Two shows with Memphis connections start Wednesday

Back-to-back Memphis-related comedy-drama comes to television Wednesday night with the premieres of two new television series, "Hellcats" and "Terriers."

Jack Rowand/Associated Press

Alyson Michalka (left) and Ashley Tisdale star in the upcoming CW series "Hellcats." The show's setting is the fictional "Lancer College" in Memphis.

Despite the titles, catty antics and dogged enthusiasm that will be on display, these programs will be the work of humans, not lower animals.

Shot in Vancouver but set primarily on the campus of fictional "Lancer College" in Memphis, "Hellcats" is a series about cheerleaders that could be described as "Mean Girls" meets "Glee." The CW network program premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on local affiliate WLMT-TV Channel 30.

At 9 p.m., "Terriers" -- a detective drama inspired in part by the shaggy-dog vibe of "The Rockford Files" -- debuts on the FX network. The series is set in Southern California, so its Memphis connection is creative, not geographic: The premiere episode, which was shot as the pilot for the series, was directed by Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer, who currently is in Georgia, shooting the "Footloose" remake.

"Terriers" was created by screenwriter Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven"); the executive producer is Shawn Ryan of "The Shield," a series that also employed Brewer as a director. The show focuses on a pair of ragtag unlicensed private investigators, played by Donal Logue ("The Tao of Steve") and Michael-Raymond James, who was Justin Timberlake's unreliable friend in Brewer's "Black Snake Moan" and a regular on the first season of "True Blood." Brewer helped cast the series, and his pilot establishes the program's loose, irreverent tone.

"Hellcats" was inspired by Kate Torgovnick's nonfiction book "Cheer! Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders," which focuses on three schools, including the University of Memphis. However, the resemblance to the U of M apparently ends there: According to a CW press release, the program's Lancer College is "a powerhouse college football program."

Alyson Michalka stars as Marti Perkins, a "wicked smart" pre-law student at Lancer. According to The CW, "Marti is cool, hip and alt, but her world flips upside down, literally and figuratively, when she loses her scholarship, and realizes the only way she can stay in school is by re-igniting her dormant teen gymnastic skills to win a place on Lancer's legendary cheerleading team, The Hellcats."

Marti's "fierce style, soulful moves and gymnastic elegance win her a place on the team," but she immediately clashes with the squad's "petite and peppy" captain (also her new roommate, wouldn'tcha know), played by "High School Musical" veteran Ashley Tisdale. (Inspirational dialogue: "Shake it like you're from Memphis!")

Apparently, The CW is embracing the campy, tongue-in-cheek aspect of the "Hellcats" premise: The first episode was directed by Roger Corman alumnus Allan Arkush, director of the cult classic "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (1979).

United Feature Syndicate TV critic Kevin McDonough describes "Hellcats" as "a bad imitation of 'Glee." And while he's not bowled over by "Terriers," he reports that the show has promise. "I'm not sure whether it wants to be 'Chinatown,' 'The Big Lebowski' or a down-market variation on 'Burn Notice,'" he writes, in a column that will appear in full Wednesday in The Commercial Appeal, "but I'm willing to stick around for a while."

-- John Beifuss: 529-2394

© 2010 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.