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
Composer	Blake Neely
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	51
Production
Executive producers	April Blair Greg Berlanti Sarah Schechter Rob Hardy Nkechi Okoro Carroll John A. Norris
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
Distributor	CBS Media Ventures Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	The CW
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original release	October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10) – present (present)
External links
Website
Production website

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.^[1][2] In February 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season which is set to premiere on October 25, 2021.^[3][4]

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."^[5]

Cast and characters[]

Overview[]

Main cast of All American

Actor	Character	Season
		1	2	3
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	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.^[6] 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 shares romantic bonds with Layla Keating and Olivia Baker.
• 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.^[7] 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.^[8]
• 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. Jordan on season 2 was turning very rebellious and he was out of control. He got into fights and crash his sister's car and lost her trust in her mother when she punished him for it. He was tricked into thinking he got a girl pregnant. Simone gave up her child and it is not Jordan's. In season 3 episode Rolling the Dice: Jordan and Simone got married in Vegas.^[9]
• 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.^[10] 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.
• 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.^[7] 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.^[11] 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 getting divorced in season 3.^[9]
• 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 divorced and he starts over a clean slate in Crenshaw.
• 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.^[12] He was later found to be Corey's son after a private dispute about his paternity.
• Chelsea Tavares as Patience (season 3;^[13] 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.

Recurring[]

• Jay Reeves as Shawn Scott (season 1),^[14] 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.
• Hunter Clowdus as JJ Parker, 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.
• 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
• Casper Van Dien as Harold Adams (seasons 1-2, guest Season 3), Asher's father.
• Mitchell Edwards as Cam, 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 Preach, 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.
• 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 involved with Jordan. She gave birth to a baby boy, but decided to have him adopted. After reconciling with the foster family to retain visiting rights, she applies to go to Princeton, where she can revive her dream as an aspiring tennis player.
• Lamon Archey as Superintendent D'Angelo Carter (season 3, guest season 2),^[15] 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^[16]
• 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.^[17]
• Anna Lore as Carrie (season 3), Layla’s friend.
• Simeon Daise as Jabari Long (season 3), a teammate of Spencer’s from Crenshaw.

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.^[18]
• 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^[19]
• Jaclyn Smith as Wendy Fine (season 3), Laura's mother who is a former attorney from Chicago^[20]
• Cordae as Himself (season 3)
• DeSean Jackson as Himself (season 3), Former Crenshaw standout.

Episodes[]

Series overview[]

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	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)

