The CW's newest drama, the only one without any supernatural leanings to make it to the fall schedule, is like if 90210 and Friday Night Lights had a baby. It's slick, swift, and soapy, but there's also not much about it that sets it apart and makes it truly compelling.
Based on the real experiences of NFL player Spencer Paysinger, All American follows high school football star Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) when he's recruited out of his gang-riddled LA school district to play for Beverly Hills. Coach Baker (Taye Diggs, most recently recurring on Empire) pulls some strings to get Spencer on the team and out of his neighborhood, as much to help the angry teen as to save his own job. It isn't long before Spencer finds himself in a love (lust? potential lust?) triangle with the coach's daughter Olivia (Samantha Logan, The Fosters) and popular girl Leila (Greta Oneiogou), who also happens to be dating the team alpha (Cody Christian, Teen Wolf), who immediately takes it upon himself to knock Spencer down a few pegs.
It's all pretty standard high school drama stuff. Which girl will Spencer choose? How will he deal with his double life in Beverly Hills and Crenshaw? There's some light hazing, some parental politics, some potential romance, and a late-pilot twist that reveals Baker's interest in Spencer may not be entirely because of his talent on the field. It's interesting enough, and considering the kinds of shows currently occupying the CW schedule, it's refreshing in its simplicity; it feels a bit like a throwback to what the network was a decade ago when 90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and other high school soaps were on the air. That the cast is mostly people of color brings another level of freshness to the show (and a rush of diversity to The CW).
But feeling like those shows also means All American doesn't feel particularly unique. We've seen high school football dramas before. We've seen high school soaps before. Even the angle of a talented student getting out of his criminal neighborhood and attending a better school has been done (Step Up comes immediately to mind). Director Rob Hardy gives everything a sparkly, hazy California sheen (even Crenshaw looks kind of beautiful), and the race relations infused into the script by April Blair (Reign) give a sense of urgency to the story, but All American is missing that spark of the best teen soaps. Hopefully that spark can be captured, because the bones are good and there's potential here.
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