DCOMmentaries

Al & Val are joined once again by members of the Improvised DCOM cast to break down the third and final (for now...?) installment of the Cheetah Girls franchise.


Cheetah Girls: One World (August 22, 2008)

IMDB Wikipedia

Directed by Paul Hoen (Luck of the Irish, Tru Confessions, You Wish!, Eddie’s Million Dollar Cookoff, Read it and Weep, Dadnapped, Camp Rock 2, How to Build a Better Boy, ZOMBIES 1-3)

Written by  Dan Berendsen (Up Up and Away, Scream Team, Eddie’s Million Dollar Cookoff, Stuck in the Suburbs, Halloweentown High, Twitches, Twitches Two, Hannah Montana movie, Wizards of Waverly Place the movie, Camp Rock 2, Sabrina the Teenage Witch) Jen Small (only writing credit) Nisha Ganatra (mostly a director)



Starring: 
Adrienne Bailon Houghton as Chanel "Chuchie" Simmons (Cheetah Girls 1-3, Coach Carter, Buffalo Dreams, 3LW Music Videos, mostly music videos)
Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda "Do" Thomas (Cheetah Girls 1-3, random things)
Kiely Williams as Aquanette "Aqua" Walker (Cheetah Girls 1-3, 3LW Music Videos, The House Bunny, Stomp the Yard 2)
Michael Steger as Vikram (90210, character actor)
Rupak Ginn as Rahim, the lead actor in Namaste Bombay (Royal Pains, Late Night, character actor)
Kunal Sharma as Amar (Hawaii 5-0, character actor)
Roshan Seth as Uncle Kamal Bhatia (Indian Summers, character actor)
Deepti Daryanani as Gita (stopped acting in 2009)
Vinod Nagpal as Swami Ji (Hum Log, Buniyaad, character actor)





Synopsis: The Cheetah Girls (Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, Sabrina Bryan) go to India to appear in a Bollywood musical, but the director can choose only one of them for the role.



Fun Facts: 

Raven wasn’t in the movie and didn’t tour with the group on their first non-soundtrack album bc she was working on her solo album

They celebrate Holi in the movie, but it’s at the wrong time of year (should be in spring)



Next Movie: Dadnapped


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Creators & Guests

Host
Allie Ring
Host / Producer
Host
Val Agnew
Host / Producer / Editor

What is DCOMmentaries?

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Allie:

Perfect. No notes. Hey, Val.

Val:

Hey, Elle. Hey, Improvised d COM Cast. Hey.

Caleb:

Hey. Welcome

Allie:

to Dee Commentaries.

Val:

Thank you. Welcome to you. Welcome to our listeners, and welcome to our special guests, the cast of Improvised Decoys. Yay. Woot.

Val:

Woot. Yay. Woot. Welcome back, folks.

Caleb:

Thank you.

Taryn:

Thanks for having us.

Val:

Yeah. Yeah. So for for anyone who may have, not listened to our Cheetah Girls, 2, episode, which why wouldn't you? But you may have missed that our cast from our live Improvised DCOM show came and guested on that episode as well. And so we wanted to bring them back for Cheetah Girls 1 World because, of course, we did.

Allie:

Mhmm. And the good news is our show that we did do, called Improvised DCOM, was only supposed to run for 7 weeks. And these folks are so good that we have an indefinite run-in the city of Chicago on Friday nights

Val:

That's right. At IO. That's right. Through Malarkey Comedy. Cast, let's do a little red robin of introductions.

Val:

Let's start with you, Taryn.

Taryn:

Okay. Hello, everybody. I am Taryn Gomez, and I'm so happy to be here. Another great cast member of Improvised DCOM and, of Comedy Sports, like the Milwaukee Theatre. Thanks for having me.

Val:

It's like a nesting rush a Russian doll. Improvised DCOM within congress words of it. What about you, Caleb? Say hello.

Caleb:

Hi, everybody. I'm Caleb. I've, been here since the beginning. I'm one of the originals of the cast. One of the starters, really.

Caleb:

I also have the Russian doll of the comedy sports Malarkey, Improvised Gift Machine. I just do some improv and and acting in Chicago. That's my whole thing. And I, yeah. Happy to be here.

Val:

Nice. Diana, it's your first time here.

Diana:

Hi. I'm Diana Smith. I am a Chicago improviser, cast member of Improvised Decom, and very excited to be here among you lovely people. Thank you for having me.

Allie:

Yay. Of course. And Shane.

Shane:

Hi. That's me. I am Shane, also a Chicago improviser, also a dcommer and comedy sportswear and malarkeycomedyer of all the things that happened in our theater, and also an OG, as Caleb would say, of the DCOM. We all are in fact.

Caleb:

Oh, yeah. Alright.

Val:

When you said you were an OG, I was like, oh

Allie:

my gosh. Caleb's listened to our podcast since the first episode, and that was not what OG meant.

Caleb:

You're definitely talking about me. No.

Shane:

Yeah. Yeah.

Val:

Well, we're all we're so happy you all are here, and, we're ready to get going and have a blast tonight.

Taryn:

Mhmm.

Val:

I said tonight giving away the fact that we don't in fact record this at the exact time that it comes out, in case anyone was confused.

Shane:

The magic is lost because, yeah, that's a sham.

Val:

Well, let's just get right to the business. In case anyone was confused, we're covering Cheetah Girls 1 World today. Cheetah Girls 1 World came out August 22, 2008. So while no films came out between January July of 2008, then they had a one in July, Camp Rock, and then they had Cheetah Girls 1 World in August. So they were really hitting summer hard.

Val:

And then I'm pretty sure this is it for 2,008. Yeah. So they scaled back. Just a little bit. Yeah.

Val:

But this, this one has some, some old friends of ours. So it was directed by Paul Hoenn

Diana:

Mhmm.

Val:

Who directed Luck of the Irish, True Confessions, You Wish, Eddie's $1,000,000 Cook Off, Read It and Weep, and upcoming, Dad Napped, Camp Rock 2, and How to Build a Better Boy, as well as Zombies 1 through 3. Woah.

Allie:

So definitely a big decent record. Big news for everyone that I just saw. They announced another Descendants movie.

Shane:

Oh my god. I can't wait. I saw it too.

Diana:

Yeah. I saw the ad.

Allie:

I love the descendants. I'm really excited for Val. Val's never seen him.

Val:

I'm excited to see him.

Shane:

Oh, thank you.

Caleb:

You're

Val:

They were after

Shane:

you were in for a treat.

Allie:

Diane and Caleb, any comments on the descendants?

Caleb:

You know, I I haven't I always think it's that George Clooney movie when, when

Val:

And it is. Me too. We have 4

Allie:

of them. And Diana?

Diana:

Wait. I cannot be reached for comment at this time.

Allie:

Okay. Thank you for sharing your truth.

Shane:

What I'm most excited about for Descendants 4 is Brandy is back as Cinderella.

Val:

Wait. Oh, is that what that picture was of her with with the guy who played prince charming or whatever from They're

Shane:

both back from that movie as the because Descendants 4 follows a different path than the original 3 Descendants. It's like, this happens afterwards. Still set in the same universe, but, yes, Cinderella and her husband, Prince Charming, from that movie are back.

Val:

Oh, I love brand new Cinderella.

Diana:

That's so cool. It's possible.

Val:

Love it. Great. Okay. So that's the director. It was written by a team, but 2 of the writers didn't really have any other writing credits to of note.

Val:

Jen Small, this was literally her only writing credit, so I'm not sure what she was doing. And then Nisha Ganatra was also a writer credited on this movie, but, actually, she is mostly a television director, so I thought that was interesting. But the I think the primary writer or at least the person who kind of turned it into a decom was Dan Berenson, old Reliable. Dan wrote Up, Up and Away, Scream Team, Eddie's $1,000,000 Cook Off, Stuck in the Suburbs, Halloweentown High, Twitches, Twitches 2, the Hannah Montana movie, Wizards of Waverly Place movie, Camp Rock 2, and Sabrina the teen a bunch of episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Allie:

One of Val's favorites.

Val:

So my thing with Dan is that a lot of his movies are, like, kind of campy in a way that I don't like. Like, they're sort of, like, whoop whoop whoop. But, not all of them. Not all of them. Just some of them.

Val:

So, you know, whoop whoop whoop. You know, like, 3 stooges. Like, what

Allie:

do that? Yep.

Val:

Anyway, so that was the rating team. Then we've got a a smallish cast, especially compared to last

Allie:

last movie. A

Val:

lot of people we remember from before, Adrienne Houghton played Chanel Cucci Simmons. She's in All 3 Cheetah Girls. She was in the movie Coach Carter. She was in the DCOM Buffalo Dreams, in sort of, like, a cameo role. And, of course, she's in 3 LW, so she's in a lot of their music videos.