Season 1 (2018–19)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Rob Hardy	April Blair	October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10)	T15.10151	0.69[21]
Spencer James, an ambitious American football player from South Los Angeles, is offered a scholarship to Beverly Hills High School when the coach Billy Baker notices his ability. He is torn between his two worlds, as his mother and brother both want him to relocate while his friend Coop struggles with gangs and his cultural shift in lifestyles. He also struggles with his father's abandonment for a coaching job. On his first day, he plays exceptionally well much to the dismay of Asher while Spencer gets close with his girlfriend Layla who is extremely wealthy and takes a liking to him. However, Billy's daughter Olivia seems to be more interested in him. Soon Spencer learns of boosters coming in to watch him play American football but a party leads to him drinking too much and he embarrasses himself during the game. At the end of the episode, Spencer is forced to move into the Baker household while Billy shows up at Spencer's home and says to his mother that they need to tell Spencer the truth.
2	2	"99 Problems"	David McWhirter	April Blair & Mike Herro & David Straus	October 17, 2018 (2018-10-17)	T13.21352	0.61[22]
Spencer continues to live within the household but Billy's constant attention to Spencer causes a rift between his relationship with his son Jordan and Olivia with Asher becoming aggressive towards him because of his interest towards Layla. Spencer continues to travel down South but his friend Coop continues to hang out with gang member Shawn and forced to pledge loyalty by dropping off what is supposed to be drugs but actually a gift to an ex-member's grandmother and soon informs Spencer that he has to live his own life. His constant visits also worry Grace as she wants what's best for him. At scouting night, Asher's father soon disrupts the scene after his son is injured earlier on accidentally by Spencer and announces that Spencer has been staying in the Baker household. A confrontation between Shawn and Spencer and an injury leads to Beverly Hills losing the game.
3	3	"i"	Rob Hardy	Nkechi Okoro Carroll	October 24, 2018 (2018-10-24)	T13.21353	0.76[23]
At an American football session, Asher continues to grow frustrated with Spencer and soon creates a meme to ridicule him and sends it across the school. Meanwhile, Coop begins falling for a girl named Patience at her mother's church choir soon revealed to be the reason that she hasn't come out as lesbian due to the religious belief's of her family. The tensions between Asher and Spencer increase when they attempt to fight at a session and soon Jordan experiences Spencer's former life in South LA before Beverly after defending Spencer against Asher. Olivia and Layla try to reconcile after being paired for an English project. Jordan experiences police racism-based treatment after being harassed and Billy soon becomes hurt that his son wasn't aware of the prejudice. Jordan goes to a barber with his dad but finds his old high school yearbook revealing that his father dated Grace James, Spencer's mother.
4	4	"Lose Yourself"	Elodie Keene	John A. Norris	November 7, 2018 (2018-11-07)	T13.21354	0.75[24]
5	5	"All We Got"	Rose Troche	Robert D. Doty & Lorna Osunsanmi	November 14, 2018 (2018-11-14)	T13.21355	0.67[25]
6	6	"The Choice Is Yours"	Benny Boom	Mike Herro & David Strauss & J. Stone Alston	November 28, 2018 (2018-11-28)	T13.21356	0.75[26]
7	7	"California Love"	Dawn Wilkinson	Nkechi Carroll & Michael Bhim	December 5, 2018 (2018-12-05)	T13.21357	0.66[27]
8	8	"Homecoming"	Rob Hardy	April Blair	December 12, 2018 (2018-12-12)	T13.21358	0.70[28]
9	9	"Keep Ya Head Up"	Kevin Rodney Sullivan	John A. Norris	January 16, 2019 (2019-01-16)	T13.21359	0.69[29]
10	10	"m.A.A.d. city"	Darren Grant	Natalie Abrams & Cam'ron Moore	January 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)	T13.21360	0.71[30]
11	11	"All Eyez on Me"	Michael Schultz	J. Stone Alston & Robert D. Doty	January 30, 2019 (2019-01-30)	T13.21361	0.77[31]
12	12	"Back in the Day"	Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum	Nkechi O. Carroll & Lorna Osunsanmi	February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06)	T13.21362	0.57[32]
Coop struggles to keep Shawn's old rental properly as she isn't fully emancipated from her mother but her father managed to reconcile with his ex wife and make her at least sign the emancipation paper with him, while Olivia threatens to relapse back to her 2017 self due to her being abandoned during playoffs and her mother's district attorney promotion campaign period, while Kia also ended her relationship with Spencer during that same time after she witnessed him fighting, and he almost started a fight again with Asher, worrying he and Layla could be back together.
13	13	"Legacy"	Salli Richardson-Whitfield	John A. Norris	February 27, 2019 (2019-02-27)	T13.21363	0.61[33]
14	14	"Regulate"	Geoff Sholtz	Jameal Turner	March 6, 2019 (2019-03-06)	T13.21364	0.59[34]
15	15	"Best Kept Secret"	Michael Schultz	Mike Herro & David Strauss	March 13, 2019 (2019-03-13)	T13.21365	0.60[35]
16	16	"Championships"	David McWhirter	Nkechi Okoro Carroll]] & Michael Bhim	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	T13.21366	0.54[36]
Spencer must face his former team at South Crenshaw High in the state championship game. Coop finally executes the plan to subdue Tyrone. In the end, Spencer's dad becomes the new American football coach for South Crenshaw High School and wants Spencer to come back home to play for the team. Spencer must make the decision to either stay at Beverly or go back to Crenshaw.

