‘Cheer’ Coach Monica Aldama Involved in New Cheerleading Show

After retiring from cheerleading, Cheer’s Monica Aldama is setting her sights on a new cheerleading series.

The former Navarro College cheerleading coach from the Netflix docuseries is set to executive produce a new mockumentary called Stumble at NBC, according to Deadline.

Written by Liz Astrof and Jef Astrof, the single-camera comedy will follow the ridiculously high stakes and competitive world of junior college cheer. NBC won the series against multiple competitive bidders. The duo will also executive produce alongside producer Dana Honor through her Defining Eve Productions. Universal Television will produce Stumble.

Stumble will mark Aldama’s first scripted series. She joined the staff at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, in 1995, leading the cheer team to 16 NCA National Championships in the Advanced Large Coed division since 2000. In 2020, the team became the focus of Netflix’s docuseries Cheer, which ran for two seasons. Aldama was partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy for Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars, and the two were eliminated during the seventh week, coming in 10^th place. In 2023, she officially announced her retirement, but it seems like cheerleading will always be in her blood.

Meanwhile, mockumentary comedies have been popular for quite some time now, as evidenced by previous favorites such as The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, all of which aired on NBC. The network is currently home to freshman mockumentary St. Denis Medical, which was renewed for Season 2, while ABC is still seeing success with Abbott Elementary, now in its fourth season and recently renewed for Season 5.

Stumble is in pretty good hands with the Astrof siblings. Liz served as co-executive producer on ABC’s Not Dead Yet, with other credits including Last Man Standing, 2 Broke Girls, and The Conners. She also created the short-lived Fox comedy Pivoting. Jeff previously created Starz’s Shining Vale and NBC’s Trial & Error, with other credits including Grounded for Life, The Wild Thornberrys, and Friends. Liz also worked as a consulting producer on Trial & Error and Shining Vale.

As of now, no other information has been revealed for Stumble, as the show is still in early development. It’s likely more details will be released in the coming months, such as a cast which will feature a female coach character. Considering who is behind the series, it already sounds like a good one.