Val:

Then we've got Sabrina Bryan playing Dorinda Do Thomas. She's also in All 3 Cheetah Girls and then a random assortment of other stuff. And currently has

Allie:

a podcast that is exactly like what, Val? Our podcast.

Val:

That's right.

Shane:

Mama.

Val:

More famous people than us stole our idea.

Shane:

Always Harkas.

Val:

Mhmm. Yep. That's really cool. Anyway, Keeli Williams played Aquanet Aqua Walker. She's also in all 3 Cheetah Girls.

Val:

She's also in 3 l w. Fucking promise that she was in the

Allie:

Fucking promise that Yeah.

Val:

Promise of the Also, I I don't know why I only noticed it in this movie, but she has, like, the most beautiful eyes.

Allie:

I noticed that this movie touches.

Diana:

I was literally relaunching it because I was, like, should I contact with them? Like, why why did that not stand out to me before?

Shane:

I think I think it's because they accentuate the eye makeup because of being on location in India. I and there's a lot of really big close ups and her staring directly into it. Awesome noticed.

Val:

I was enchanted.

Shane:

She was more of a main character this time than she has been in the other 2.

Allie:

That's true. And that's true. They didn't, like, move her

Val:

off to some side thing the way they did in the last two movies. She was also in the house bunny, stomp the yard 2. Know, she's she's working. Not nothing like crazy, but she's working. Then we had Michael Staiger as Vic or Vikram, the director of the movie.

Val:

He did a 100 plus episodes of 90210, so that's his big thing.

Allie:

Woah. But

Val:

he's a character actor. He's been in lots of stuff. Then we had Rupak Gin or Jin. I couldn't figure find, like, a solid answer on which pronunciation is correct, so I apologize. Played Rahim, who was the, like, main character in the movie, like, the the main actor who snorted when he left.

Val:

He was on Royal Pains, late he was in the movie Late Night, and he's a character actor. He's been in lots of stuff. Cool. Kunal Sharma played Amar, who is the, Kevin 347, Aqua's boyfriend.

Allie:

Mhmm.

Val:

He's been most recently in some episodes of Hawaii 5 O, but he's another character actor, so just like one of everything kinda guy. Roshan Seth played uncle Kamal Bhatia, the producer of the movie. He was on the, like, BBC show Indian Summers. He was on a show that was very clearly, like, an Indian soap opera, you know, like, lots and lots of episodes of it. But he's also a character director.

Val:

Just been in lots of things. Deepti Daryanani played Geeta, but she actually stopped acting in 2009. So she was not in a ton to begin with, and then she didn't act after the basically, after this movie. So it's a shame. She's cute.

Val:

She's good, I thought. And then Vinod Nagpal played Swamiji, the guy spouting wisdom in the park. He's a character actor in India. So, like, his credits were all Indian shows and films. Yeah.

Val:

The synopsis is as follows. And for anyone who doesn't remember, I do not read the synopsis before I do it right now, so we'll see if it's good. The Cheetah Girls go to India to appear in a Bollywood musical, but the director can choose only one of them for the for the role. The role, not the lead role, just the role. Yeah.

Val:

I guess that's it. Yeah. Sure.

Allie:

Yep. It's it's not. It's just not giving any more context. Yeah.

Shane:

Jordan's beat.

Val:

A couple of fun facts. Raven is not in the movie because she wanted to work on her solo album. And, apparently, they toured. They had they made, like, a Cheetah Girls album that was not, like, a soundtrack. It was just, like, literally an album of original songs, and they toured on this album.

Val:

But she also did not join them for that for the same reason.

Allie:

I then read nearly a decade after the film released, she cited that the other cast members were cliquish during the filming of Cheetah Girls 2, which is why she did not want to appear in the 3rd film.

Caleb:

That goes against Cheetah Girl philosophy, though. You girls stick together.

Val:

Well, what's interesting is I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that if any of them are, like, similar to their characters, because Raven is insufferable as a character in these movies. And I don't necessarily think she's insufferable, but, like, if she's sort of, like, I'm the lead, I'm in charge, and they aren't into that, that could cause a problem. Maybe. The other fun fact about this movie is that they celebrate Holi in this movie. However, this movie takes place over the summer, and Holi is a spring holiday.

Val:

So they basically just moved the holiday to a different time of year to work for the spook shirt.

Shane:

Like you do.

Val:

Yeah. As you do. Yes. Alright. That is the business done.

Val:

Efficient through it done. Folks, I'd love to hear some first impressions. Let's do a quick round robin. Taryn, let's start with you.

Taryn:

Okay. First impression, it felt all unnecessary to me. And Dorinda is bitter that she got broken up with.

Allie:

Wow. Nice hot take. Caleb?

Caleb:

Yeah. Shocking how the quality drop went from this from 2 to this movie. We're talking before we went on, like, has to be some financial incentives to to have this movie take place in India. There doesn't make any other it's why Bollywood? Why?

Caleb:

It doesn't make any sense. Can't wait to talk about, my section of the movie. What what a movie.

Val:

Diana, what about you?

Diana:

Okay. So I agree with everything so far. Thematically, something that I think was interesting about this movie is it felt kind of Shakespearean to me in moments. Just like the way that everybody played their their little characters and the way that it all tied together and all these, like, parallel story lines and, like, sneaking away in corridors and, like, overseeing I don't know. Just that was something that stood out to me overall.

Diana:

I have other things to say. I'll see them for later.

Shane:

Perfect. Shane? So unlike the last 2, this one felt more like a music a musical rather than a bunch of musical music videos pieced together. The song choices actually added to plot like musicals do, whereas last time, they were just performing their songs because they wanted to be famous. Like, each song fit what was happening in the movie this time around, which I kind of enjoyed.

Shane:

And then I kept having to remind myself this movie was made in 2008 because I do not think it would have been made today. There are a lot of questionable choices that were made, which I'm sure we will talk about. 7347.

Val:

Oh, yes. Al, what about you?

Allie:

Thanks, Belle. I wrote this down during halfway like, halfway through the movie. I wrote, I'm sorry. This movie is insane, and I love it. It makes no sense.

Allie:

The choices are crazy, but I love how absolutely chaotic it is. I'm giving it a 5. I don't love it. I hate it. I think it's middle of the road.

Allie:

Like, I think it's a fun watch, but I don't need to, like, see it again. It's not a great movie, but, like, it's so dumb that it's so much fun. And then I also wanted to say, it's kind of a fun fact. But as I was, like, looking up this movie, this movie was part of you could vote as, like, a Disney channel viewer on things you wanted to see in the movie. And, I have a YouTube video of, like, a commercial of it.

Allie:

So they did it for High School Musical 2, and it was so successful that they did it for 2 2 girls, 1 world. And so you could vote on, what Doe was gonna bring with her on the trip, what food Aqua was gonna be obsessed with, and then what you could vote on what Chanel was gonna bring home to her mom, from from the trip. And I tried to pay attention. I couldn't figure out the mom one, but, I think that it was Doe brought a photo album, and then Aqua was a fan of chicken tikka masala.

Shane:

There's a scene. I think it's when they first meet the Swami that they are, like, leaving a, like, a Is

Allie:

it the pottery chat?

Shane:

Possibly. And she, like, folds up this box. She said, this will be a great gift for my mom. I did not know that that was what was happening, but I do remember that when I

Caleb:

The

Allie:

yeah. The pop reach chat is a food, so it's not that. But it's probably in that section and I was just paying attention too much to them to them eating the pop reach chat. But, yeah, very interesting. I tried to look it up.

Allie:

It's not on the website anymore. But yeah. Okay. That was my impressions. Val, first impressions.

Val:

Thanks, Sal. I also felt kind of middling about this movie. I did not dislike this movie. There have been some DCOMs where I have, like, actively disliked them, and I would never wanna watch them again. I could sit through this again.

Val:

It's fine. There's definitely some cliches, would be a kind word, used in this movie, that are definitely would not fly today for sure. And there's definitely some actors in this who are, at least in this movie, are not very good, which kind of takes away especially, I have I really did not like Vic at

Caleb:

all. Yes.

Val:

I I just, like he was so annoying in one note the entire movie, and I was just like, why is this guy the lead, like, of all of these people? So that annoyed me throughout. But I agree with Shane that the music, like, made more sense and was more, like, musically, and I liked some of the choices. Like, there's a a number where all the guys are, like, fighting for their respective, like, Cheetah Girl to get the lead, and, like, I thought that was, like, a really clever thing. And, like, they had fun with the fact that it's supposed to be in Bollywood and all the dancing and the color and, you know, they use the setting.

