TV Talk: Reality stars with Pittsburgh ties in ‘Cheer,’ ‘I Am Shauna Rae’ kick off 2022 TV

The new year’s TV offerings bring two reality series with Western Pennsylvania ties with the debut of TLC’s “I Am Shauna Rae” (10 p.m. Tuesday) and the return of Netflix’s “Cheer” for its nine-episode second season Wednesday.

‘Cheer’

James Thomas, a 2017 graduate of Union Area High School in New Castle, returns in season two of Netflix’s “Cheer,” which takes its time getting to the obvious storyline: Season one breakout star Jerry Harris’ September 2020 arrest on child pornography charges.

Harris is not the focus of early season two episodes, but the fifth episode is all about Harris and the charges against him, including interviews with his accusers and reactions from Harris’ cheerleading teammates, including Thomas, who says in the show, “I didn’t notice or see anything. It really blindsided me.” (Harris, who “Cheer” says is jailed while awaiting trial, pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2020.)

Thomas, a track and cheerleading star in high school, transferred from Eastern Michigan University to Navarro College, known for its award-winning cheer team, in Corsicana, Texas, for the 2018-19 school year, the year season one of “Cheer” filmed.

Harris served as Thomas’ “big brother” during Thomas’ first year at Navarro.

“Me and Jerry still keep in contact. He gives me calls whenever he can,” Thomas said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We just talk and laugh and giggle like we usually do. I’m not a person to judge. People make mistakes. During that time [of Harris’ arrest], I was in shock, everyone was in shock and kind of lost in the moment, not knowing what to say, what to do. I still have love for him. He was my best friend since the first day I met him.”

Season two of “Cheer” started filming during the 2019-20 school year until the annual cheer competition in Daytona Beach, Fla., was canceled because of covid-19. Cameras continued to roll during the 2020-21 school year, chronicling preparations for the 2021 competition.

Thomas now lives in Dallas and works three jobs, all cheerleading- related. He teaches cheerleading, choreographs cheer routines and he recently signed to be a model and ambassador for Rebel Athletic, which sells cheer gear.

He was back in New Castle for the holidays.

“Everyone knows me in my hometown, so it’s not like, ‘Oh my God, you were on TV,’ ” Thomas said. “It’s just, like, ‘I’m so proud of you. We knew you’d be something when you grow up, we knew you’d take this cheerleading stuff really far.’ It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, you’re from ‘Cheer!’ That happens more here in Dallas.”

‘I Am Shauna Rae’

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Ross Township, Shauna Rae, who declined to give her surname, is the latest person to get a reality show on cable’s TLC.

In “I Am Shauna Rae” the 22-year-old explains how she stopped growing at age 8, resulting in her looking forever like a child rather than an adult. (She’s 3 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 50 pounds)

Diagnosed with a brain tumor at six months, Shauna Rae was treated at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. After surgery to have the tumor removed, she underwent chemotherapy treatments for several years.

In kindergarten, the adults in her life realized Shauna Rae was significantly shorter than her peers. Tests revealed her pituitary gland was almost dormant. She was on and off growth hormones after that, but by age 16 her bones had fused and her growing was done.

Shauna Rae attended Perrysville Elementary, Highcliff Elementary and North Hills middle and high schools. At age 16, her mother’s job took the family to Philadelphia. They now live on Long Island.

“Everyone kind of knew about me,” she said of her early years in the North Hills. “When I went to middle school, that’s when the problems started because you combined elementary schools. … I got picked up on my first day of high school and I was dragged into the boy’s bathroom. People would make fun of me. They would always trip over me. I walked into a couple people. But at the same time, it’s what I was used to so I just went about my life and didn’t worry about other people’s reactions because I was a unique kind of human being.”

After high school, Shauna Rae pursued acting — she played a young girl in one episode of “Lisey’s Story,” which premiered on Apple TV+ in 2021 — and that’s how she got on the radar of a production company, which pitched and ultimately sold the series to TLC.

“I want to reach out to people with other forms of dwarfism or other handicaps who don’t feel like they have anyone in their corner,” she said in a phone interview late last month. “I really want it to be a positive, body-empowering, female empowerment kind of thing because that’s what I’m all about. I’m in this small body and I’m a woman and I have to be treated like a woman and I want mutual respect for everyone no matter what their differences are.”

“I Am Shauna Rae” includes scenes of many things that a person who appears to be 8 years old should not be doing: Vaping, drinking (“People tell me I’m a fun drunk”), shopping for adult videos, inquiring about getting a tattoo and in what seems like the most produced clip, going on a blind date with a guy who has no idea about her size. The show also focuses on Shauna Rae’s desire for more independence from her family.

To viewers who might question whether “I Am Shauna Rae” exploits her differences, Shauna Rae dismissed such concerns.

“I don’t think TLC is exploiting me. If anything they’re helping people like me,” she said. “They’re helping people realize there are other people in the world that look different.”

And, yes, she is getting paid to be on the show.

Of local note

Late last month WPXI-TV posted that it’s hiring for the meteorologist slot vacated in May by the departure of Danielle Dozier. … Former WTAE-TV general manager Michael Hayes has been promoted to chief operating officer and deputy group head of Hearst Television. … Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions’ “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” debuts new episodes on PBS next week (9:30 a.m. weekdays, WQED-TV), including Monday’s “The Neighborhood Snowstorm.”