NEW YORK (AP) — Bodies go flying and tumbling in NBC’s latest comedy series, “Stumble,” a mocking but loving look at the competitive world of cheer from a brother-and-sister writing team.
Jeff and Liz Astrof have created a mockumentary about a ragtag group of recruits building a cheer team from scratch at a junior college in a tiny Oklahoma town with an unpronounceable name.
“Liz and I both love having heart, and we believe that if you have a really silly comedy like this, it has to be balanced by heart,” says Jeff Astrof.
Jenn Lyon stars as a determined coach who needs to win one more trophy to be crowned the winningest coach in college cheer history. She finds herself in a gym with a dead opossum and some gnarly, would-be team candidates.
One has narcolepsy, one is a poached football star, a few are filthy dancers on TikTok, there’s a 37-year-old rental car manager who technically never graduated, a felon with an ankle monitor and an 18-year-old with a messy home life. Even so, the creators promise one “cheer wow set piece” per episode.
“What’s so incredible is that these kids have never trusted anyone before or been trusted. Cheer is all about trust: Someone’s going to catch you, someone’s going to throw you in the air,” says Liz Astrof. “It’s all about trust and all of them learning how to trust each other and trust themselves and be trusted.”
Mockumentary style for an underdog story
NBC is building on its strong base of comedic mockumentaries — think “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” and “The Paper” — with “Stumble,” inspired by the 2020-22 Netflix docuseries “Cheer,” which followed a Texas team preparing for a national cheerleading competition in Daytona Beach, Florida.
“It’s an underdog story,” says Jeff Astrof. “What we loved about the documentary ‘Cheer’ was that these kids had really rough lives. We love that part of it.”
The show — which debuts Friday on NBC and is available to stream the next day on Peacock — also features as a recurring guest star Kristin Chenoweth, the 4-foot-11 Broadway star, as assistant coach Tammy Istiny (read that name again), and former “Saturday Night Live” player Taran Killam as a football coach and husband of our cheer coach.
The pilot is all about gathering the team. The following episodes are about how to navigate them to Daytona from out the METH Conference (you read that right). “I’m so excited about this season. We’ve got a great group of kids and one middle-aged man,” coach tells the media. They’ll have to overcome ego, injuries and infighting for a chance at the title.
“Stumble” marks the first time Jeff and Liz Astrof have created a show together. Speaking to them is like talking to a comfortable comedy duo, each cracking the other up with another joke.
“We always bring out the best in each other, and it’s always good when we’re together in the room and have each other’s back,” says Liz Astrof. “We would talk 17,000 times a day anyway, but it would usually be complaining about our jobs.”
“This cuts that out,” says her brother.
Jeff Astrof’s credit include “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Grounded for Life,” “Trial & Error” and “Ground Floor.” His sister’s credits include “Not Dead Yet,” “Last Man Standing,” “2 Broke Girls” and “The Conners.”
When asked what are the hallmarks of their familial sense of humor, he immediately deadpans: “Trauma.” Liz builds on that: “Trauma plus time, and the more time goes by, the funnier we are.”
They both admit to being outgoing A-type personalities — who each married more introverted people — and whose sense of comedy didn’t always come from a happy place.
“People are like, ‘Wow, you must have had a really funny household.’ And I was like, ‘That’s not how you make two sitcom writers,’” says Jeff Astrof. Adds his sister, with a laugh: “That’s not how you become funny.”