Val:

So I appreciated all of that. So, like, yeah, I I I liked it mostly, did not love, did not hate.

Allie:

Yeah. I also read that, not I think that Hollywood is getting better at this, but Vik is of Iranian, descent. He's not Indian, which was a very interesting choice for, like, the lead. Yes. But I think that Hollywood is now working on being better at casting people in roles that are requiring things like that.

Allie:

Yes. For sure. He got married that year too. He got married in 2008 to his, like, middle school sweetheart. I did a lot of research on this movie.

Allie:

I don't

Caleb:

know what

Allie:

deep dive. When I don't have to take notes of the synopsis, I have time to look up other things.

Diana:

Can I add something to my overall thoughts?

Allie:

Yes, ma'am.

Diana:

Yeah. Fun facts. So, similar to Al, I read the real reason that Raven didn't come back. And another fun fact that I found with that is that because she didn't come back, Lynn Whitfield who played, Dorothea Garibaldi in the previous movies, she didn't come back either. And I felt her absence.

Diana:

And also, Whitney Houston was not a producer on this one. And I don't know a lot about this director for the 3rd film. He has an amazing DCOM history. I'll say that. But I was a little bit, like, what would Katie Ortega have done with this?

Allie:

You know?

Val:

For sure. Totally.

Allie:

What, w w k o d. Exactly.

Val:

You get it. You get it. No. You're right. That's great.

Val:

That's a great point. I also felt her absence, mama mama Raven. Mama. Alright. Let's do a round quick round of, favorite quotes and moments.

Val:

Let's just keep going with the same order, Taryn.

Allie:

Sorry if you didn't wanna go first.

Taryn:

No. That's okay. I loved, this is our cheetah destiny when they were, in the car together. Just the entire song of dance me if you can. That was a wild time.

Taryn:

And then upon meeting Kevin 395, was it?

Val:

347. 347. 347. Wow. Because it rhymed.

Val:

Kevin Kevin 347.

Taryn:

I didn't catch that previously. Thank you. Upon meeting him when they said, you don't sound like you live in India. That was

Val:

a solid

Taryn:

solid line.

Allie:

Thank you to whoever wrote that. Who?

Caleb:

Is it is it me?

Val:

Yeah. Go ahead, Caleb.

Caleb:

Yeah. Most of my synopsis is very negative. So, so I'm just gonna say pause positive things. I'll say but I didn't really write down many quotes as well. I was too flabbergasted.

Caleb:

But, I loved and when I say love, it's never love. It's always hate. I loved when Rahim, when he got to the movie set and everyone was asking for his autograph, he genuinely looked someone in the eye and said, next, please. Loved that. Would love that so much.

Caleb:

And, also, I'll say on a positive note, I really loved the outdoor market they were at, after they had the song with the with the lights and the corridor right there, the people. Mhmm. I loved that outdoor little market they were at. It was beautiful. It looked cute.

Caleb:

It looked cozy, and I'd love to shop there.

Allie:

Caleb has two nice things to say about that.

Caleb:

That's all that's all I gotta say. That's where Shanelle

Shane:

that's where Shanelle find the present for his for her mom. Was that the

Allie:

aftermarket? That's right.

Val:

That's right.

Allie:

Hey. See, Shane?

Val:

This is why Shane's here.

Shane:

Welcome.

Val:

Yes. Alright, Diana.

Diana:

Okay. So I have a couple favorite lines. When Aqua is tying her sequin tennis shoe before the audition, and they're like, is that your string? And she's like, my string. I don't know.

Diana:

She just she really puts something on that. I also really liked when, when Geeta says, I love the way you laugh. She's so real for that.

Allie:

And after he snorts?

Val:

Yeah. She's so real for that.

Allie:

That's the

Diana:

most attractive I've ever heard it.

Taryn:

After the worst.

Diana:

And then I also really loved the I think it was Dorinda at the end when she calls her x flame. Like, afterwards she kinda says to herself out loud after she came over the phone, thanks for helping me realize that I was the obstacle all along. And I'm gonna steal that for improvise be calm because Mhmm. Are we all sort of our own obstacles? She should say it.

Val:

That's so funny. Shane?

Shane:

First of all, I love I love almost everything Dorinda did in this movie. She was my breakout star. 1, I hated that she hated men, or I love that she hated men. That's sketchy too. I'm I didn't write down who said these things, so I'm assuming this is her her, but it's the line of girl, he's just a guy.

Val:

Get it. You are better than that.

Shane:

Also, when Dorinda goes, have you noticed that every elephant looks at me? Dorinda the elephants. Here for it.

Allie:

Made no sense.

Shane:

And then, my other favorite line was between Amar and I forget who else, but I think it was Aqua. And she goes, is this your palace? And he goes, don't be ridiculous. It's my parents. And the thing that I love to hate the most is once you realize that this movie is gonna be set up in India, and Aqua immediately has computer problems.

Shane:

Didn't love that. Yeah. But wanted to mention it.

Allie:

But it leads to love.

Val:

Oh, yes. Thank you, Shane. Al? Thanks, Val. I had a couple of

Allie:

favorite moments and quotes. One of my favorite moments is when, Doe is getting a phone call from her ex, and it just says, call incoming from Spain.

Val:

Yes. I wrote that too.

Allie:

Just a Spain.

Val:

And call is in quotes. Call from Spain.

Allie:

So funny. When the guy is signing autographs, and he goes, who should I make this out to? And the girl goes

Caleb:

Yeah.

Allie:

Loved that.

Val:

We've all we've all been

Allie:

there. There. These are, now my favorite quotes, which was, change will take place whether you like it or not. Oh. That was very one.

Allie:

For me. Wow. And then, I'm not his girlfriend. Not yet, anyways. Mhmm.

Allie:

Also, I had a fun fact that I forgot to say because I'm deleting things as I'm going because I've said them, and I don't need to say them again. The guy, is Kunal, who ended up playing Umer in the movie, chose they give him the option to either play Vic or Umer, and he chose Umer.

Val:

Really? Mhmm. That is so interesting. I wonder why he chose the role better. But He definitely does.

Allie:

Yeah.

Val:

But, I mean, that's some self knowledge because he could have had the bigger role.

Allie:

Yeah. That's so interesting. Very interesting. But yeah. Yes.

Allie:

And I think that is all that I have. Valerie, prerecord some moments.

Val:

Valerie, thank you. Okay. Right out of the gate, one of the lines in their first song is we're the Cheetah Cheetah Girls. We stick together for life. And I said, Lol, where

Caleb:

is Reagan?

Allie:

Where is Reagan?

Val:

At one point, Chanel goes, in my defense, I didn't exactly know where Mumbai was.

Allie:

Whoops. Oh, when they were talking about the ocean.

Val:

Yeah. Well, I think it was when, like, because they she gets this random call for, like, an audition for Hollywood, and they say Mumbai. They must have told her Mumbai. It went right by her because she didn't know her.

Allie:

That's true.

Val:

And then at one point, this every so this is an ongoing thing from the first movie that Doe is poor. The rest of them are, like, freakishly wealthy, and then Do is the poor one. And so at one point, Chanel goes, you really need the money.

Caleb:

What?

Shane:

Ouch. Which

Val:

is so funny. Also, at one point, Aqua says, I just needed to defrag the disc and, like, a bunch of other stuff. And I was like, oh, Gen z wouldn't know what any of this is.

Allie:

Is anyone Gen z here?

Val:

I think Diana.

Allie:

Caleb, you're You're technically Gen z. Right? You're like the you're you're the old Gen z.

Caleb:

The old Gen z. I was born July 2nd 97, but I I'm just the old Gen z. Some call me an elder an elder Gen z.

Shane:

I don't.

Taryn:

Caleb, what the heck? I didn't know that. I would've been I don't know.

Diana:

Things would've been You

Caleb:

would've you would've talked? I would've actually

Allie:

talked to you. Caleb and Diane have never talked to each other. In rehearsal, in a show, they specifically say cannot do shows together.

Val:

Please give us

Diana:

Diane a second. To see if Caleb and I interact.

Caleb:

But it's Diane. Right?

Val:

That's not even funny.

Diana:

That's not even funny.

Allie:

The amount of emails Diana gets that say Diana.

Val:

Oh my god. Okay. My favorite moment of this movie is when at the very end I don't think this is spoiling anything. Gita and Rahim start singing, and the voices that come out of their faces are so far from what they would ever sound like. Also, the sinking in this movie

Allie:

I was gonna say that.

Val:

From top to bottom, but it's just even funnier in this moment because, also, it's so not their voices. It's hilarious. Yep. It's just, like, the most bizarre. Like, you couldn't find anyone who sounded more like them.

