You already know Melissa Joan Hart as a teenage witch — now get to know her as a helicopter mom in the newest Lifetime thriller Killing the Competition, premiering tonight, March 1, at 8pm Eastern Time on Lifetime.
Directed by Lee Gabiana (Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story), the pulpy title sees Hart — who is also an executive producer on the project with her company Hartbreak Films — as Elizabeth Fenwick, a loving fortysomething mother who continues to envision herself as the effortless star dancer and high school prom queen she once was. She unsurprisingly has the same high standards for her teenage daughter Grace (played by Lily Brooks O’Briant), but when the girl gets cut from the dance team at Elizabeth's alma mater, mom's overbearing antics turn criminal.
"Consumed by her frustration and disappointment, she channels her fury towards the school administration in a misguided attempt to remedy the situation. When her efforts backfire, Elizabeth grapples with the fallout and grows increasingly obsessed with Hannah (Valerie Loo), the true star of the dance team, and her mother Nicole (Anzu Lawson)," reads the drama's official synopsis, per Lifetime. "Elizabeth’s misguided protective instincts become alarming and lead to a descent into dangerous territory fueled by her desperate need to reclaim the glory she once had."
Hart has a long-running relationship with the Lifetime network, having starred and produced recent titles including The Bad Guardian, Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story, Mistletoe in Montana and Dear Christmas, and directed several Lifetime movies such as 2022's Santa Bootcamp, 2017's The Watcher in the Woods and 2014's The Santa Con.
To tune into the premiere of the star's latest for the channel, Killing the Competition, you're going to need access to the Lifetime network. Those with cable packages can watch on their local Lifetime channel, but even if you don't have traditional cable, cord-cutters can also tune in online with a live TV streaming service that carries Lifetime, such as Frndly TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and Philo TV. And if you miss the television broadcast tonight, don't fret: Killing the Competition will also be available to stream on MyLifetime.com beginning tomorrow, Sunday, March 2.
