All American (TV series)

All American
Genre	Sports drama
Created by	April Blair
Starring	Daniel Ezra Bre-Z Greta Onieogou Samantha Logan Michael Evans Behling Cody Christian Karimah Westbrook Monét Mazur Taye Diggs Jalyn Hall Chelsea Tavares Hunter Clowdus
Composer	Blake Neely
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	64 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	April Blair Greg Berlanti Sarah Schechter Rob Hardy Nkechi Okoro Carroll John A. Norris Jameal Turner
Producers	Robbie Rogers Robert D. Doty Jon Wallace Carl Ogawa Jennifer Lence
Cinematography	Ramsey Nickell Nikhil Paniz Carlos Arguello Eriberto Cordero Eric Laudadio
Editors	Avi Youabian Felicia M. Livingston Finnian Murray Jessie Murray Jennifer Hoks Matthew Prescott
Running time	42–49 minutes
Production companies	Berlanti Productions April Blair's Company (season 1) CBS Studios Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	The CW
Release	October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10) – present (present)
Related
All American: Homecoming

All American is an American sports drama television series, created by April Blair that premiered on The CW on October 10, 2018. The series is inspired by the life of professional American football player Spencer Paysinger with Daniel Ezra in the lead role. In January 2020, The CW renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 18, 2021. In February 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on October 25, 2021. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season.

Premise

"When a rising high school American football player from South L.A. is recruited to play for Beverly Hills High, the wins, losses and struggles of two families from vastly different worlds—Crenshaw and Beverly Hills—begin to collide. Inspired by the life of pro football player Spencer Paysinger."

Cast and characters

Overview

Main cast of All American

Actor	Character	Season
		1	2	3	4
Daniel Ezra	Spencer James	Main
Bre-Z	Tamia "Coop" Cooper	Main
Greta Onieogou	Layla Keating	Main
Samantha Logan	Olivia Baker	Main
Michael Evans Behling	Jordan Baker	Main
Cody Christian	Asher Adams	Main
Karimah Westbrook	Grace James	Main
Monét Mazur	Laura Fine-Baker	Main
Taye Diggs	Billy Baker	Main
Jalyn Hall	Dillon James	Recurring	Main
Chelsea Tavares	Patience Roberts	Recurring		Main
Hunter Clowdus	JJ Parker	Recurring			Main