Val:

It was awful. So, that was my favorite moment for sure because it was just insane. Like, you couldn't find a single human being who could sing better than that. Yeah. So that's how I felt.

Allie:

Well, the time is near, and that time is my top is off, and we're in Mumbai. Spoiler city. So we're here, all of us. Topps are flown off on the plane here. We went through TSA.

Allie:

They took our tops, didn't give them back, and we're here. Okay. Friends, I might I spoiled it earlier, but, typically, I do the synopsis today. I have, put it on all all 4 of you, which gave my tiny little woman hands a break from typing my notes throughout this movie. So we'll everyone ended up working out very well for us.

Allie:

Everyone got a nice 20 minute chunk. So we're gonna have everyone do their, little parts of the synopsis, and we're going to start lights up action with Taryn.

Taryn:

Okay. So we begin the movie, scenes of New York nightlife. The the girls are getting ready backstage, and it's a montage of them getting ready as they're singing in their brand new music video for Cheetah Love, and they're performing their hearts out. They're on a stage where for some reason, there's, like, a metal fence at the bottom of the like, front of the stage that they, like, dance in front of, and the wind is blowing in their hair. And then the as Val mentioned, the lines include, we are Cheetah Girls.

Taryn:

We stick together for life, and I'll never be someone who deserts you even though we immediately find out that Raven is not in this movie because she's deserted them. Cut 2. They're not on the set of a music video. They're actually in an empty theater auditioning, to a talent agent is what it seems, who is unimpressed by them. This is where we find out, why Raven's not there because Galleria got into Cambridge and peaced out for summer school, which is wild because the other movies, she's the one most gung ho for making the cheetah girls work.

Taryn:

But, you know, I guess when Cambridge calls, you have to answer. This is where we also find out that, Aqua has been purposefully messing up her computer so that she can have chats with Kevin 347, and she chats up with him. You know? That's as normal 18 year old girls do out of high school, you gotta chat up the people on the tech support lines. Dorinda has broken up with her Spanish boyfriend, Joaquin, and is very bitter about that.

Val:

Alright.

Taryn:

So they go and they're hungry. They go get some lunch at a Indian restaurant, whereas they're sitting down, Dorinda makes direct eye contact with a statue of Ganesh, and, that's where her fascination with elephants begins. And they just start chatting about their struggles and complaining about jobs and and singing and how was behind on her reading for college and, you know, they got a big summer ahead of them. Busy. But then ring ring, phone call.

Taryn:

Chanel gets a call offering them the audition of a lifetime for a Hollywood musical. So they're so pumped about it. They start singing and dancing in the middle of the restaurant, and people are staring at them weirdly until they get up and start dancing too. Everyone's having a great time, and that song transitions into their big audition where the director, Vic, starts making eyes at Chanel, which they don't say how old Vic is, but that felt weird to me personally. But then the girls find out that it's actually a Bollywood movie in India, and they're mad about that for some reason.

Taryn:

They wanted it to be California, but India, absolutely not. How dare you? And that's because Chanel didn't know where Mumbai is. And, you know, the the assistant director, points out that Vic's uncle told him to cast Oh, this is separately. He's talking to Vic, and he's like, but your uncle told you to only cast 1 girl, not 3.

Taryn:

The uncle's the producer who's paying for this thing. And Vic says it's fine. He's just gonna rewrite the script real quick. And then the girls do it. They decide this is what's best.

Taryn:

They're gonna do it. They fly to India the next morning, and they're there. They're taking their little cab to the hotel. Dorinda has another moment with a passing elephant on the street. That's when Chanel gets her call from Spain that she ignores.

Taryn:

We get to the, beautiful little market. The girls are doing some shopping. They meet the Swami who gives them some real life knowledge and explains to them about tying the string onto the tree. You make a wish. And then when your wish comes true, you can come back and remove, your string.

Allie:

I wanna know what happens if you forget where it is.

Val:

Yeah. I was like, how would you ever know where your string was?

Allie:

If there's a 100,000 strings on there

Taryn:

And they tied their strings to other strings. So what if someone comes to remove their string because their wish came true? There's a lot of flaws in this plan.

Diana:

Mhmm.

Taryn:

Then they're in at their hotel room, and Dorinda is reminiscing over the Cheetah Girls with her photo album slash scrapbook that she passed to take with her to India, which now I know why it's in the movie. Thank you, Al. But I still felt like it was a strange thing to pack for your international trip. Yes. Then they arrived to the India Picture Studios, and they see this beautiful backdrop of the Taj Mahal.

Taryn:

And Vic says, they say if you kiss someone at the Taj Mahal at sunset, you'll know if your love is true. And the uncle has made this movie more modern and more marketable, which is why American Girls were cast in the lead or a American Girl was supposed to be cast.

Allie:

An American Girl doll was supposed to be cast.

Taryn:

An American Girl doll. And this was supposed to be a version of Namaste Bombay, a romance movie. And Chanel says that she loves romance. And Dorinda reminds her that they agreed earlier, no boys. They said it at the restaurant, no boys.

Taryn:

And that is the end of the first 20 minutes. Thank you.

Caleb:

Alright. Who's up next? Me.

Val:

Oh, no.

Caleb:

So we start right at the 20 minute mark. The very first frame that we see is Vikram, the serial killer, speaking to the cheetah girls as they go up the ramp. Vikram is a scary, scary individual. The way he speaks has frightens me a lot. We immediately see after that, we see the hunky Rahim.

Caleb:

Also, what happened to the security gate that the cheetah girls went through? There's a place to dock your vehicles. Rahim came through on a full motorcycle, very dangerous, not being safe at all, could have hit something. He just rides it all the way through on a full clean white outfit. How do you keep a full clean white outfit while riding on a motorcycle?

Caleb:

It doesn't make sense. He was wearing no protection, but I did like the suit. I want it. And all of the people that are asking him for autographs when he arrived, I assume they're PAs that work on the set. How unprofessional and inappropriate was it for them all to crowd him and demand an autograph?

Caleb:

I would have fired them all. Can't be allowed. Raheem Raheem saying next, please was absolutely insane. Very rude. All we're talking about this.

Caleb:

All of the guys in this movie are weird. They they don't act like like normal not even d con people. They just act very weird and strange. The cheetah girls can do better. And, like, when all of the Cheetah Girls were actually speechless when they saw Raheem, like, they have more star power, I think, than him.

Caleb:

The Cheetah Girls can do better. Raheem Raheem gives a a a troubled look right when we see that right when the Cheetah Girls are about to go meet the choreographer. Why is that? We find out. All of these notes I took as a voice memo on my iPhone.

Caleb:

So

Val:

Oh my god.

Caleb:

Instead of Dida, it typed Gaeta with an alligator right next to it, Like, Will Ferrell and the other guys talking like a Geda or something. So I but so that's every time that Dida pops up. And Dida is is I at first, well, we love her in the end, but at first, she's really mean for some reason to the Cheetah Girls out of nowhere, but she's, a hot mess at first. Klutzy, so much fun. Raheem's snort.

Caleb:

Well, I wanna I could talk all about Raheem's snort. It was so scary to me when he snorted for the first time. It was the most unnatural, ungodly movement that has ever been on on cinema before. Like, came out of it was like someone just explained to him what a snort was before shooting, and that was his first time actually doing it. So so strange.

Caleb:

Yeah. And also, Dida, being mean to the to the Cheetah Girls, actors coming in not knowing what's going on, they should have been given more prep. I don't know. I'd fire more people. I'm a I loved that.

Caleb:

I loved the dance off. Immediate dance off broke off in between the the choreographer and the new cheater girls to be like, oh, you're on this movie set. Let's see who's the real dancer. Love the dance off. But, again, if that actually broke out, my lead choreographer fighting with my lead actor, there has to be a better, hierarchy of order here on this movie set.

Caleb:

The Cheetah Girls, in my opinion, lost this battle hard. I think they got absolutely posterized. I think Gita and her squad really took it to them. I think the Cheetah Girls got stunned posterized, lost hardcore. The director serial killer Vikram hiding behind his, like, his second in command person hiding from the uncle who who, like, ended everything.

Caleb:

I was like, oh, here. I gotta talk to you, director, my nephew who's doing the whole thing. You can't hide behind people. It won't work. I love how, by the way, loose they're being with this remake.

Caleb:

It's like, if they wanna be true to the original material, they're like, we'll make the main character 3 people. Oh, we'll make it one person. Oh, I'll just do rewrites here, rewrites there. I don't trust that the director is being true to this source material at all. I, then they do a song.

Caleb:

They found a oh, yeah. This is the song. It's the light song. It's the light song where, it's it's beautiful. The Cheetah Girls found the least busy part of India to to sing a song, and they had, people with lights coming, running all there.