Season 2 (2019–20)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
17	1	"Hussle & Motivate"	Rob Hardy	Nkechi Okoro Carroll	October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	T13.22201	0.88[37]
Jordan decides to deal with his family drama. Olivia fights to reunite her newly broken home. Billy makes some tough decisions to get himself back together and win back his family. Asher clearly has strong feelings for Olivia. Laura is still in depression following her husbands affair. Corey pressures Spencer's mother to a paternity test for Dillon. Grace apologizes to Laura about the affair. Spencer has a tough decision to make, stay at his high school in Beverly Hills, or reunite with his family in South LA (Crenshaw), and play for his father at South Crenshaw High School.
18	2	"Speak Ya Clout"	Michael Schultz	Mike Herro & David Strauss	October 14, 2019 (2019-10-14)	T13.22202	0.69[38]
19	3	"Never No More"	Sheelin Choksey	Jameal Turner	October 21, 2019 (2019-10-21)	T13.22203	0.68[39]
20	4	"They Reminisce Over You"	Gregg Simon	John A. Norris	October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)	T13.22204	0.71[40]
21	5	"Bring the Pain"	David McWhirter	Robert D. Doty	November 11, 2019 (2019-11-11)	T13.22205	0.72[41]
22	6	"Hard Knock Life"	Kristin Windell	J. Stone Alston & Michael Bhim	November 18, 2019 (2019-11-18)	T13.22206	0.68[42]
23	7	"Coming Home"	Benny Boom	Nkechi Okoro Carroll & Lorna Osunsanmi	November 25, 2019 (2019-11-25)	T13.22207	0.68[43]
24	8	"Life Goes On"	Avi Youbian	John A. Norris & Laura Nava	December 2, 2019 (2019-12-02)	T13.22208	0.70[44]
25	9	"One of Them Nights"	Erica Watson	Jameal Turner & Cam'ron Moore	January 20, 2020 (2020-01-20)	T13.22209	0.64[45]
26	10	"Protect Ya Neck"	Dawn Wilkinson	Mike Herro & David Strauss	January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27)	T13.22210	0.66[46]
27	11	"Tha Crossroads"	Ryan Zaragoza	Robert D. Doty & Lorna Osunsanmi	February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)	T13.22211	0.79[47]
28	12	"Only Time Will Tell"	Kelli Williams	John A. Norris	February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)	T13.22212	0.78[48]
29	13	"The Art of Peer Pressure"	David McWhirter	Jameal Turner & Micah Cyrus	February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17)	T13.22213	0.72[49]
30	14	"Who Shot Ya"	Nikhil Paniz	Michael Bhim & Cam'ron Moore	February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	T13.22214	0.74[50]
31	15	"Stakes is High"	David Crabtree	Mike Herro & David Strauss & J. Stone Alston	March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02)	T13.22215	0.76[51]
32	16	"Decisions"	Michael Schultz	Nkechi Okoro Carroll & Carrie Gutenberg	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)	T13.22216	0.70[52]

Season 3 (2021)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
33	1	"Seasons Pass"	Michael Schultz	Nkechi Okoro Carroll	January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	T13.22501	1.05[53]
34	2	"How To Survive in South Central"	Michael Schultz	Mike Herro & David Strauss	January 25, 2021 (2021-01-25)	T13.22502	0.82[54]
35	3	"High Expectations"	Kristin Windell	John A. Norris	February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01)	T13.22503	0.66[55]
36	4	"My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me"	Kelli Williams	Jameal Turner	February 8, 2021 (2021-02-08)	T13.22504	0.80[56]
37	5	"How Come"	Kelli Williams	Robert D. Doty	February 15, 2021 (2021-02-15)	T13.22505	0.75[57]
38	6	"Teenage Love"	Nikhil Paniz	Lorna Osunsanmi & Carrie Gutenberg	February 22, 2021 (2021-02-22)	T13.22506	0.74[58]
39	7	"Roll the Dice"	Dawn Wilkinson	Mike Herro & David Strauss	March 1, 2021 (2021-03-01)	T13.22507	0.74[59]
40	8	"Canceled"	Avi Youabian	Jameal Turner & Cam'ron Moore	March 8, 2021 (2021-03-08)	T13.22508	0.79[60]
41	9	"Testify"	Ryan Zaragoza	Robert D. Doty & Micah Cyrus	April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	T13.22509	0.68[61]
42	10	"Put Up or Shut Up"	David McWhirter	John A. Norris	April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19)	T13.22510	0.65[62]
43	11	"The Bigger Picture"	Crystle Roberson	Nkechi Okoro Carroll & Micah Cyrus	April 26, 2021 (2021-04-26)	T13.22511	0.62[63]
44	12	"Fight the Power"	Christine Swanson	Lorna Osunsanmi	May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17)	T13.22512	0.63[64]
45	13	"Bring the Noise"	Avi Youabian	Mike Herro & David Strauss	May 24, 2021 (2021-05-24)	T13.22513	0.68[65]
46	14	"Ready or Not"	Nikhil Paniz	Jameal Turner	June 14, 2021 (2021-06-14)	T13.22514	0.74[66]
47	15	"After Hours"	Kelli Williams	Mike Herro & David Strauss	June 21, 2021 (2021-06-21)	T13.22519	0.64[67]
48	16	"No Opp Left Behind"	David McWhirter	Cam'ron Moore & Carrie Gutenberg	June 28, 2021 (2021-06-28)	T13.22515	0.64[68]
49	17	"All American: Homecoming"	Michael Schultz	Nkechi Okoro Carroll	July 5, 2021 (2021-07-05)	T13.22516	0.58[69]
50	18	"Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"	Kristin Windell	Robert D. Doty	July 12, 2021 (2021-07-12)	T13.22517	0.60[70]
51	19	"Surviving the Times"	Michael Schultz	John A. Norris	July 19, 2021 (2021-07-19)	T13.22518	0.72[71]

