All American, Season 8 Premiere, on CW

Often times, the audience for teen shows consists more of nostalgic adults than fellow teens, because the latter do not need to revisit their high school years. They’ve still living them. Coach Jordan Baker understands. Not too many seasons after he graduated, the former Beverly Hills High star quarterback returned to high school, taking a coaching position with their rivals, South Crenshaw. In contrast, the CW is largely graduating from its high school-centric programming. In fact, it is the beginning of the end for showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll’s All American when the eighth and final season premieres with two episodes tonight on CW.

Baker and Cassius Jeremy are rival coaches and also cousins. The big playoff game between South Crenshaw and Beverly Hiils could have permanently ruptured their frayed relationship, but instead, they made great strides rebuilding their friendship during the last six months. As it happens, his wife Layla missed it all, because she was away on a national tour. When she returns, she finds him cooking, cleaning, and on decent terms with Jeremy, so she immediately starts looking for the alien body-snatching pod.

Unfortunately, those six months were not kind to both coaches’ star QBs. Jeremy’s son Kingston (a.k.a. “KJ”) and Baker’s QB, Khalil Edwards. One still has no scholarship offers and the other’s is so tentative, it will soon evaporate. Consequently, the two coaches decide they must take concrete action to help their players.

What a difference five years makes. Back in 2021, the All American episode that served as a backdoor pilot to All American: Homecoming came fully loaded with social messages. In contrast, the first two episodes of season eight focus almost entirely on sports and teen angst. The only progressive holdover elements come from legacy character, lesbian lawyer Tamia Cooper, who dates back to season one. Isn’t it amazing how that works when a show has to fight for its final renewal?

Frankly, the two coaches get the lions’ share of the screentime tonight, but that’s not a bad thing. Michael Evans Behling and Osy Ikhile could and probably should carry season eight as Baker and Jeremy. Likewise, Nathan Logan McIntyre and Antonio J Bell are easy to root for as the friendly rival quarterbacks. Viewers will want to see them succeed, even though academics should have a much greater emphasis in their future planning.

Arguably, if Carroll sidelined the melodrama with Cooper and Layla, many more sports fans might embrace the two high school players’ quest for college football glory. Regardless, there is plenty of high school vicariousness, especially for former student athletes. It is also somewhat nostalgic, because it represents the end of an era for CW. Mostly still recommended for wistful viewers in the mood to re-experience teen angst, season eight of All American airs tonight (7/13) on CW.