Caleb:

It was really cool. Then we get to the amazing the outdoor market. Right. Love the outdoor Is this like did people flirt like this? They'd be like, I have the extension of this cute guy, and they're like, we're flirting in this office here.

Caleb:

And I call him Kevin 347. Like, is that how is that how old people flirted? Is that was that the thing?

Allie:

No. Watch your

Shane:

mouth. Is that how old people flirted? You watch your mouth right now.

Allie:

No. I just I'm so young.

Caleb:

Yeah. Well, I know most of us here are 17, but for the people that are over 40, I hope

Allie:

Yeah. I'm so young.

Diana:

Over 40.

Shane:

Over 40. Off the podcast.

Caleb:

That's okay. I'll go out in style, talking about the movie that I love the most. I love that when she was talking to Kevin 347, she was like, oh, yeah. I just like like vouching. Like, I just, like, flabbergasted the disc or whatever she said.

Caleb:

She said, like, 10 tech terms in a row. No way.

Allie:

Flabbergasted the disc.

Caleb:

No way

Allie:

I remember to flabbergasted

Caleb:

the disc or do any of that stuff. I don't believe that.

Allie:

Caleb. I

Caleb:

am I love I love the most that Kevin 347 and Aqua realized they're in the same time zone because of the sunset, but they realized they're in the same place. They went from time zone and then to, like, landmark. She was like, you can see the sunset? Wait. She didn't ask, are you in India?

Caleb:

She just asked, can you see a white building by me? That was the next thing. They do they went from time zone to figuring out that they're right next to each other. There were steps that they missed there. Let's see.

Caleb:

Dore, that's the the woman with the long blonde hair. Right? Do doe? Doe.

Val:

Doe. Doe. Doe.

Allie:

Doe. Doe.

Caleb:

Doe. I love that Zo when she saw Kevin Hawkwood.

Allie:

Diana's broken.

Val:

Dore Flavorgasitor. Not Dore. You're not Dore.

Caleb:

Doe, a deer. Doe was, I love that she was going to go break up. I love how bitter she is. She was gonna go break up Kevin, and I'll be like, nope. Like, phones phone relationships don't work, and she's gonna go break them up.

Caleb:

And then, Chantelle had to be like, no. Stop. What are you doing?

Val:

Michelle Chanel.

Caleb:

Chanel. Did

Allie:

you watch the movie?

Caleb:

I watched the movie. Of course, I watched this movie. It's just everything blends together. This whole movie blended together.

Taryn:

He was stuck on how he'd restructure the working set.

Allie:

You're fired. You're out of here. I am

Val:

real quick. Here's my question. Why was our what's his name? Aram? What's what's his name?

Allie:

His name?

Val:

Is it Aram?

Allie:

I think 347.

Caleb:

How do

Allie:

you spell how do you spell it?

Val:

Amar. Amar. It's Omar. Omar. Omar.

Val:

Why was Omar working at any job, let alone telephone IT for a high school for I don't even know. Like, was he doing, like, Geek Squad? Like, I don't understand what he was doing. He's a, like, royal person. Like, he's, like, really rich.

Val:

Like, why why is he doing royal boy? Is is

Allie:

How's he gonna meet women?

Caleb:

How's he gonna meet

Val:

Alright. Go ahead, Kim. Sorry.

Caleb:

Hate the elephant mind reading thing. Hate it hate it so much. Hate that they clearly spent most of their budget getting a real elephant. I and the the they didn't even explain this. They wanted to do mind reading.

Caleb:

It bore something deeply spiritual. None of it worked at all. Hated the elephant mind reading. Okay. We're we're on the we're on the end now.

Caleb:

So we go back. So the the who's what's the name of the sacred monk who is who is out there a lot? What's his name?

Val:

Swami Swami j. Swami j.

Caleb:

Swami g comes in a lot, and he's very helpful. Too helpful. When Doe comes back, like, he offers her a statue of Ganesh, one of the most, important figures in in the Hindu religion. And she, like, is like, no. This doesn't really work for me, and just gives it back.

Caleb:

So rude to just instantly give that back. You gotta no. You gotta you gotta take that very kind gift. And then he smacked her in the face with a with a with a leap. Just smacked her right there.

Caleb:

Clearly personal. It's right after she refused the a very important religious dick. He made her close her eyes and smacked her in the face. Clearly connected, clearly personal. And then we ended right at the 40 minute mark.

Caleb:

And right at the 40 minute mark, you are in the middle of Kevin 347 stuttering and stammering on the word what right after Aqua just told him that one of his biggest dreams was to star in Vic's movie. He was stuttering to be like, oh, why don't you do it? He was stuttering right in the middle of that. That is the end of the 40 minute mark, and that is the final frame is him trying to convince Aqua to really go for this movie. Wow.

Caleb:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Val:

Hey. Shane, I think you have

Shane:

a nice yeah.

Diana:

Topic to follow.

Shane:

I don't know what happened after the what stammer, because I figured that Caleb would finish that scene, and I just put to

Taryn:

the next

Caleb:

one. Well, that what happened was she went, okay. Yeah. I'll do it. And then they that's that was the scene.

Shane:

Great. Oh my goodness. The email said, you'll figure out the scene endings naturally, and I did.

Allie:

Caleb said, 40 40.dot

Caleb:

Hard stop.

Allie:

0 on my own.

Caleb:

Anyways,

Shane:

at the 40 and some change mark, we cut over to Dorinda and Rahim. And Dorinda points out that Rahim always looks like a big dork anytime that Geeta is around. Then he tells Dorinda that he's never even kissed a girl, and she's like, what? You kiss in movies all the time. And he goes, that's a different kind of kiss.

Shane:

It doesn't matter. He's never actually been in love. And so he asked Dorinda for help. And in exchange for helping him, he is gonna help her get the part in the movie. Then we cut over to Chanel, and she is talking to her boo, Vic.

Shane:

And, he tells her that, like, this is his one shot to make a movie. If he doesn't make this movie, he has to go to dental school. That's a big thing. It's like movie or dentist. Pick 1.

Shane:

You can't be both.

Allie:

We've all been there.

Shane:

We've all been there. And he tells her, like, this is his one shot. And he's like, haven't you ever wanted your one shot to make it? And then we cue the sad solo song about being confused of whether Chanel wants to quit the Cheetah Girls and get the role or stay with the Cheetah Girls because Cheetah is forever. And she sings her song, what if, which is one of the very few solos.

Shane:

Not any other Cheetah Girl had a backup moment in this one. It was just all Chanel.

Caleb:

Wow. Mhmm.

Shane:

Cue back to Dorinda and Geeta, which I love that she has to play matchmaker even though she hates love. She is anti relationship, and here she is trying to set up these 2, and I do love that about it. They're but they're talking about the audition, and Dorinda asked if she had ever if Geeta had ever wanted to be a star. And Geeta says, no. I just love to dance and perform and to sing, which to me, all things make a star, but apparently not here.

Shane:

You could love to do all those things, but don't you dare do it in front of a camera. And then Geeta also admits that she does like Raheem, and this revelation comes after they're walking through the market and Gita runs and hides from a cardboard cutout of Raheem thinking it's really him. Also, I love that these 2 can't stand around each other, and they just trip over whatever near is nearest, usually a chair. Back to Vic and his upset movie that's happening. He's upset that the set that he walked in on isn't the set that he wanted, and his uncle just says that they simply cannot afford it.

Shane:

The set they walked into is basically a room with some styrofoam pillars in it that quickly get knocked over because somebody walks right into it. Vic pleads with his uncle about the sentence. It needs to be better. And he says, sorry. We don't have any money.

Shane:

You have to find a different location if you don't this one. And so now they have to find a location that's free, and they have less than a week to do it. Woah. So they all of them get together. They're having a a hangout somewhere.

Shane:

I forget where. And, me or Kevin 347 talks to them, and he's like, oh, we should go to this village where I live, where my family is. There's a palace there. We could probably just film there. So they all decide they're gonna go to this other village.

Shane:

And before they leave, the the Swami is there, and he tells them to untie their strings if their wishes come true. And everyone's like, but they didn't, except for Aqua. Sneaks over, and no one is looking, and unties her string, which now we've decided might have been somebody else's string. Who

Allie:

knows? She she untied her string and took 3 other people's wishes with

Val:

her. Those wishes ain't

Shane:

gonna change. This. Do they arrive during, what was the name of that holiday again? Holi. Holi or which was described as a festival of colors, which was very beautiful.

Shane:

This is probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie. It's very cute.

Val:

Mhmm.

Shane:

And yet again, there's an elephant staring at Dorinda. Dita tells her that it's good luck or so her grandma said, and they're trying to help her. And then she promptly gets sprayed in the face by that said elephant. So I don't know if that's the help she wanted. Just the help she's getting.

