Make it or Break it

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Has anyone heard of the new tv show/movie on ABC Family called Make it or Break it!? I know it's about gymnasts and their gym life! and it's starting on June 22. Does anyone else know more about it? I can't wait to see itt!!
 
Yes it's a tv show...it's going to be on after Secret Life of the American Teenager(my no. 1 guilty pleasure) each Monday night at 7:30pm Central Time.
 
Yup heard of it but doubt its going to really focus on gymnastics. I think its going to be more of a raging hormonal teen drama show that just happens with gymnasts. There is another thread somewhere here on CB on this.
 
Yup heard of it but doubt its going to really focus on gymnastics. I think its going to be more of a raging hormonal teen drama show that just happens with gymnasts. There is another thread somewhere here on CB on this.

+1

My feelings exactly. I think CB will be flooded with lots of "they did 'x' all wrong" the day after it airs. DD will of course watch it. It can't be much dumber then Flight 29 down. :rolleyes: But...we shall see.
 
This looks like it's going to be absolutely hideeous. I am attaching some youtube links for anyone who wants to see the tease and "First Look":

YouTube - 'Make It Or Break It' : Tease

YouTube - 'Make It Or Break It' : Exclusive First Look

Not to mention a webpage on ABC Family"

ABC Family: Make It or Break It

Looks to me like a combination of "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" and "Stick-It." Even the lead actress here looks more like Missy Peregrym (i.e., obviously a non-gymnast body -- look at those arms!) than, let's say, Courtney Peldon, who not only was a high-level gymnast -- she looked like one. At least it provides some work for Candy Cameron and a bunch of anonymous stunt gymnasts.
 
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hi chalk bucketers

I wanted to introduce myself to you guys. My name is Holly Sorensen, and I created the series MAKE IT OR BREAK IT. We're obviously a prime time cable tv drama, and therefore our prime aim is to entertain, illuminate, and show the heart of our characters in a dramatic way. But I wanted to come on this board and tell you all how much we love gymnastics, respect it and take it absolutely seriously.

Since you all are experts on the sport, I know you will see many things that don't feel exactly accurate to you all in our show. When you make a TV show sometimes you have to take some liberties so that your story will be meaningful to the widest possible audience, or tell a story in the most efficient way. But I hope you see that our intent is to really celebrate the joy and amazement of this sport, as well as really taking seriously issues of girls in sport and their families - the disipline, the sacrifice, the obsticles, as well as the exhileration. We're not a documentary, of course - we're a fun and entertaining show about teenages and their families that hopefully has a lot of heart. But I really hope you watch a few episodes and get to know our characters before you make up your minds about us.

One of the best parts of this journey for me is getting to know and work with so many amazing collegiate and olympic gymnasts that work with us every day on the show and share their stories. Keep your eyes tuned in for some of the biggest names in the sport on our screen this summer and some fun surprises.

I'm happy to answer any of your questions about the show - I may be a bit slow as the show is pretty consuming and i have a five month old baby!! And I'd love to hear your stories and learn about you as well. Thanks for reading this message, and I hope you tune in June 22.
 
Hi again! I wanted to answer one question right off the bat as I've already recieved several private emails on this one - Did we cast or try to cast actual gymnasts on the show?

The answer is yes, we have real gymnasts on the show and when we started casting we went to gyms all over. We'd love to have ALL real gymnasts in the show, but the fact is - just as gymnastics takes training and precision, so does acting. It might look easy, but acting is actually its own very difficult skill. And because we're a TV drama, not a reality show, we needed to cast actors first.

Our actresses have all fallen in love with gymnastics and since we shot the pilot have been working almost daily with gymnasts and gymnastic coaches to make their bodies more gymnastic. And as we've gone forward, we've found some gymnasts who are also actors and have worked with some of our gymnasts as well, so as the season goes on, you'll see more real gymnasts in the show. Thanks for asking!
 
We'd love to have ALL real gymnasts in the show, but the fact is - just as gymnastics takes training and precision, so does acting. It might look easy, but acting is actually its own very difficult skill.

So very true! Acting is probably the hardest part of my major at school. Singing? Dancing? Nothing compared to the work of my acting class. But I do love it... I'm so very lucky to be able to go to a performing arts school like that where musical theater is half of my day! :D

I'm really excited for this show. I'm just hoping it doesn't go too overboard with the drama. :)
 
Well lets face it, most stuff on TV is fiction....even some of the so-called "reality TV". Part of the fun of being experts about the subject of the show is that you can pick it apart and point out everything that was done wrong. But most of the people watching would probably never know the difference. Even if it is not completely accurate, lets hope they portray gym in a positive light, and that it will get more kids and teens interested in our wonderful sport.
 
I have to admit,my curiosity is perked about this show. It will be interesting to see how they portray gymnastics, if its going to be based AROUND gymnastics, and be the main part of the show, or if its going to be more of a teen drama, with bits and pieces of gymnasts
 
My girls and I will be watching the show--at least initially to see what it's like. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it somewhat accurately represents gymnastics.
 
