All American may incorporate heavy doses of sports, crime, and social commentary, but The CW’s series is a teen drama at heart. Spencer James switches from South Crenshaw High to the affluent Beverley Hills High, beginning an identity conflict inside a young man already struggling with resentment and confusion after being abandoned by his father. On top of that, Spencer and his friends must battle exams, romances, drugs and alcohol, and the growing shadow of adulthood looming.
In that sense, All American is a typical teenage high school/college drama. At the same time, the football-based series managed to take the one absolutely infuriating thing about the genre, and find a solution that makes Spencer’s story infinitely more grounded.
All American Fixes The Perspective Problem Most Teen Drama Shows Have
The most frustrating thing about so many teen drama shows is the absolute lack of perspective ingrained into the narrative. These are stories that exist inside the bubble of a high school or college environment where every exam, every kiss, every argument, every football game is treated with an almost laughable severity that wants the viewer to believe there is no outside world beyond the lockers and classrooms.
In fairness, that’s an accurate reflection of how serious things feel when you’re a teen. At the same, it holds little weight for anyone over 20.
All American is unique in that its narrative splits into two halves. On one hand, Spencer’s new life in Beverly Hills; on the other, his old friends back in Crenshaw. This allows All American to offset its typical teen drama stories (Olivia sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend, Jordan smoking pot, Asher being kicked off the football team) with more grounded, real-world problems (Shawn being killed, Spencer’s family struggling to put food on the table, a community living in fear of gang violence).
All American directly addresses the gulf between those two worlds onscreen. Characters such as Layla have, on several occasions, acknowledged that the Beverly Hills teens are prone to forgetting the privileges they enjoy, while others are facing life-and-death scenarios on a daily basis. That doesn’t make the traditional teen drama storylines less interesting to watch; it actually makes the characters more likable because they’re not so engrossed within their own lives that they can’t see the harsh realities around them.
All American Finds A Way For All Storylines To Have Meaning
It would be easy for All American to dismiss the complaints coming from Beverly Hills as unimportant – to suggest that, in the grand scheme of things, funding for football programs and leaked tactics aren’t really big deals. Instead, All American adopts a more understanding philosophy, emphasizing that problems are relative to those experiencing them, and that one person’s suffering shouldn’t be undermined solely because others are suffering more.
It’s an approach that gives All American the best of both worlds: standard teen dilemmas the audience can get emotionally invested in, told alongside socially-aware storylines with more realistic bite. Even better, bouncing between two very different worlds keeps viewers engaged. All American isn’t just hitting the same plays over and over.
It’s a tonal balance that makes All American a standout entry in a crowded genre, and has gone a long way toward helping the series last 8 years. While the main show will soon end with All American season 8, part of its legacy will always be cracking through the superficial mask of the teen drama genre.
- Release Date
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October 10, 2018
- Showrunner
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Nkechi Okoro Carroll