Shane:

They participate in this festival of colors before arriving at Amir's place, and it turns out that Kevin 347 or Amir is heir to the throne. Mhmm. When his grandfather dies, he gets to be all of this. That's gonna be his palace. He's going to be wealthy.

Shane:

Why was this man working in tech support? Who really knows?

Allie:

Great way to meet women who are 18, newly 18.

Val:

And and don't live anywhere near.

Shane:

Amir's mom makes them this big fancy feast. They make his favorite food, which was chicken tiki masala. And, ever the helicopter mom, Amira's mom says, I'll give you the recipe later. It's his favorite, Taqua, which is creepy. And one

Val:

of his Also and one of his sisters goes,

Shane:

she does this to all of his girlfriends. And that's when she's like, am

Val:

I his girlfriend? Yeah.

Taryn:

Not yet.

Val:

Also, can I just point out chicken tikka masala is great, but it is, like, the most generic Indian dish? Like, there is no way that this guy's favorite dish

Shane:

is chick chicken tikka salad.

Val:

And, like, they were literally in India. They couldn't come up with a single other

Allie:

I think it might have been the thing that they voted on. I think it I think it was the the food item that she was had her as her favorite. It was either that or the pop the the chaat, but it's one of those 2 I wouldn't be surprised. It was, like, both from these 3 Indian cuisines, and it was like samosas, chicken tikka masala, and paneer.

Val:

You know? Because I was like, come on. Yeah. It's like saying, like, hamburger

Allie:

is my thing. I like hamburger, hot dog, or pizza slice.

Shane:

Mary can. You are correct, though. Chicken McTeem masala is the Indian food that white people eat, and they were trying to play it off Yeah. Like it's the main dish over there.

Val:

Alright. Please press it.

Shane:

I'm almost done. We're almost at the the 60

Allie:

minute mark.

Shane:

Thank god. Thank god. While they're at dinner, Amir's mom also fangirls over Raheem because she can't believe that he's sitting at her table. Biggest thing in the world. Being there, Vic then asks Samir if he can film at their palace.

Shane:

And, of course, Samir says, yes, but on one condition, and then looks at Aqua. Right. That's the end.

Allie:

Wow. And that's 60 seconds 60 minutes on the dot,

Val:

Well, no.

Shane:

It was probably, like, right before because the scene cut into Diana's, and I didn't wanna steal her moment.

Val:

Alright, Diana.

Diana:

So picking up where we left off, where we last left our heroes. Omar is the new location owner as he calls himself, and goes to Aqua on this beautiful balcony. And he's like, guess who's in the movie a little bit? And she's like, what? You.

Diana:

And then basically tells her you're gonna be the star of this movie. And she's like, woah. And then you all have much more photographic memories than me. So I'm just gonna jump around to what she remembers up here, which is let's just jump to the shoe scene that I talked about earlier where they're sitting and, like, all 3 of the girls are are sitting and Aqua has her sequined shoes and she ties her shoelace with the string. Then she they're like, is that and she says my string.

Diana:

And everyone assumes that it's because her wish came true and that she's the lead. And they all share, like, what their wishes were. So I think Dorinda wanted the cheetah girls to stay the same. Chanel wanted the cheetah girls to succeed. And then Aqua just wanted her man.

Diana:

So then we go into the audition sequence, which I'll say it, what a fun song.

Allie:

This is a time.

Diana:

This song is called I'm the 1. And

Val:

Real quick. Time out. Time out. Before we get into this, because I I wanna talk extensively about this song. But two things.

Val:

1, they're being so, like, suspicious of each other in the scene leading up to this audition. And I'm thinking to myself, they've known these guys for about 5 minutes. They've known each other for, like, their entire lives. Why are they not believing each other when they say that they were not the ones who orchestrated all of this bullshit? Of course, it was the guys.

Val:

Of course, it was. So So that's problem number 1. Problem number 2, who auditions in a group for a single role? X Factor.

Shane:

Well, here's my favorite part is because the uncle goes, okay. Who's first? And they all 3 got up there and did the song.

Diana:

Hey. So here to to your point, to point 1, Val, I have a theory

Allie:

Mhmm.

Diana:

That it's the absence of, like, the fun adult figure who is a woman. Because where where is that character in this movie? Like Yeah. That's true. That about Galleria's mom and Chanel's mom was also not in this movie.

Diana:

But then even in the first movie, like, they had Drinka as kind of, like, this fairy godmother esque character who was, like, aligning them with their growl power.

Taryn:

And Mhmm.

Diana:

Here they are letting these men make fools of them.

Shane:

That's And

Diana:

it's upsetting to me because the Cheetah Girls, they shouldn't have time for

Allie:

that. No. And we watched this not like, right as women's month ended.

Diana:

Yeah. So I don't love the fact that the girls are pitted against each other at this point.

Allie:

No.

Diana:

Especially at the hands of these men with their own squabbles.

Allie:

Caleb rewrite the movie. Fire everyone. We read it. Wow. That's

Diana:

part of what feels like she experienced me almost. Because, like, there's people with lots of money and hidden influence and, like, all these little secrets and petty jealousies and, like, the way that it all comes together. Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. I hope song was a lot of fun, actually. And I did like the portion where all of them were straight And they were like, no.

Diana:

My girl this. My girl that.

Caleb:

Mhmm.

Diana:

But that is the moment that occurred to me where I was like, they have too much power here. Like, I don't like the fact that it's just this panel of men holding this power. But anyways, so the audition ends and Chanel wins. She gets the role. And then they exchange some snide remarks, which hurts my Cheetah Girl heart.

Diana:

And then we enter what is my favorite genre of Cheetah Girl song, which is wandering anxiously around a palace in and we saw in 2. We saw with the it's so good, and we're back. Okay? And somehow through the power of song and friendship, by the end of the song where they've all sung about how they can't bear to be apart, They have decided that they're friends again. They have apologized for letting these petty things get in the way of their true friendship.

Diana:

And then Chanel is like, I can't take the role. I can't take the role because nothing is worth losing you guys. And I was like, okay. Here's another thing. Women like to see other women succeed.

Diana:

They've already decided they're good. Like, why can't Chanel just you know, they they

Allie:

Do it.

Diana:

They talked it out. I don't know. I went to the movie. I don't know. Maybe maybe I'm oversimplifying it.

Diana:

But I was just sort of, like, everything was literally all giggles. Like, we're all, oh, I love you. I can't do the movie because nothing's worth losing you. It's like,

Val:

I didn't know that was on the line anymore.

Diana:

So then Chanel's like, yeah. I'm not gonna do the movie. She doesn't do the movie. And then Dorenda has been coaching Rahim to approach Vita. And so we jumped to that part, which I love because they were just so giggly and cute around each other.

Diana:

And he snorted and she snorted and she said, I really love your laugh, by the way. And I said, she's so real for that. So they fall in love. That sort of leads into the final moments of the film where it is determined that Ito should be the star of the film and that she has been the triple threat all along. And that the director of this film is going to prove to his uncle that she is a star.

Diana:

And he's like, you passed the test. You're talking like a real director now. And I think that's funny too. Because it was like it's what what did it take to convince all these men the power was within them from women?

Val:

Women. Mhmm. Also, that he's so dismissive of her at first. He's like, we don't let the help be in front of the

Allie:

camera. I

Val:

was like, oh my god.

Diana:

I don't wanna obviously these are made in in different times, but it almost felt kind of Greta Gerwig Barbie esque. Am I allowed to reference exterior works?

Allie:

Of course. No.

Diana:

In the sense of, like it was almost like he was director Ken, and they were like you did it. You know? And then they sing the titular song as the final song of the film. And it's all very colorful and in celebration and fun choreography and fun, cinematography. And, I will say that this song is probably the one I remember the most from when I watched this as a kid.

Diana:

Like, as soon as it started playing, I was like, oh, yeah. I heard this on a loop in all the Disney Channel commercials. Like, here it is. Lyrically, let's talk about what is it? One heart, one soul, one song, and a circle together.

Diana:

I don't do geometry, but 3 point makes a triangle.

Shane:

And

Val:

I'm gonna leave I'm gonna leave you guys with that. Gee, girl. A good way a good way to leave us. Thank you, Diana.

Allie:

Fantastic. Wow. Claps for everyone.

Shane:

Claps for everyone.

Allie:

Okay. We are, our tops, still off, and we're now playing bingo with our tops off. Tips out. Tops off. Okay.

Allie:

Yay. Welcome to bingo. So, Taryn, why don't you go ahead and start in the top left corner?

Taryn:

One hit wonder song, and I think no.

Allie:

Yeah. No. Because they have too many hits.