Main

• Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, based on Spencer Paysinger, a star wide receiver at Crenshaw High School who transfers to Beverly Hills High to play American football, then returns to South Crenshaw High in Season 3. He also plays safety, kickoff returner, and running back. Spencer takes on a lot of responsibility to save his community, be the leader on the football team, and take care of his family and friends, which takes a toll on the star player. He patched up his strained relationship with his father Corey and quit football the day after a ring ceremony, and days after he got his top 60 college prospect ranking because he was grieving from Corey's death. After he got shot by one of Tyrone's connections, he ultimately decided to perform surgery to remove the bullet so he could return to playing football. He is currently dating Olivia.
• Bre-Z as Tamia "Coop" Cooper, Spencer's lesbian friend from Crenshaw High. While she tried to warn Shawn off the gang, she started to take the gang life more seriously after Shawn was killed off, restarting the chain of revenge killings between rival gangs that started with Shawn's brother, Brandon the year before. Also, as she is still a minor, she cannot take over the lease on Shawn's rental house, even if she was to be emancipated from her mother. When she moved back in after she helped with the arrest of Tyrone Moore, she reverted to being a songwriter and DJ.
• Samantha Logan as Olivia Baker, Spencer's girlfriend, Billy and Laura's daughter, Willie's granddaughter, and Jordan's sister. She is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who has been in and out of rehab. Her best friend is Layla but their friendship becomes strained when Olivia reveals she had a one-night stand with Asher, who she later ends up dating. Olivia is Spencer's first friend at Beverly and form a strong friendship that later romantic. She becomes his girlfriend. She became President of Black Student Caucus, and starting Beverley High's own Black Lives Matter Movement.
• Michael Evans Behling as Jordan Baker, Billy and Laura's son, Olivia's twin brother, Willie's grandson, and quarterback for Beverly High. Jordan was initially jealous of Spencer but the two quickly formed a friendship. In season 2,Jordan had become very rebellious and his behavior was out of control. Jordan got into fights and crashed his sister's car and lost his trust in his mother when she punished him for his rebellious actions. He was tricked into thinking he got Simone pregnant. Simone gave up her child, Jordan was not the father. In season 3 episode Rolling the Dice: Jordan and Simone got married in Vegas. They later on got the marriage annulled and remained a couple
• Cody Christian as Asher Adams, wide receiver of the Beverly High American football team and the ex-boyfriend of Layla and Olivia. His father lost all of their family's money, which resulted in Asher's mother leaving. Asher and his father rent a guest house from another family that is always out of the country. Asher pretends the mansion is his to keep up the appearance his family has money, until he must confess that his father is laid off and has become broke. Asher found out why his parents split up, his father told her mother to stay away from him and his mother was an ex-hooker and that is how his parents met.In the end of season 3, it is revealed that he has a heart condition and can no longer play football due to him taking steroids in season 2 His mother was an alumnus of Malibu Charter School, coached by Billy's former NFL rival. He was suspended for 2 games due to intoxication at Homecoming Dance after Layla broke up with him, and then was kicked off the team after he tipped off Malibu with Beverly's entire offensive playbook. In 2017, he was with Layla and was an alcoholic. After winning State title, he became more dedicated because his scout stock actually fell due to lack of targets. He, along with Spencer, became offensive captain in season 2 while Jordan was left out. In The Art of Peer Pressure reveals that Asher is juicing aka taking steroids. In season 3, he was still under suspension from playing football due to taking steroids. After paying for his mistakes, he was allowed to play again. After he got an athletic full scholarship to Coastal California, he was devastated to learn that he developed a heart condition from taking steroids. As Asher helped out Jordan and JJ during a combine, he realized that he could still pursue his passion of football through coaching.
• Greta Onieogou as Layla Keating, Spencer and Asher's ex-girlfriend from Beverly High. Her father is a very successful record producer, but her mother was killed in a car accident in Colorado. She has a complicated friendship with Olivia. Her father was one of the boosters that donated to refurbish the locker rooms of Rose Bowl, home of UCLA Bruins. In season 2, she dropped out, and became Coop's producer.
• Karimah Westbrook as Grace James, Spencer and Dillon's mother who secretly knew Billy a long time ago and had a one-night stand with him. However, it turns out that Billy, Grace and Corey all were graduate class of 1994 in South Crenshaw.
• Monét Mazur as Laura Fine-Baker, Billy's wife who is a lawyer and also Olivia and Jordan's mother. She is a very strict disciplinarian who insists structure and discipline. In season 2, she tried to keep the family together and she spent most of series laying down the law and punishing Jordan. Jordan got into trouble with fighting and crashing his sister's car and got tricked into thinking he got a girl pregnant. Mostly, she decided to file for separation. In The Art of Peer Pressure she is elected District Attorney of Los Angeles County.She and Billy begin reuniting and soon got remarried in season 3.
• Taye Diggs as Billy Baker, the coach for Beverly Hills High American football team who recruits Spencer, Laura's husband, and Olivia and Jordan's father. Like Spencer, he was an alumnus of both Crenshaw High and Beverly Hills High, and played in the NFL as a former second-round pick, before his career was cut short by knee injuries. His father also abandoned him as a child. In season 2, it was also revealed that both he and Corey played against each other in Pop Warner, and he actually left South Crenshaw because he could not deal with the loss of his mother, who was the history teach of South Crenshaw High. In season 2, he tried to fight repair the marriage with Laura, but she decided to file for separation. By the end of Season 2, he resigns and becomes the head coach for the high school he played for. In season 3, he and Laura get remarried.
• Jalyn Hall as Dillon James (season 2–present; recurring season 1) Spencer's younger brother. Like Spencer, he is also an A-grade student, and is much more mature for his young age. Likes sci-fi comics. He wants to play American football like his brother Spencer, but at the moment, he is too young, so he sticks to playing basketball. He was later found to be Corey's son after a private dispute about his paternity.
• Chelsea Tavares as Patience Roberts (season 3-present; recurring seasons 1–2), Coop's love interest. An aspiring lyricist, but because she has a supportive family when she came out as a lesbian, she often struggles to understand Coop's hesitance to let her meet Coop's mother and her more supportive church friends.
• Hunter Clowdus as JJ Parker (season 4; recurring seasons 1–3), an outside linebacker/QB2/tight end for the Beverly High Eagles. A party boy that likes to organize parties, but is also a very competent pool player. In season 3, however, he became considered to return to his junior high school position of QB after new Coach Montez saw his arm strength, accuracy and pocket movement to be better than Jordan, but still lost the QB competition.

