NBC’s Stumble Gets Cheerleading Right — And It’s Hilarious

NBC's Stumble delivers something television rarely gets right: a comedy about competitive cheerleading that understands the sport, its athletes and the personalities behind the scenes.

Created by Liz and Jeff Astrof, with former Navarro College coach and Netflix's Cheer star Monica Aldama serving as an executive producer, the mockumentary combines sharp humor, authentic cheerleading and an unlikely underdog story.

Think Cheer meets The Office, with a little Bring It On thrown in.

And somehow, it works.

A Championship Coach Looking for Redemption

At the center of the series is Courteney Potter (Jenn Lyon), a decorated cheerleading coach with 14 national championships and one goal: winning her 15th title.

That pursuit comes to an abrupt halt when she's fired from Sammy Davis Sr. Junior College following a championship celebration involving too many tequila shots and some questionable banquet awards.

Her next stop is Headltston State Junior College, a small Oklahoma school with virtually no cheerleading program and a mascot called the Buttons.

It's hardly the championship-caliber program Courteney is accustomed to leading, but she's determined to turn it into one.

Along for the ride is her husband, Boone (Taran Killam), a former football coach whose unwavering support occasionally outweighs his understanding of what's happening around him.

Meet the Buttons

Building a championship team usually requires talent, discipline and experience. Courteney's new roster is short on at least two of those.

There's Madonna (Arianna Davis), a talented tumbler with narcolepsy; Peaches (Taylor Dunbar), a gifted but troubled recruit with a history of stealing; and DiMarcus (Jarrett Austin Brown), a former quarterback whose backflipping abilities might be better suited for cheerleading.

They're joined by Sally (Georgie Murphy), an endlessly optimistic foster child; Krystal (Anissa Borrego), a former flyer and social media personality; and Steven (Ryan Pinkston), Courteney's former athlete who returns to cheerleading as an adult.

Individually, they're not exactly the athletes you'd expect to see competing for a national championship.

Together, they're comedy gold.

The show's strength is that it never treats these characters as disposable punchlines. Beneath their eccentric personalities are athletes looking for a second chance, a sense of belonging or simply someone willing to believe in them.

It's an underdog story that feels surprisingly familiar to anyone who has spent time inside a cheerleading gym.

Jenn Lyon Leads a Standout Cast

Jenn Lyon is the reason Stumble works as well as it does.

Her portrayal of Courteney strikes the perfect balance between intimidating coach, relentless competitor and someone who genuinely cares about her athletes.

Courteney is demanding, obsessive and occasionally impossible to deal with. But underneath it all is a coach who believes winning can change lives.

Anyone who has worked with a high-level cheerleading coach will recognize pieces of that personality.

Lyon's chemistry with Killam is equally entertaining. Boone may not always understand his wife's ambitions, but he's committed to supporting them, even when those ambitions lead the couple to a junior college with a questionable mascot and an almost nonexistent cheerleading program.

Then there's Kristin Chenoweth.

Playing Tammy Istiny, Courteney's former assistant turned rival, Chenoweth brings a level of theatrical absurdity that fits perfectly into the competitive cheerleading world.

With her bedazzled accessories, carefully calculated expressions and increasingly questionable behavior, Tammy is the kind of rival who can turn a routine coaching disagreement into a full-scale championship battle.

Chenoweth steals nearly every scene she's in.

The Cheerleading Actually Looks Like Cheerleading

Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of Stumble is something that might go unnoticed by viewers unfamiliar with competitive cheerleading.

The skills are believable.

Television and film have spent decades portraying cheerleading through exaggerated stunts, unrealistic routines and athletes performing skills that bear little resemblance to actual competition.

Stumble takes a different approach.

The production incorporates experienced cheerleaders, including Kory Little, Tatiyahna Davis, AJ Blankenship, Zach LeMunyon and Hailey Smith, helping bring legitimate athletic ability to the screen.

The tumbling, baskets, pyramids and stunting sequences reflect the techniques and athleticism seen at real cheerleading competitions.

Choreography by Dahlston Delgado helps bridge the gap between television comedy and competitive performance.

For longtime cheerleading fans, those details matter.

So do the smaller moments: awkward team meetings, questionable gym facilities, coaching rivalries, strange traditions and the endless pursuit of a routine that finally comes together.

The comedy exaggerates the circumstances without completely abandoning the reality of the sport.

That authenticity is where Monica Aldama's involvement becomes especially valuable.

As the former Navarro College coach whose program became internationally recognized through Netflix's Cheer, Aldama understands the intensity, personalities and relationships that define junior college cheerleading.

Her involvement lends credibility to a series that could easily have reduced the sport to stereotypes.

A Mockumentary That Knows Its Audience

Like The Office, Parks and Recreation and Abbott Elementary, Stumble uses the mockumentary format to let its characters speak directly to the audience.

Those interviews are often where the best jokes happen.

Courteney's confidence frequently clashes with the reality unfolding behind her, while the athletes offer their own interpretations of the increasingly chaotic program.

The series establishes its characters quickly, introducing Courteney's downfall and the personalities who will shape her comeback.

The humor works because the writers understand how seriously these characters take themselves, even when their circumstances are completely ridiculous.

More importantly, the jokes rarely feel like they're making fun of cheerleading itself.

Instead, the sport provides the setting for a comedy about ambition, failure, redemption and people who refuse to give up.

Why Stumble Works

There's a reason cheerleading stories continue to connect with audiences.

Behind every championship routine are athletes dealing with pressure, relationships, setbacks and expectations that extend far beyond the competition floor.

Stumble understands that.

The series finds humor in the absurdities of competitive cheerleading while recognizing the commitment required to succeed.

Its characters are flawed, often ridiculous and occasionally frustrating. But they're also easy to root for.

That's what separates Stumble from another television comedy built around a niche subject.

You don't need to understand cheerleading to enjoy the show. But if you've spent years around the sport, the references, personalities and situations make it even better.

The result is a comedy that feels accessible to general audiences without losing the details that make cheerleading unique.

Cheer Daily Review: 9.5/10

Stumble hits zero with heart and laughs to spare.

Jenn Lyon delivers a standout performance, Kristin Chenoweth is an excellent rival, and the supporting cast turns a collection of unlikely athletes into a team worth following.

The combination of authentic cheerleading, sharp writing and genuinely funny characters makes Stumble a standout sports comedy.

For a sport that has often been misunderstood or misrepresented on screen, it's refreshing to see a series that understands both the athleticism and the culture.

Stumble doesn't just use cheerleading as the punchline. It finds humor within the sport while respecting the athletes and coaches who make it what it is.

And for once, Hollywood gets the routine right.