Val:

They are not one hit wonders.

Taryn:

Also, even just from this movie specifically, like, none of the songs were very memorable.

Val:

No. Mhmm. They weren't hits, so they couldn't be one hit. Yeah.

Allie:

Right. Oh. Got it. That's a Caleb comment if I've ever heard from him.

Val:

Speaking of Caleb

Caleb:

see what we got here next. Yeah. Breaking the 4th wall looking into the camera. No. Yes.

Caleb:

That happened?

Allie:

In, like, every song they sing, they look direct No.

Diana:

I don't know

Shane:

if they're directly into the camera.

Caleb:

I I I I I I have a different I I was thinking, like, more like when there's nothing going on and they're legitly looking at the camera and then being like, you're watching the movie on Disney Channel. But, no, that wasn't it. The closest they got was when they were talking about where Raven is. They were like, no. It's okay.

Caleb:

She's in Cambridge. Like, it's like that was a message to us. But yeah.

Allie:

She's in Cambridge.

Val:

I still think we can count it

Allie:

Yeah.

Val:

For the sake of getting bingo. Alright, Diana.

Diana:

Holiday themed. Not necessarily holiday themed. I mean, they

Val:

There was themed

Shane:

holiday in it. I would count.

Val:

There was a holiday in it.

Diana:

But they moved it.

Val:

That's true. That is true. I don't think it could. Okay.

Diana:

I said party y'all, but I would say no.

Allie:

Okay. Sad.

Taryn:

Holiday adjacent.

Val:

Mhmm. Yes. Good.

Shane:

Alright. Mine is clunky metaphor. Absolute the elephant.

Val:

Yeah.

Shane:

I mean,

Val:

what was There's, like, a number of What

Shane:

was the line at the end of the at the end of

Val:

the movie again? I guess I was standing in my

Shane:

Which one? You for helping me realize

Val:

I was standing in my own way.

Diana:

I was the obstacle all along.

Shane:

Yeah. I was the obstacle all absolutely. 100%.

Val:

Also, those elephants are definitely some kind of metaphor. They keep staring at me. Maybe because you need to look inside yourself. Oh. Wow.

Allie:

My turn. Parents who just don't get it. No. Because there are no parents in this movie.

Val:

There are no parents. Okay. Cool non parent adult. So does Rahim count? Because he's

Shane:

an adult. Rahim and Geeta. I think they're both kind of more adults.

Val:

Yeah. They're both. What about the Swami?

Shane:

And the Swami. Oh, yeah.

Caleb:

Swami.

Val:

Swami. Is he cool, though?

Allie:

Oh, the the string guy.

Shane:

Yeah. Yeah.

Allie:

Yeah. He is cool. I thought you're talking about the, I got him and the director mixed up.

Shane:

Oh, no. No.

Val:

You mean the producer? The producer. The uncle sucks.

Caleb:

Yeah. The cheetah girls thought Raheem was dorky when he snorted.

Taryn:

He would, like, stop laughing fully to like, he had to focus too much, like, brainpower on it.

Allie:

You know they try they they did that shot, like, 80 times. That was the best one. Oh. Yeah.

Diana:

That probably hurt. Yeah.

Val:

Oh, yeah. True.

Taryn:

Alright, Taryn. Someone too famous for a TV movie.

Allie:

No. No.

Taryn:

I don't think so.

Caleb:

Competition to resolve a central problem? Yeah. There was a pretty

Val:

bad television. Yeah.

Allie:

Mhmm. You're right.

Diana:

A montage sequence, I think. I So Yeah.

Taryn:

Yeah.

Val:

I feel like the movie opened with a That's

Taryn:

what I was gonna say.

Shane:

Yeah. Cliche villains.

Val:

There is not really villains,

Allie:

though. Yeah. The villains are themselves.

Shane:

Yep. The the themselves and, racism. That.

Allie:

That. Say it louder for the people in the mirror.

Shane:

Themselves and racism.

Allie:

Thank you, Shane, for listening.

Caleb:

Shane stands up for what's right.

Allie:

Yeah. Clothes or items you owned?

Val:

I don't see any of it.

Allie:

Does it count if I have a Langa and a choli? Because I've been in an Indian I have 2. I've been in an to in Indian

Val:

Oh, yeah. I guess I have, like, the. That's right.

Allie:

Everyone, does that count? I didn't own it as a kid. I own it now.

Caleb:

It counts.

Val:

Yeah. Okay. Caleb says it counts. Everyone else?

Allie:

Oh, wait. There was that one music video they did in this movie where they were all 3 walking on the bridge with all of the lights, and their outfits were asinine. The the patterns didn't match. The clothes didn't match. The the their clothes didn't match their pants.

Allie:

Like, the it was absolutely insane. And then the sparkly scarf and the oh my gosh. The the they were like, we need you to know we are American.

Shane:

American and 2,008. Yeah. Those both those things.

Val:

Oh, rotten tomatoes, 40 to 60. Okay. Time out. Did anyone look this up?

Caleb:

No. No. But I I'm so confident that it's below 40.

Val:

Great. Okay. We're gonna go do a round of guessing. So we'll go in our same order. Taryn, what do you think it was?

Taryn:

I'm gonna say it's 45.

Val:

Okay.

Caleb:

I'm going under 20% easy.

Allie:

Wow. What did you say, Gail?

Caleb:

Under 20%. Wow.

Val:

Easy. Okay.

Diana:

I think 42.

Shane:

Damn. I was gonna say 42. You know, I'll I'll be rogue. 38.

Val:

K. I'm gonna say I'm I always guess under what it actually is, so I'm gonna go ahead and guess 57.

Allie:

None of you are right.

Val:

Is it, like, eighties?

Allie:

It is 64.

Caleb:

Unbelievable. Wow.

Diana:

Caleb, call mister tomato.

Caleb:

Mister tomato, you are out. You need to catch up

Allie:

with the rest of us.

Shane:

I think that the music and the dancing saved it.

Allie:

Mhmm. Mhmm.

Taryn:

Happily ever after.

Val:

Always. Yeah. Yeah.

Caleb:

Almost kissing.

Allie:

There's real kissing. There is real kissing. And what do I always say, Val? You have to almost kiss before you can real kiss.

Val:

Yes. And I know we debated this at the last episode, so we're not gonna debate it.

Allie:

You're all wrong, and I'm right.

Caleb:

Wait. Did the cheetah girls live happily ever because every time the next move comes up, we find out they broke up with their previous partner. So are they are they happy?

Val:

We have to assume so because there's not another Cheetah Girls.

Taryn:

Apparently, there's rumored to be a 4th coming out.

Val:

And I think Raven is

Taryn:

Raven mentioned it.

Allie:

That would be Wow. Insane.

Diana:

I just wanna see my girls succeed. Feet. Like, you know they have dresses on shelves somewhere. Mhmm. Mhmm.

Val:

Yes. And I want Raven to be able to be queer. Yes.

Shane:

If

Val:

they're gonna do it again, I want her to be able to actually be herself.

Shane:

You know, redemption for Raven and queer Raven.

Diana:

Yes. Mhmm.

Val:

Let's keep our fingers crossed for that.

Allie:

Give us a Poe wrote a queer Raven.

Caleb:

Oh, good one.

Diana:

Alright. Denise.

Taryn:

Yes. Someone who became famous.

Allie:

Yes. Oh, someone who, like, became famous out of the,

Shane:

like, back

Allie:

of the outside.

Shane:

But the 3

Val:

l w. Yeah. The 3 l w are all are famous.

Allie:

Okay. Yeah. They're all

Val:

I would I

Allie:

would say 3 of them.

Diana:

I'll allow it.

Shane:

Yeah. Thank you. Betraying of one's real friends or values.

Val:

I don't actually think that any of them actually did close. Yeah. The boys did it for them, but they didn't actually do it.

Allie:

Do we count Raven leaving not everyone?

Caleb:

Yes. This movie is compromised from the start. From the start.

Val:

But Raven but Raven just went to college. No.

Shane:

She was just in summer school. And, honestly, with the type a person that Raven's character was, she never would have left the Cheetah Girls for summer school.

Taryn:

No. Definitely not.

Val:

But her mom made it. But her

Shane:

mom made it.

Diana:

She successfully convinced her mom to do everything else. Everything. Get out of summer school.

Val:

That's true. That's true.

Allie:

We could have at least gotten a Skype like we did in Xenon.

Diana:

Yeah.

Allie:

Okay. Your childhood crush.

Val:

No. Did anyone have a crush on the Cheetah Girls?

Diana:

No.

Val:

Sorry, Cheetah Girls. Sorry, Cheetah Girls. Obviously, bad special effects or stunts. I mean, the audio segment.

