"Fear the Cheer": Why Viewers Flock to This Annual Lifetime Event

quotThis is our third year doing the cheerleading programming stuntquot said Karen Wheeler pictured below Director of Acquisitions for Lifetime and LMN in an exclusive interview with MediaVillage quotA couple of years before that we noticed that when we aired movies involving cheerleaders even if they were a minor part of the story having the word 39cheerleader39 in the title or some kind of cheercentric storyline popped with viewersquotOne of our 2018 titles had cheerleading as a minor part of the story and it just did bonkersquot she continued quotWe were like huh Was it the cheerleader part So we aired a couple of other cheerleader movies and they did really well I think there39s a curiosity about cheerleaders everyone has a feeling about them They either were a cheerleader they looked up to them in school or they were the mean girls and they weren39t so sure about them Everyone has this curiosity of what would it be like to be those girls and you want to see them do great things because it39s a challenging sportquotThese girls are athletic and train hardquot she added quotBut there39s also this other idea that they39re the pretty popular girls in school Whatever people39s feelings are towards that whether they find cheerleading aspirational or are like 39They can39t really do that39 there39s just something with cheerleaders and there are so many different storylines you can do with themquotLifetime39s relationship with cheerleaders dates back some 30 years to when they wisely acquired the 1994 original NBC movie Death of a Cheerleader starring Kellie Martin and Tori Spelling In subsequent reairings that movie continued to draw a significant audience and became a part of the fiber of Lifetime so much so that when the network celebrated 30 years of Lifetime Original Movies in May of 2020 Death of a Cheerleader kicked off the eventquotWe remade that movie in 2019quot Wheeler recalled quotIt39s an iconic story of somebody who wants to be somebody else I feel like that39s very much in the Lifetime DNA So definitely a cheerleader story was perfect for that and it is classic Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin Throughout the years as a storyline we39ve looked at the idea of somebody who wants someone else39s life and what would you do to get that It39s very LifetimequotAlthough Wheeler wasn39t directly involved with the acquisition of the original Death of a Cheerleader she joined Lifetime in 2016 she39s pleased that her department continues to give audiences what they want quotI39m proud of the legacy of being able to find these great movies over the years and bring themamp160to our viewersquot she said quotI think the heart of what the Lifetime viewer loves is these thrillers and often wacky stories We work really hard to find great ones and make sure they get to our audiencequotWheeler contributes much of the success of Lifetime39s programming events to planning along with providing a veritable buffet of titles and genres quotWe look at the whole year and basically program a year at a timequot she revealed quotWe look at a balance and we39re always looking to bring something for everyone If you like the really inspirational stories or biopics we have those If you like the crazy thrillers we have those We have rippedfromtheheadlines truecrime and we try to group them together If you39re looking for that we can superserve viewers That39s why the Fear the Cheer event is a couple of weeks long You can tune in and get a deep dive then right after that we have our third Harry and Meghan movie We hope when people think of Lifetime they39re thinking of all these different things like 39What39s Lifetime going to do with that topic39quotAt the forefront of any Lifetime programming event is entertainment and according to Wheeler this year39s Fear the Cheer doesn39t disappoint There39s even some crosspollination of brands with a sprinkle of their massively popular Vivica A Foxled The Wrong franchisequotWe39re kicking things off with Killer Cheer Momamp160and Pom Poms and Payback pictured at top which are probably two of our campier fun moviesquot she shared quotDenise Richards pictured above is great as the Killer Cheer Mom you can tell she39s having fun in the role and it39s just superfun to watch her Then straight after that Pom Poms takes it up like 10 notches to way over the topquotSaturday night we have The Wrong Cheer Captainamp160pictured above with Vivica A Foxquot Wheeler added quotShe plays a mom whose daughter is trying to get to the bottom of what39s happening on a cheer squad after her friend is found dead and thinks foul play was involved She may or may not be right And you know Vivica is going to say the movie39s title at the end and it will be amazing But you will also learn a lesson as that39s what The Wrong movies are always aboutquotIt39s a really fun way to start things off with a variety of storiesquot she concludedFear the Cheer kicks off Saturday August 28 with Killer Cheer Mom at 8 pm and runs through September 5 on LifetimeClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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"Fear the Cheer": Why Viewers Flock to This Annual Lifetime Event

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Steve Gidlow

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"Fear the Cheer": Why Viewers Flock to This Annual Lifetime Event

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