Recurring

• Jay Reeves as Shawn Scott (season 1), a drug dealer and gang member who sometimes does good deeds, but was shot dead by rival gangs as part of revenge killing in front of his house after he paid Tyrone off to get out of the gang.
• Spence Moore II as Chris Jackson, a quarterback at Crenshaw High. Despite initially resenting Spencer for moving to Beverly, he helped Beverly Eagles defeat Malibu using Crenshaw's old playbook.
• Jordan Belfi as Principal Ed Landon (seasons 1-2).
• Emily Levine as Lucy (season 1; guest season 2), a student at Beverly and a student council member
• Nathen Gurrola as Butler, a member of the Beverly Eagles football team.
• Casper Van Dien as Harold Adams (seasons 1-2, guest season 3), Asher's father.
• Mitchell Edwards as Cam Watkins, South Crenshaw's new receiver after Spencer left. He has great size, speed and athleticism, but often outplayed by Spencer as the cornerback due to his poor hands and easy tells. In season 3, he transferred to Westlake not wanting to play as a backup to Spencer.
• Brent Jennings as Willie Baker (season 1; guest season 3), Billy's father and Olivia and Jordan's grandfather. Former Beverly Hills Football coach, and raised Billy to become an NFL player, he believed Billy abandoned him after going pro and left Crenshaw. He disapproves of his son's lifestyle and refuses to accept his daughter-in-law because she is white. Despite this, he receives monthly payments from his son. He also conned money from his grandson by suggesting he couldn't afford medical care for his diabetes.
• Michelle Hayden as Ripley (season 1), a cheerleader for Malibu Charter School, and love interest of Jordan, but she abuses him as she is a marijuana user, to get him into trouble.
• Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tyrone Moore (seasons 1-2), a gang leader in Crenshaw. He was the mastermind that killed both Brandon and Shawn Scott. He also put Preach into hospital by shooting. He was apprehended by Police on State Championship night after Coop set up a police ambush. However, he was released from jail after Preach decided not to testify. He was later killed on his front porch by Ruth Scott in revenge for killing her sons.
• Chad L. Coleman as Corey James (seasons 1-2), a former American football player and coach who is Spencer and Dillon's biological father. He also played against Billy since Pop Warner, also an aspiring running back. However, his football dreams was dashed after high school because he was stricken with life-threatening illness, he later died of that illness.
• Kareem J. Grimes as Cordell “Preach” Simms, a gang member who initially follows Tyrone because he thought Tyrone saved Brandon's lives by serving two prison terms together. However, when Coop made him realize the Scotts were both killed by Tyrone, he tried to set a plan to kill him, but he failed, and was shot and critically injured, and is recovering in Intensive Care Unit post-operation. In Season 2, he got a job as a security guard after he recovered and helped Coop gain an audience for her first show, but was arrested after Tyrone set him up and was sent back to prison for assaulting Buggs and his parole violation. He was released in the Season 3 premiere after Monique got his 1st strike conviction overturned.
• Akono Dixon as Andre (guest season 1; season 3), a gang member who works with Tyrone in season 1, and later works with Preach and Mo.
• Mikelen Walker as Malik (season 1), Tyrone and Coop's gang underling, mostly used for espionage missions. He pretended to be loyal to Coop but was really still working with Tyrone, but Coop had already set up a police ambush to put Tyrone behind bars.
• Da'Vinchi as Darnell Haynes (seasons 2-3), a quarterback at South Crenshaw who lived with Corey for 7 years in Nevada, Corey's son from a previous relationship. While having a frosty relationship with Spencer, they reconciled in Corey's final days. He was invited to live with Grace soon after Corey died. He suddenly had to leave, because his birth mother was hurt while on military duty. He came back for a brief moment to convince Spencer not to give up football to save his community.
• Asjha Cooper as Kia Williams (seasons 2-3; guest season 1), South Crenshaw High student, ex-girlfriend of Spencer and an avid social activist. Her uncle is a reformed Bloods gang member.
• Lahmard J. Tate as Flip Williams (season 2; guest season 1), Kia's uncle and a reformed Blood gang member.
• Elvis Nolasco (season 1-2) and Ray Campbell (season 3) as JP Keating, Layla's father, a music mogul that grew up in Harlem, New York. Donated to build Rose Bowl's Locker Room. As an alumnus of UCLA, he is effectively a lifetime member of the ground. He returned to her life for good when he realizes that Layla attempted suicide at the exact same place as her mother.
• Kayla Smith as Rochelle Mosley (season 2), a recent graduate of Beverly Hills High School and aspiring sports journalist.
• Corey Reynolds as Cliff Mosley (season 2), the head of the Beverly High School Boosters until he was voted out as he tried to relinquish Billy Baker from his coaching role without his presence.
• Dina Meyer as Gwen Adams (season 2, guest season 3), Asher's mother.
• Geffri Maya as Simone Hicks (seasons 2-3), a classmate that who became pregnant and got married to Jordan when they were in Las Vegas. The marriage was short lived, but the two continued dating. She gave birth to a baby boy, but decided to give the baby up for adoption. After graduating from Crenshaw High and reconciling with the foster family to retain visiting rights, she applies to go to Bringston University, a historically black college in Atlanta at the request of her aunt, where she decides to revive her dream to become an aspiring tennis player, leading to the spinoff series All American: Homecoming.
• Lamon Archey as Superintendent D'Angelo Carter (season 3, guest season 2), the interim principal at South Crenshaw High. In the past, he also went to South Crenshaw with Corey and Billy, but was sent to boarding school after his freshman year due to the bullying culture of the football team.
• Alexandra Barreto as Coach Montes (season 3), new head coach for the Beverly High Eagles.
• Erica Peeples as Monique "Mo" Moore (season 3, guest season 2), an attorney and Tyrone's older sister
• Noah Gray-Cabey as Frausto (season 3), a teammate of Spencer's from Crenshaw. He is unwelcoming to both Spencer and Coach Baker.
• Alondra Delgado as Vanessa Montes (season 3), a new student at Beverly High School and the new head coach's daughter, and had a summer fling with Asher.
• Anna Lore as Carrie (season 3), Layla's friend.
• Simeon Daise as Jabari Long (season 3), a teammate of Spencer's from South Crenshaw High.
• Ella Simone Tabu as Amina Simms, (season 3) Preach and Monique’s daughter.
• Deric Augustine as Clay (season 4), A musician Layla manages who becomes a love interest
• Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Sabine (season 4)
• Christian James as Wade Waters (season 4)
• Zachary S. Williams as Isaiah Winfield (season 4), a football player who goes to Golden Angeles University with Spencer, Jordan and Olivia.