Diana:

Game.

Val:

Okay. Back to you, Taryn.

Taryn:

Disney Channel star. Yeah. I feel like

Allie:

They were the Cheetah Girls. They all were.

Val:

Yeah. They are by that point, they were deceased counselors.

Caleb:

Musical number. Pretty sure I saw a couple.

Val:

Yeah. I think I did.

Allie:

Your eyes do not deceive you.

Diana:

Magic. And I'm gonna say that the springs and the through line of the elephants and elephants being good luck good luck felt like a kind of, magic and whimsy. What do what do we think?

Allie:

Okay. I'm not mad at it. Okay. I

Shane:

yes. Because at the restaurant whenever at the beginning of the movie, she looked at that statue of Ganesh, and the sparkle sound happened just like the shooting star. Just yes. Absolutely.

Val:

That's so true. Yep. So true. K. You're right.

Val:

Into it.

Shane:

Someone says the title of the movie, and I don't think we have a full Cheetah Girls one world.

Caleb:

That's true.

Val:

Yeah. Because I was gonna say, do the lyrics of the song work, and and I

Shane:

don't think immediately follow Cheetah Girls.

Val:

Wow. Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah.

Val:

Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah.

Val:

Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah. Cheetah.

Allie:

Thanks. Scooby dude.

Val:

There's nothing really There's nothing to Scooby doo.

Allie:

To Scooby doo.

Val:

To Scooby. The heroes create the problem.

Allie:

No. Or she misunderstood Hollywood and Bollywood and where Mumbai is, and this would have never happened if she had listening comprehension.

Val:

I don't think that was a problem. Problem Okay. No. The problem is that there's one role for 3 people, and no one told them that before they got on a plane to India.

Shane:

Which I do love that after they cascade it at the end, they were still in the big musical number as dancers. So all 3 of them were still in the movie. And it looked

Caleb:

like they

Val:

have a lot of attention.

Allie:

They sure no.

Val:

And and you do get paid more if you have a speaking role. So there you go. Okay.

Taryn:

The lead is a fish out of water.

Val:

I would say

Taryn:

they were fishes out

Val:

of water in India.

Shane:

They could not dance at the beginning. They could not do the right dishes. They struggled.

Val:

They did not understand. It's all in their arms.

Allie:

Well, friends, for the sake of the bingo, having 6 of us here today, we've got 0 bingos.

Shane:

Womp. Womp.

Allie:

Woah. None bingos. Sorry to let everyone down. Wow.

Shane:

I hate this game.

Val:

I'm I'm actually kinda surprised

Allie:

to hate this game. You know what, Shane? What you might love

Shane:

What?

Allie:

Is this game I've created called On Location. Woah. As we may have or may not have mentioned, Cheetah Girls was shot on location in India. Was. So we are going to play the game of, odd location where I'm going to give you a movie and a location of where it is set, and you have to tell me if it was filmed on location or if it was not filmed on location.

Allie:

We're gonna do the thumbs up or thumbs down, and I am going to keep notes of all of you so everyone gets to play the entire time. Okay. Are we ready?

Val:

Yes. Yes.

Allie:

Number 1. Mary Poppins was set in London. Was it filmed on location? That is correct. It was filmed in Burbank, California.

Val:

Everyone gets one point.

Allie:

Next movie. Chicago was set in Chicago. Was it filmed on location? Yes or no?

Caleb:

No. No. I respect that, Shane.

Val:

Shane says yes? Shane says yes. The answer is

Allie:

no. It was filmed in Toronto.

Diana:

Oh. Oh. Okay.

Allie:

Everyone gets to play next of shame. That's okay. Alright. Mean Girls set in Evanston, Illinois. Was it filmed on location?

Allie:

Yes or no?

Diana:

No. I think this

Caleb:

is the this is the trap question, though. This would be yes.

Allie:

Everyone said no. The answer is no. It was also filmed in Toronto. Ah, interesting. Alright.

Allie:

The movie Pretty Woman is set in Los Angeles. Was this filmed on location?

Diana:

Yes. I'm

Taryn:

gonna say yes, but I feel like the answer is no.

Allie:

Everyone said yes. The answer is yes. It was filmed on location

Val:

in Los Angeles. Celebrate. Because they go to

Shane:

Georgia Drive. Yeah.

Val:

Right? Yeah.

Allie:

That's my

Shane:

my reasoning as well.

Allie:

The movie Scarface is set in Miami. Diana goes, I'm I don't know. Was this filmed on location? Yes or no?

Shane:

I guess so. This is tough.

Allie:

Everyone says yes. That is incorrect. It was filmed in Los Angeles.

Val:

Of course.

Diana:

It's been a wild show point. Shoot.

Allie:

Alright. And our last movie, Saving Private Ryan, was set in Normandy in France. Was this filmed on location? Yes or no?

Caleb:

I'll I'll put my faith in Steven.

Allie:

Everyone says yes except for Taryn, and Taryn is the only correct one.

Caleb:

Yes.

Allie:

It was filmed in Ireland. Oh. Ah.

Caleb:

Steven.

Taryn:

And I only said no because everyone else said yes.

Val:

I knew it wasn't, like, LA. Like, they definitely filmed, like, somewhere that looked

Allie:

Well, congratulations. Five points, Taryn wins.

Diana:

Yay. Wow.

Allie:

Yay. Thank you for playing on location.

Diana:

Location. Location.

Allie:

Thank you all so much for joining us here today.

Taryn:

Thanks for having us.

Shane:

Thank you. For having us. Thank you.

Val:

Oh my gosh.

Allie:

Of course. Does anyone have any last last moments, thoughts about the movie before we wrap up?

Taryn:

When the new Cheetah Girls movie comes up, can we have a watch

Allie:

party? Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes.

Allie:

We're we're making it be a thing right now.

Diana:

Mhmm.

Allie:

And maybe we should write to them and ask if we can be in it.

Diana:

Yeah. God. You're shooting solid.

Taryn:

All of us can believe.

Allie:

Everyone go find an elephant. Look at its eyes right now. There has to be there has to

Caleb:

be one cheetah girl that will sit down with us and do the podcast with us.

Allie:

Has to. Passy.

Val:

We have to try to try.

Allie:

Amazing. Well, thank you all so much for coming once again. We're gonna do a quick plug and chug. So feel free to plug yourself with your social media items, and, we'll start the way that we and we've been doing, done this. So Taryn.

Taryn:

And I've been Taryn Gomez. You could find me at, taryn g m z, t a r y n g m z, on basically all the social medias. Thank you.

Caleb:

You can find me at Caleb L Gibson across all social media. I did have a website, Caleb Lee Gibson, but I missed the payment. So if you go to that website, there may be a blank page now. But social media, Caleb l Gibson. I still own the domain name for my website.

Caleb:

Stay tuned for that in the future.

Allie:

And Caleb just friended me on Facebook.

Caleb:

Oh, I did. I did. If you find me on Facebook, I won't accept it if I don't know you, but I can't stop you from following me on Instagram. So Caleb l Gibson, go for it across all socials.

Allie:

Perfect.

Taryn:

I have

Diana:

been Diana Smith. You can follow me on, Instagram at dotdiana.grace. I performed in some other groups, so shout out to weekend lawyer. Shout out to Sari. You should come catch long form wherever you are.

Diana:

Mhmm. When when you're in Chicago or wherever else.

Allie:

Love to Smart.

Caleb:

Love to

Diana:

see you out there, whoever you are. Thanks.

Shane:

Great. And I've been Shane Tolomeo. You can find me at Facebook at shane Tolomeo, or follow me on Instagram at shaneandsheebes, s h I b e s as in Shiba Inus, shane and sheebes. Nice.

Val:

No no reason

Shane:

for this. My dogs.

Allie:

Yeah. Thank you all so much for coming. Like, subscribe. Live, laugh, love. Val, what are we watching next?

Val:

We are watching Pushing Pete? Dadnapped.

Allie:

Dadnapped. Dang. I was one ahead. We're watching Dadnapped. Thanks, Val.

Allie:

Okay. Everyone, have a good rest of your until we see you next. Listen to us. Okay. Bye, pal.

Val:

Bye, Al. Bye, Improvise d, Comcast.

Shane:

Bye. Bye.

Val:

This podcast was produced by me

Allie:

and me, and it was edited by me. The music was composed by Michael McNally.

Val:

You can find us online at the tridentnetwork.com/dcommentaries hyphen pod. And you

Allie:

can find us on Instagram and TikTok at d commentaries.

Val:

D commentaries is a part of the Trident network. To learn more about our videos, live shows, and other podcasts, please visit the tridentnetwork.com.

Allie:

Disney Channel Original Movies.

Val:

Damn it, Ali.