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.^[72] A pilot for the potential series, then called Spencer, was ordered in January 2018.^[73] The pilot was ordered to series on May 11, 2018.^[5] 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.^[74] On October 8, 2018, The CW ordered five additional scripts for the series.^[75] 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.^[76] On April 24, 2019, it was reported that The CW renewed the series for a second season.^[77] The second season premiered on October 7, 2019.^[78] On October 8, 2019, The CW ordered three more episodes for the show's second season.^[79] On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a third season which is set to premiere on January 18, 2021.^[1][2] On February 3, 2021, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season which is set to premiere on October 25, 2021.^[3][4]

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.^[80][8] 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.^[7][9][10] 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.^[11][81] On May 31, 2018, Jalyn Hall was promoted to a series regular as Dillon, Spencer's little brother.^[12] On October 1, 2020, Chelsea Tavares was promoted to series regular for the third season.^[13]

Filming[]

Filming for the series takes place in Los Angeles, California.^[82] The pilot was filmed during the first quarter of 2018.^{[citation needed]} Filming for season one began the following July.^[83] Filming took place in Thomas Jefferson High School in South Central Los Angeles known as South Crenshaw High School in the series.^{[citation needed]}

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[21]	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	0.54[36]	2018–19	203	0.90[84]
2	Monday 8:00 pm[85]	16	October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	0.88[37]	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)	0.70[52]	2019–20	127	1.18[86]
3		19	January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	1.05[53]	July 19, 2021 (2021-07-19)	0.72[71]	2020–21	135	1.40[87]

Season 1[]

Viewership and ratings per episode of All American

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	October 10, 2018	0.2/1	0.69[21]	0.1	0.37	0.3	1.06[88]
2	"99 Problem"	October 17, 2018	0.2/1	0.61[22]	0.1	0.37	0.3	0.98[89]
3	"i"	October 24, 2018	0.3/1	0.76[23]	0.1	0.44	0.4	1.21[90]
4	"Lose Yourself"	November 7, 2018	0.3/1	0.75[24]	0.2	0.41	0.5	1.16[91]
5	"All We Got"	November 14, 2018	0.3/1	0.67[25]	0.1	0.45	0.4	1.12[92]
6	"The Choice Is Yours"	November 28, 2018	0.3/1	0.75[26]	0.1	0.43	0.4	1.18[93]
7	"California Love"	December 5, 2018	0.2/1	0.66[27]	0.2	0.40	0.4	1.06[94]
8	"Homecoming"	December 12, 2018	0.2/1	0.70[28]	0.2	0.35	0.4	1.05[95]
9	"Keep Ya Head Up"	January 16, 2019	0.2/1	0.69[29]	0.1	0.34	0.3	1.03[96]
10	"m.A.A.d. city"	January 23, 2019	0.2/1	0.71[30]	0.2	0.41	0.4	1.12[97]
11	"All Eyez on Me"	January 30, 2019	0.2/1	0.77[31]	0.2	0.31	0.4	1.08[98]
12	"Back in the Day"	February 6, 2019	0.2/1	0.57[32]	0.1	0.40	0.3	0.97[99]
13	"Legacy"	February 27, 2019	0.2/1	0.61[33]	0.2	0.39	0.4	1.00[100]
14	"Regulate"	March 6, 2019	0.2/1	0.59[34]	0.1	0.38	0.3	0.97[101]
15	"Best Kept Secret"	March 13, 2019	0.2/1	0.60[35]	0.2	0.41	0.4	1.01[102]
16	"Championships"	March 20, 2019	0.2/1	0.54[36]	0.1	0.34	0.3	0.88[103]

Season 2[]

