'll see the actress Michelle Clunie actually laugh as she walks away from Bela. But overall there were scenes that didn't make sense and the finale annoyed me, Lauren's reaction to her father finally telling her the truth about her mom made NO sense.

She's kicked off for less, but dosen't bat an eyelid at her fathers betrayal?....another scene that really got me worked up was when Beals says that Sasha needs to leave as he's a potential peadophile???????????......i shouted at the tv!, thank god the actors reacted like i think anyone would to that line!

Very frustrating and uneven finale.

Richard Dower

Summer finale ratings, on par with the season as a whole:

Make It or Break It
- 1.438 million viewers
- 1.0/2 HH
- 0.5/2 A18-49
- 1.0/3 W18-34
- 1.4/5 T12-1

Richard Dower

MAJOR SPOLIERS AHEAD some info on the second part of season 2 which is apparently slated for airing Janury 2011: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1332030/board/thread/169954491

eastinflatable

And I like reading them, Richard. Don't stop, man... seriously.
My tongue was firmly in cheek when I posted that picture. No offense intended.

Richard Dower

eastinflatable wrote: »

And I like reading them, Richard. Don't stop, man... seriously.
My tongue was firmly in cheek when I posted that picture. No offense intended.

What picture?....i'm the forum whipping boy

Richard Dower

Couple of mid season finale reviews:

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/09/01/make-it-or-break-it-finale-too-much/

http://cliqueclack.com/tv/2010/09/01/make-it-or-break-it-no-last-minute-reprieve/

http://thetvchick.com/reviews/review-make-it-or-break-it-at-the-edge-of-the-worlds/

http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/08/31/make-it-or-break-it-at-the-edge-of-the-worlds-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+daemonstv+%28Daemon%27s+TV%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Richard Dower

It's been *confirmed* that the second part of season 2 will go ahead, 10 episodes, shooting starts in LA in late September with a January 2011 premiere date. A decision as to whether a third season will be commisioned is unknown, but a decision is expected late January or early Febuary 2011.

Cookie Jar

I'm not impressed with the ending really either. Summer and Tanner??:mad:

I didn't think Lauren could get any worse but she got worse every epiosde!

Richard Dower

MIOBI season 2 ep. 11 is called The New Normal, episode 12 is called Free People.

Richard Dower

Dunno how this slipped by, but E4 are showing MIOBI at 4pm on Saturdays, started on Oct. 23rd so they are upto ep. 3 from today:

http://www.e4.com/makeitorbreakit/

Catch up on 4od for free, can be viewed in Ireland: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/make-it-or-break-it/4od

Richard Dower

Some news from MIOBI....Nicole Anderson (Kelly Parker on the show) will be in most of the upcoming eps. for the second part of season 2. Sasha is back!

Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill, Hocus Pocus, Sister Act) is going to guest star on Make it Or Break it, according to the abcfamily website, she will be playing Kelly Parker's manager for at least 2 episodes.