Looks like just another teenage angst show! Probably more about boys, hating parents, school, backstabbing friends, and bulimia :) with some gymnastics thrown in.
 
my gymnast dd8 already has big plans for tivo and the new gymnastics show - honestly im just thrilled there will be a show tivo'd that changes week to week - you have no idea how sick i am of watching the olympics, the visa championships and the olympic trials - omg i have what the broadcasters say memorized - she watches all of them over and over and over - so for me as long as it doesnt have elfie or bob interviewing anyone i cant wait!
 
thanks for your messages and questions! Kayleigh, one of the main characters in our show has your name, though she spells it differently. you're a gymnast who studies acting? we could use you when you're done with school!

i will find out what the canadian story is. i assume some channels in canada will have the show, others have to buy the show. i actually met a canadian buyer at our foreign "up fronts" , he seemed like a great guy and said he was buying the show for canada, so fingers crossed!

to answer the question about drama - well, the kind of show we are is a one hour drama. so it will be dramatic. many things will go on in our show that will not happen at your gym (or i hope they wont!) but i think many things will be real to you as well. our main set is the gym, our girls main quest is their quest for olympic greatness. dispite what goes on in their families and other relationships, that will remain front and center.

regarding "drama" - i think there is a fear that we might have drama that reflects poorly on the sport. let me tell you again, that is so far from our intention. we love the sport and we celebrate it. however, when you make a television drama, there is only so much it will ever be like what a situation is "exactly" like. one of my best friends is a resident at a major hospital, and "gray's anatomy" is much, much more dramatic than their experience. yet, they see their experience in that show. just because a lot of very dramatic stuff goes on in that show, no one thinks badly of residents or interns at real hospitals, if that makes sense. in fact, applications for residencies spiked after grays, just like applications for the ER spiked after that show, and law school admissions spiked when LA LAW was on the air - none of which were "real" in many ways.

and if they made a show exactly like their real experience of being hospital residents, frankly, not so many would watch it, because thats not really what television dramas do.

so newyorkgymfan, i think you're exactly right. you guys will see some things that are not accurate to you, (although with lots of the details we're getting better wtih every episode, and i hope you hang with us). but the ways that our show IS more fun and dramatic than the average gym is also the ways i think we will hook more people into the sport of gymnastics, which we truly hope to do. having said that, i've talked to enough gymnasts since starting this project to come to think that many gyms do have plenty of drama!

thanks again for the questions! we really appreciate your interest. all the best, holly sorensen
 
thanks for your messages and questions! Kayleigh, one of the main characters in our show has your name, though she spells it differently. you're a gymnast who studies acting? we could use you when you're done with school!

I noticed that when I was looking at the website on ABC Family! I was like, "hey! For once in my life... someone shares my name!". And on a gymnastics show too! Can't get much better than that. And I study musical theater, so I do get four acting classes a week. Ohhhhh my goodness, that would be very cool. Haha. :D
 
But I wanted to come on this board and tell you all how much we love gymnastics, respect it and take it absolutely seriously.
. . .
I'm happy to answer any of your questions about the show - I may be a bit slow as the show is pretty consuming and i have a five month old baby!! And I'd love to hear your stories and learn about you as well. Thanks for reading this message, and I hope you tune in June 22.

Holly,

Kudos for making the effort to be on this board and find out what gymnastics is really like. By way of background, I am the parent of a gymnast who has been in sport for 13 years. I have been a fan of women's gymnastics since 1972 when Olga Korbut made her splash in Munich.

I suppose what rankles me is the tendancy of the popular media to portray gymnasts as victims of coaches and overbearing parents (e.g., "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" and "The Perfect Body"). Granted, every sport suffers from "stage mother" syndrome and hard-core coaches, but gymnastics movies tend to unduly emphasize these to the point where it defames the sport.

I understand that showing the sacrifices that gymnasts have to make without utterly distorting reality is a difficult line to draw in a dramatic presentation, but I have to warn you that if "Make It or Break It" become a series about dictatorial coaches, parents who live through their children, and emotionally/socially stunted girls with eating disorders, you are going to lose your target audience because they know better.

As I am sure you already know, the same qualities that makes top gymnasts excel also serve to make them excellent students and people. Gymnasts are almost always among the top academic teams at any university (and often the highest). Years of attending meets, especially away meets, have ingrained time-management and organizational skills.

And gymnastics, especially high-level gymnastics, is inherently dramatic because of its athletic and performance aspects. For example, did you know that a double-pike on floor subjects a gymnast's body to the same stress as jumping from a two-story building?

Because you are here, I will keep an open mind about "Make it or Break It" and will even let people here know about your sneak preview:

ABC Family: Make It Or Break It watch the 10 minute online exclusive preview

Since you were kind enough to answer questions, here's one. One of the previews referred to a "No Dating" rule at the gym. Did you actually get this from a real gym, or is this an exercise of dramatic license?
 
so Holly...... in the interest of drama...it would be very cool if the gymnasts could develop super powers then have to evade being captured by a top secret multi billion dollar corporation bent on exploiting their powers to achieve world domination....ya know, save the gymnast...save the world!!!

Whatcha' think??:D

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Elite gymnast Alison Carroll

BTW - just right off the bat, the one thing I can see as a major criticism from folks in the know is that while your actors are in decent shape, they don't look anything like gymnasts let alone elite gymnasts.
 
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