The first season of the American sports drama television series All American premiered on The CW on October 10, 2018 and ended on March 20, 2019 after 16 episodes.
The series follows the lives of a group of people from both Crenshaw and Beverly Hills and features an ensemble cast starring Daniel Ezra in the lead role as well as Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Samantha Logan, Michael Evans Behling, Cody Christian, Karimah Westbrook, Monet Mazur, Taye Diggs and Jalyn Hall.
Premise When a 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
Main Daniel Ezra as Spencer James Bre-Z as Tamia "Coop" Cooper Greta Onieogou as Layla Keating Samantha Logan as Olivia Baker Michael Evans Behling as Jordan Baker Cody Christian as Asher Adams Karimah Westbrook as Grace James Monet Mazur as Laura Baker Jalyn Hall as Dillon James Taye Diggs as Billy Baker
Recurring Hunter Clowdus as JJ Parker Spence Moore II as Chris Jackson Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tyrone Morris Chelsea Tavares as Patience Robinson Jay Reeves as Shawn Scott Brent Jennings as Willy Baker Emily Levine as Lucy Michelle Hayden as Ripley Casper Van Dien as Harold Adams Mitchell Edwards as Cameron Chad L. Coleman as Corey James Bill Lee Brown as Alvin Washington Jordan Belfi as Principal Ed Landon Judith Scott as Janelle Cooper James Black as Reggie Cooper Kareem Grimes as Cordell "Preach" Simms Michael Wayne Williams as Young Spencer James
Episodes
Production Development In September 2017, it was announced that the CW veteran Greg Berlanti had two pilots in development for the network, one of which 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 as well. A pilot for the potential series, then called Spencer, was ordered in January 2018 and subsequently picked up 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 by 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, The CW ordered an additional three episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to 16 episodes.
Casting On February 22, 2018, Taye Diggs was cast as Billy Baker, followed a week later by 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, and 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.
Reception Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 25 reviews, and an average rating of 6.90/10. 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.
Ratings
Notes
References