Guest

• Scot Ruggles as Coach Rick Wilson (season 2), coach for UCLA football team who wants Spencer and Darnell to play for them in college.
• Adain Bradley as Dane Kohler (season 2-3), Simone's ex-boyfriend and a player for the Westlake Wildcats.
• Mike Merrill as Christian Mosley (season 3), a talent director
• Jaclyn Smith as Wendy Fine (season 3), Laura's mother who is a former attorney from Chicago
• Cordae as Himself (season 3)
• DeSean Jackson as Himself (season 3), Former Crenshaw standout.

Episodes

Main article: List of All American episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	16		October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10)	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)
2	16		October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)
3	19		January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	July 19, 2021 (2021-07-19)
4	20		October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25)	May 23, 2022 (2022-05-23)
5	20		October 10, 2022 (2022-10-10)	May 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)
6	15		April 1, 2024 (2024-04-01)	July 15, 2024 (2024-07-15)

Production

Development

In September 2017, it was announced that The CW veteran Greg Berlanti had two pilots in development for the network, one of them inspired by the life of NFL football player Spencer Paysinger. It was also revealed that April Blair would write and executive produce the untitled project, with Berlanti and Sarah Schechter executive producing. A pilot for the potential series, then called Spencer, was ordered in January 2018. The pilot was ordered to series on May 11, 2018. On October 2, 2018, it was reported that Blair had stepped down as showrunner due to "personal reasons" and was subsequently replaced with co-executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll, who was also made an executive producer. On October 8, 2018, The CW ordered five additional scripts for the series. On November 8, 2018, it was announced that The CW had ordered an additional three episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to 16 episodes. On April 24, 2019, it was reported that The CW renewed the series for a second season. The second season premiered on October 7, 2019. On October 8, 2019, The CW ordered three more episodes for the show's second season. On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a third season which is set to premiere on January 18, 2021. On February 3, 2021, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season which premiered on October 25, 2021. On March 22, 2022, The CW renewed the series for a fifth season.

