"Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal" Cashes in on America's Obsession with Cheerleaders

"Mean Girls" Meets "Bring it On"

Nothing says mainstream America like the apple pie aura that surrounds the idyllic sports setting: All-American jocks playing for the glory of their alma maters and the wholesome, not-to-be-denied exuberance of the cheerleaders that cheer them on. That is the image touted by most. And that is the image that sells. But the flip side of that image sells just as well or better. Lifetime cable network chose the flip side and broadcast their original movie, "Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal" to appeal to that lucrative seamier side. That side would include provocative images of cheerleaders, sexually suggestive images, and scandalous acts. Because for every cheerleader movie like "Bring It On", there is a corresponding sexually suggestive or outright pornographic movie as well (and, more often as not, far more examples of the latter).

"Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal" tells the story of the McKinney North High School (Texas) cheerleader squad that basically did as they pleased until they were confronted by their cheerleading coach, Emma (played by Jenna Dewan), whose character is loosely based on the actual coach, Michaela Ward. Disciplining the cheerleaders were a problem at the school because one of the cheerleaders, Brooke Tippit (who is modeled after Karissa Theret and played by Ashley Benson, who has actually starred in a "Bring It On" movie), was the daughter of the principal, Lorene Tippit (Linda Theret, played by Oscar-winner Tatum O'Neal). The cheerleaders' out-of-control behavior leads to a showdown.

In real life, Michaela Ward resigned when little was done to discipline the girls, who posted suggestive pictures of themselves on MySpace.com showing glimpses of their underwear and mimicking lewd acts with candles in a condom store, among other disruptive acts perpetrated on school grounds. Ward took the story to the press and the Dallas-suburb school became the scandal of the nation. Linda Theret resigned. The offending girls were removed from the cheerleading squad.