It’s been quite a while since Ali Larter put on the outfit and shook her pom poms hasn’t it? Despite all that she’s still in great shape and does look as though she could get right back out there and make it happen again. She and Ben Stiller will be bringing a new series to Fox soon titled The Sidelines as reported by Joey Paur of GeekTyrant. In a few ways this sounds enticing since it’s not going to be Varsity Blues all over again given that she’s 43 and as many women that have taken on the role of cheerleader could attest to, getting up and doing it all again after a certain age isn’t bound to be easy. But in this era female empowerment tends to mean getting up and doing it all over again if you have to, and a story like this tends to mean that she’s going to be the main character and an inspiration that will stand out to the younger women on the squad that her character auditions for and will have a lifetime of experience to share with others when it comes to just about anything on or off the sideline.
Does anyone ever think about the sidelines? Probably not since the action is usually on the field unless fight starts and spills off to the side where it still highlights those that are still in the middle of the action. Taking a series and making it about those that are there to boost the morale of a sports team seems like a worthy action but it’s going to be interesting to see if enough people agree with this sentiment. Cheerleaders are often seen as a pleasing part of the game but aren’t given a lot of importance since people watch a game to see the actual game itself, not the cheerleaders. This might sound a little cynical and even harsh but it’s the unvarnished truth since the cheerleaders are usually seen as an extra part of the game that are there to help people get pumped and add a bit of sex appeal to the game that many folks still don’t fully understand since they’re so underplayed. Perhaps the goal of this series is to bring to light just what cheerleaders do go through, without the reality TV feel that the Dallas cheerleader series managed to give to people. It’s a rough position to try and take without any doubt, but it’s also one that seems to be very underappreciated at times since one doesn’t always hear about this or that cheerleader being accepted or cut unless they happen to be a family member or friend, in which case the story still doesn’t go all that far.
The sad reality of being a cheerleader is that they undergo a lot of pressure, a great deal of work and self-sacrifice to do what they love, and a lot of people never really notice them for it. The fleeting shots that are given of the cheerleaders standing at attention most times and then cheering when they’re supposed to are about all you really ever see of them, especially given that they’re often used as window dressing for many teams. Some might even question the use of cheerleaders and why they’re still attached to any team. In high school they seem quite useful as they can help to get a smaller crowd pumped up and ready to cheer for the local team. In college they might even be more useful than not since the crowds are much bigger but are still fiercely loyal to their teams. In professional sports however it seems harder to think that they’re having as much of an impact on the crowd other than to be ogled at since many of them are quite fit and very attractive. It would be very interesting if this series was to take on the many issues that being a cheerleader can bring and the hardships that go into it as well since there are likely many things that quite a few people don’t fully understand about being a cheerleader and why it’s important to some folks.
For Larter it would actually be a return to a role that she filled out quite nicely since after Varsity Blues it was seen that she put up the cheerleader persona for a good amount of time and hasn’t really revisited it in the many other projects she’s taken on. She still looks great and will hopefully be able to make the role work in a big way since it does sound as though she’s going to be the more experienced woman in the bunch. How far the series will go is hard to say, but since Denise Petski of Deadline reminds everyone that it’s going to be a comedy it could be that we’ll see a few hints of something different from Larter this time around.
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