Casting

On February 22, 2018, Taye Diggs was cast as Billy Baker, followed a week later with Samantha Logan cast as Olivia Baker, his daughter. The rest of the cast was filled out through mid-March with Bre-Z and Greta Onieogou cast on March 15, 2018 as characters Tamia Cooper and Layla Keating, respectively, with Monet Mazur, Michael Evans Behling, and Cody Christian cast the next day, to play Laura Fine-Baker, Olivia's mother; Jordan Baker, Olivia's brother; and Asher, respectively. Karimah Westbrook was cast as Grace James on March 19, 2018 and British actor Daniel Ezra was cast in the lead role of Spencer James on March 21, 2018. On May 31, 2018, Jalyn Hall was promoted to a series regular as Dillon, Spencer's little brother. On October 1, 2020, Chelsea Tavares was promoted to series regular for the third season. On October 4, 2021, Hunter Clowdus was promoted to series regular for the fourth season.

Filming

Filming for the series takes place in Los Angeles, California. The pilot was filmed during the first quarter of 2018. Filming for season one began the following July. Filming took place in Thomas Jefferson High School in South Central Los Angeles known as South Crenshaw High School in the series.

Reception

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of All American

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Episodes	First aired		Last aired		TV season	Viewership rank	Avg. viewers (millions)
			Date	Viewers (millions)	Date	Viewers (millions)
1	Wednesday 9:00 pm	16	October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10)	0.69	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	0.54	2018–19	203	0.90
2	Monday 8:00 pm	16	October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	0.88	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)	0.70	2019–20	127	1.18
3		19	January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	1.05	July 19, 2021 (2021-07-19)	0.72	2020–21	135	1.40
4		TBA	October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25)	0.64	TBA	TBD	2021–22	TBD	TBD

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 25 reviews, and an average rating of 6.92/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "All American's ambitious attempts to tackle class struggles and classroom drama largely play thanks to its winning cast—an auspicious start to a promising new series". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The second season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.75/10.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2019	Black Reel Award	Outstanding Drama Series	All American	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series	Karimah Westbrook	Nominated
2020	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series	Nkechi Okoro (for "Hussle & Motivate")	Nominated
	Black Reel Award	Outstanding Guest Actor, Drama Series	Chad Coleman	Won
2022	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Drama Series	All American	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Daniel Ezra	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series	Nkechi Okoro Carroll (for "Homecoming")	Nominated

Release

In New Zealand, All American is aired as a web-only series on TVNZ OnDemand. It released the same episode as the US at 8pm Thursdays (NZDT), 5 hours after it is aired in the US, during season one. Season two was released on the same day as the US at 7pm Tuesdays (NZDT), 4 hours after it is aired in the USA. Season three was released on the same day as the US at 8pm Tuesdays (NZDT), 4 hours after it is aired in the USA.

Spin-off

Main article: All American: Homecoming

On December 18, 2020, it was announced that The CW is in early development of a backdoor pilot for a spin-off of Geffri Maya's character Simone Hicks reprising her role from All American. On February 1, 2021, The CW gave the spin-off a pilot order and titled it as All American: Homecoming. On March 29, 2021, Peyton Alex Smith, Cory Hardrict, Kelly Jenrette, Sylverser Powell, Netta Walker, and Camille Hyde were cast to star in the pilot. On May 24, 2021, All American: Homecoming was picked up to series. The backdoor pilot aired on July 5, 2021 as part of the third season of All American. The series is scheduled to premiere on February 21, 2022. On December 16, 2021, Mitchell Edwards who recurs as Cam Watkins on All American is set to reprise his role on this series as a series regular.

External links

• All American at IMDb
• All American at TV Guide