This post was originally published on here
TV’s sports comedies are providing the kind of winning stories that movies used to tackle.
Here’s a confession that, well, anyone who has met me already knows: I’m not a sports guy. While others have fantasy football, I grew up putting together fantasy TV schedules and creating imaginary radio shows. Figuring out which TV pilots would be drafted to air and which middling series players might get cut from the pro primetime teams was my sport. Which network would win my Super Bowl, the end-of-season Nielsen ratings crown? I guess it’s good that I wound up doing what I do.
All of this is prelude to say: despite my lack of sports knowledge, I love me a good sports movie or TV show. It’s usually an underdog story, something we can all relate to — taking on what seems like an insurmountable goal to prove that, despite some setbacks or limitations, you’ve still got some fight in you.
Popular on Variety
And right now in TV, we’re seeing some great sports shows in the world of comedy. Actually, they’re some of my favorite series, comedy or drama, of the year: Hulu’s “Chad Powers,” NBC’s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” and Netflix’s “Running Point” among them. Other standouts include NBC’s disappointingly canceled “Stumble” and Apple TV’s “Stick.”
TV has picked up the ball (pun intended) as Hollywood has turned its back to some degree on the classic sports movie. Who’s making “Rudy” now? Turns out, it’s television.
“I grew up watching a lot of sports movies, and they don’t really make them anymore,” “Chad Powers” star and exec producer Glen Powell recently told me. “The theatrical business doesn’t really support sports movies. It tends to be kind of more of a domestic play, so you can’t really make them in the way they need to be made.”
And yet, he and buddy Michael Waldron really fancied the idea of taking “Chad Powers” — a character originally played by Eli Manning for his “Eli’s Places” series on ESPN — and turn it into a deeper piece about sports, character and a small lie that spirals out of control.
Believably set in the world of college football, I honestly wasn’t sure what I’d think going into “Chad Powers,” which did a fantastic job re-creating the spirit and the passion of that universe and its fandom. But through the story of disgraced college player Russ Holliday (Powell), a bit of a jerk who’s humbled enough to try for redemption by Mrs. Doubtfiring it on a new college team, I really enjoyed the ride.
“Reggie Dinkins” also looks at a football player’s fall from grace — this time a former NFL pro played by Tracy Morgan — and mines his struggles by placing him inside a hilarious ensemble cast (Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan). It also plays with the mockumentary trope in a new way, making Radcliffe’s filmmaker character someone also looking to recover after a career mishap.
And then there’s “Running Point,” which may be even better in its second season. Kate Hudson is at her best as Isla Gordon, who takes charge of her family’s NBA team (the “Los Angeles Waves”) after her brother (Justin Theroux) is sent to rehab. The show is loosely based, of course, on the Lakers and former controlling owner Jeannie Buss (who is still governor and minority owner of the team and is an exec producer of the series).
It’s the lore of the Lakers, but reimagined through a made-up team. That sounds more like my speed. I may not be a big sports fan, but I’m rooting for the L.A. Waves — and excited to see who they recruit for their next winning season.
