The Stumble Cast on Combining Comedy with Cheerleading
I stepped onto the set of Stumble, a new NBC mockumentary about competitive junior college cheerleading, and it was quite a thrill. On a Brooklyn soundstage, the production built a full-size replica of a junior college gym.
Production Team and Styling
- Words by Lauren O’Neill
- Photography and creative direction: Lewis Vorn
- Videographer: Marie Koury
- Makeup: Anissa, Arianna - Mikey Clifton, Georgie, Taylor - Erin Acker
- Hair: Taylor - Michael Zambrano, Anissa and Georgie - Beth Rolon, Arianna - Gayette Williams
- Styling: Georgie solos - Zoe Gofman, Arianna solos - Venetia Kidd, Anissa solos - Marissa Pelly
- Cheer costumes: Leah Katznelson and Angel Peart
Cheerleading’s Rise in Popular Culture
By 2025, a show like Stumble was overdue. Over recent years, competitive and professional cheerleading has gained significant attention. Since 2020, when Netflix’s first season of Cheer premiered and became a global sensation—convincing many viewers that learning a back handspring at home was possible—cheer culture slowly moved into the mainstream.
Netflix followed Cheer with another hit documentary, America’s Sweethearts, about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Both series highlighted the real people behind the glamorous image, portraying cheerleaders beyond the typical "bitchy high school" stereotype.
"Both programmes revealed the real people behind the sheen, tapping into the cheerleader as a figure beyond the bitchy high school archetype."
Stumble continues this trend by blending comedy and cheerleading through a mockumentary style, offering an entertaining and fresh look at the competitive cheer world.
Author's summary: Stumble captures the evolving cheer culture by humorously portraying the lives and friendships of junior college cheerleaders in a realistic, engaging mockumentary format.