Looking at three of the best fictional sports shows
The world of sports has always been a tremendous source of inspiration for filmmakers looking to showcase their own unique story and love for the game. Hollywood has been consistently churning out movies about boxing, football, and hockey, with some films about other sports like rugby or soccer thrown in for good measure. Television on the other hand, has not forayed into the subject of sport with the same vigour as its silver screen counterpart. The sheer amount of televised games, whether regular season, international tournaments, or playoffs, could contribute to the relative lack of sports-centred series on television. For viewers looking to delve into the world of fictionalized sports, here are three series that are sure to hit it out of the park.
Pitch
This baseball-centred show has been making waves this television season, balancing the sport with the drama that should be found in a sports drama. Pitch is the story of Genevieve “Ginny” Baker (Kylie Bunbury), who is the first woman to get called up from the minor leagues to play in Major League Baseball. Even for those who weren’t glued to their screens watching the Blue Jays in the MLB postseason, Ginny’s underdog story of trying to make it in the male dominated world of baseball has been met with both high ratings and critical praise. Bunbury is an incredibly likeable lead, allowing the viewer to become instantly invested in both her successes and failures on the San Diego Padres. One of my personal highlights of the show is veteran catcher Michael “Mike” Lawson, played by former Saved By the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar. As a diehard Zack Morris fan, it’s great to see that MPG is still knocking his roles out of the park.
Friday Night Lights
The biggest critical success of any sports based television series, Friday Night Lights is about the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team in the football obsessed town of Dillon, Texas. During its five-season run, Friday Night Lights won three Emmys and developed an incredibly loyal fan base. The realism of the show, as well as the showrunner’s choice not to glorify high school sports culture and really examine the pressures put on high school athletes, makes Friday Night Lights one of the most honest depictions of high school life on television.
Blue Mountain State
While there’s no denying the critical acclaim of Friday Night Lights, Blue Mountain State will always remain, in my heart, the greatest series about football. Chronicling the adventures of Alex Moran (Darin Brooks), Sammy Cacciatore (Chris Romano), and Kevin “Thad” Castle (Alan Ritchson) as they navigate college life, Blue Mountain State is a lewd—and hilarious—look at fraternities and football in America. Blue Mountain State does not have the same focus on realism, or drama as Friday Night Lights or Pitch, but viewers will still find that they become oddly invested in Thad’s quest for glory, or Moran’s efforts to fly under the radar as the Mountain Goats’ back-up quarterback.
Photo courtesy of Universal Media Studios Imagine Television Film 44.