Kristin Chenoweth Joins NBC Cheerleading Comedy Pilot

Kristin Chenoweth is setting her sights on cheerleading.

Deadline reports that the Tony and Emmy winner has joined the cast of the single-camera cheerleading comedy pilot Stumble at NBC.

From writers and siblings Jeff Astrof and Liz Astrof, the mockumentary centers on the ridiculously high-stakes competitive world of junior college cheer. Jenn Lyon plays Courteney Potter, a top junior college cheer coach who is “pushed out over a controversial video and forced to take a job at a little-known school.”

If the series moves forward, Chenoweth will be recurring on the comedy as Tammy Istiny, pronounced like “Isstinny” but everyone thinks it’s “Is Tiny.” Tammy is Courteney’s longtime assistant coach and was once a flyer. She lives and dresses in her heyday, circa 1989, “still sporting a high pony, cheer makeup, and a Cherry Coke slushie.” After Courteney is fired, Tammy “reluctantly” takes the spot as head coach. Along with Lyon, Chenoweth joins previously announced cast members Taran Killam, Jarrett Austin Brown, Georgie Murphy, Ryan Pinkston, Anissa Borrego, Arianna Davis, and Taylor Dunbar.

Chenoweth is perhaps best known for originating the role of Glinda in the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked in 2003. She and Idina Menzel, who originated the role of Elphaba, cameoed in 2024’s Wicked film. On top of her many stage roles, on-screen credits include Pushing Daisies, Bewitched, RV, The Pink Panther, American Dad!, Our Little Secret, Schmigadoon!, and BoJack Horseman, among many others.

Liz Astrof and Jeff Astrof will executive produce alongside Cheer star and former cheerleading coach Monica Aldama and producer Dana Honor through her Defining Eve Productions. Jeff Blitz is set to direct and executive produce the pilot. Universal Television is the producing studio. As of now, not too many other details about Stumble have been revealed, but since the show is still only in pilot stages, it might still be some time. There are already some powerhouses attached to the series, and now that Chenoweth is also included, there is no telling where this pilot could go.

More information on Stumble, including its fate, will probably be revealed in the coming months. But if Cheer’s success on Netflix and the Bring It On films are any indication, fans are pretty into the inner workings of the competitive world of cheerleading. Stumble may just stumble its way to a full-series order, but it might be a bit too early for that.