Viewership and ratings per episode of All American

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Hussle & Motivate"	October 7, 2019	0.3/1	0.88[37]	0.3	0.66	0.6	1.54[104]
2	"Speak Ya Clout"	October 14, 2019	0.2/1	0.69[38]	0.3	0.58	0.5	1.27[105]
3	"Never No More"	October 21, 2019	0.2/1	0.68[39]	0.2	0.52	0.4	1.20[106]
4	"They Reminisce Over You"	October 28, 2019	0.2/1	0.71[40]	0.2	0.49	0.4	1.20[107]
5	"Bring the Pain"	November 11, 2019	0.2/1	0.72[41]	0.3	0.54	0.5	1.26[108]
6	"Hard Knock Life"	November 18, 2019	0.2/1	0.68[42]	0.2	0.48	0.4	1.16[109]
7	"Coming Home"	November 25, 2019	0.2/1	0.68[43]	0.2	0.59	0.4	1.27[110]
8	"Life Goes On"	December 2, 2019	0.2/1	0.70[44]	0.2	0.43	0.4	1.13[111]
9	"One of Them Nights"	January 20, 2020	0.2/1	0.64[45]	0.1	0.35	0.3	0.99[112]
10	"Protect Ya Neck"	January 27, 2020	0.2/1	0.66[46]	0.2	0.35	0.4	1.01[113]
11	"Tha Crossroads"	February 3, 2020	0.2	0.79[47]	0.2	0.40	0.4	1.19[114]
12	"Only Time Will Tell"	February 10, 2020	0.3	0.78[48]	0.2	0.37	0.5	1.15[115]
13	"The Art of Peer Pressure"	February 17, 2020	0.3	0.72[49]	0.1	0.38	0.4	1.10[116]
14	"Who Shot Ya"	February 24, 2020	0.3	0.74[50]	0.2	0.40	0.5	1.14[117]
15	"Stakes is High"	March 2, 2020	0.3	0.76[51]	0.2	0.39	0.5	1.15[118]
16	"Decisions"	March 9, 2020	0.2	0.70[52]	0.2	0.43	0.4	1.13[119]

Season 3[]

Viewership and ratings per episode of All American

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Seasons Pass"	January 18, 2021	0.4	1.05[53]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	"How To Survive in South Central"	January 25, 2021	0.3	0.82[54]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	"High Expectations"	February 1, 2021	0.2	0.66[55]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	"My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me"	February 8, 2021	0.3	0.80[56]	0.3	N/A	0.6[120]	N/A
5	"How Come"	February 15, 2021	0.3	0.75[57]	0.3	N/A	0.6[121]	N/A
6	"Teenage Love"	February 22, 2021	0.3	0.74[58]	0.2	N/A	0.5[122]	N/A
7	"Roll the Dice"	March 1, 2021	0.3	0.74[59]	0.3	N/A	0.6[123]	N/A
8	"Canceled"	March 8, 2021	0.3	0.79[60]	0.3	N/A	0.6[124]	N/A
9	"Testify"	April 12, 2021	0.2	0.68[61]	0.3	0.59	0.5	1.27[125]
10	"Put Up or Shut Up"	April 19, 2021	0.2	0.65[62]	0.2	0.53	0.4	1.19[126]
11	"The Bigger Picture"	April 26, 2021	0.2	0.62[63]	0.2	0.56	0.5	1.17[127]
12	"Fight the Power"	May 17, 2021	0.2	0.63[64]	0.3	0.63	0.6	1.26[64]
13	"Bring the Noise"	May 24, 2021	0.3	0.68[65]	0.2	0.51	0.5	1.20[65]
14	"Ready or Not"	June 14, 2021	0.3	0.74[66]	0.2	0.50	0.5	1.24[66]
15	"After Hours"	June 21, 2021	0.2	0.64[67]	0.2	0.45	0.4	1.09[67]
16	"No Opp Left Behind"	June 28, 2021	0.2	0.64[68]	0.3	0.61	0.4	1.25[68]
17	"All American: Homecoming"	July 5, 2021	0.2	0.58[69]	0.3	0.55	0.4	1.13[69]
18	"Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"	July 12, 2021	0.2	0.60[70]	0.2	0.47	0.4	1.07[70]
19	"Surviving the Times"	July 19, 2021	0.2	0.72[71]	0.2	0.55	0.5	1.28[71]

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".^[128] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[129]

The second season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.75/10.^[130]

Accolades[]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2019	Black Reel Award	Outstanding Drama Series	All American	Nominated	[citation needed]
		Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series	Karimah Westbrook	Nominated	[citation needed]
2020	Image Award	Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series	Nkechi Okoro (for "Hussle & Motivate")	Nominated	[131]
	Black Reel Award	Outstanding Guest Actor, Drama Series	Chad Coleman	Won	[132]

Release[]

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.^[133] Season two was released on the same day as the US at 7pm Tuesdays (NZDT), 4 hours after it is aired in the USA.^[133] Season three was released on the same day as the US at 8pm Tuesdays (NZDT), 4 hours after it is aired in the USA.^[133]

Spin-off[]

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.^[134] On February 1, 2021, The CW gave the spin-off a pilot order and titled it as All American: Homecoming.^[135] 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.^[136] On May 24, 2021, All American: Homecoming was picked up to series.^[137] The backdoor pilot aired on July 5, 2021 as part of the third season of All American.^[138]

References[]

External links[]

• All American at IMDb
• All American at TV Guide