All American premiered in the fall of 2018 on The CW. The show is based on the real life experience of former football player Spencer Paysinger and centers on a group of teenagers at South Crenshaw High School and Beverly High School, as well as their coaches, parents, siblings, and communities. The difference between Crenshaw and Beverly Hills is stark despite only being roughly seven miles away from each other. All American depicts a case of the haves and the have-nots — but not in the way viewers might initially think. Sure, the kids from Beverly Hills have big houses, fancy cars, and plenty of disposable income, but the kids from Crenshaw have a sense of family, community, and integrity often missing from the more well-off teens.
All American stars Brit Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, a rising football star and excellent student from South Crenshaw High School who transfers to Beverly High to play for coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) and compete for the state championship. Baker is a former South Crenshaw (and college and NFL) star player who happened to know Spencer’s parents in high school. Baker serves as the through-line from Crenshaw to Beverly Hills; because he grew up there, it isn’t that odd that his kids (twins Olivia and Jordan) spend time there.
All American has had four seasons on the CW so far and the fifth season is set to premiere in October 2022. Right now, you can watch all four seasons of All American on Netflix.
All American is Based in the Life of Spencer Paysinger
Warner Bros.CBS Media Ventures
All American is based on the life of former NFL player Spencer Paysinger. Paysinger grew up in South Los Angeles and, like the show’s Spencer James, attended and played football at Beverly Hills High School. He was a wide receiver and linebacker who was named captain of the team. His uncle, Carter Paysinger, was the head football coach and his father Donald Paysinger was also a coach at Beverly. In college, Paysinger played for the University of Oregon, where he was also the captain during his senior year.
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Paysinger signed with the NFL’s New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He was part of the Giants’ Super Bowl-winning team during his rookie season, and played for four seasons with the Giants. In April 2015, he signed with the Miami Dolphins and played two seasons there. He was signed by the New York Jets in 2017 but cut before the regular season got underway, and signed with the Carolina Panthers right after in December 2017, playing three games before being cut. Paysinger retired from professional football at the end of 2017, and serves as consulting producer of All American. He also plays one of the assistant football coaches at Beverly Hills High School in the show.
All American Serves Up Teen Drama With a Side of Racism
The CW
During the first season of All American, Spencer James moves from Crenshaw to Beverly Hills to live with his estranged father’s old high school teammate Billy Baker and his family. This allows Spencer more visibility as a student and football player at Beverly Hills High School. Throughout his first year in Beverly Hills, Spencer is faced with acts of stereotyping and racism. In one episode, one of his white teammates inquires whether Spencer is a Crip or a Blood. While Spencer is not in a gang and is a well-behaved, upstanding young man, his best friend, a lesbian aspiring rapper named Coop, does end up in a gang and committing some pretty atrocious acts.
The difference between Crenshaw and Beverly Hills is like night and day, and All American is very class-conscious in depicting the discrepancies. The more well-off kids go about their lives without a real care in the world. While the South Crenshaw and Beverly Hills students all have typical teen angst and drama, the kids in Crenshaw’s teen drama literally live with life or death stakes at times. Where All American excels is in its ability to showcase the typical storylines about being a teenager, like relationships, first love, cheating, alcohol and drug use, etc. but with this sociopolitical perspective, reflecting class as well as the issues Black communities face.
Spencer’s South Crenshaw Teammates Also Stereotype Him
When Spencer transfers to Beverly Hills, his former teammates at South Crenshaw High Scholl also stereotype him and accuse him of abandoning their community for the wealthier enclave in Los Angeles. They believe Spencer turned his back on them and their community so that he and he alone could get a leg up in the world. As a result, Spencer doesn’t feel fully at home or accepted anywhere outside his mother’s house and coach Baker’s house — which are two very different places. His mom’s house is a small bungalow she shares with Spencer and his younger brother. Coach Baker lives in an enormous mansion with his white wife (Monet Mazur) and his bi-racial teenagers.
Spencer James is an All American Savior
Throughout the four seasons of All American to date, Spencer James has a giant savior complex. He feels guilty because of the opportunity he has to live and attend school in Beverly Hills. He worries about his mother Grace and younger brother Dillion, and he tries to save Coop from gang involvement (and ultimately herself). He tries to save Layla from her depression and anxiety and Olivia from her drug and alcohol abuse. He tries to save his Crenshaw community from gang violence and the threat of developers trying to gentrify the neighborhood. He is constantly putting other people and their needs and issues above himself, which at times feels like a waste of his true talents on the gridiron and in the classroom.
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Spencer’s character is also written to be a superhero. He moves to a new house in a new neighborhood with a new family. He gets a job as a waiter. He doesn’t have a car, but he commutes between the two neighborhoods seamlessly. He’s trying to forge a relationship with his estranged father while being a good example to his younger brother and being the man of the house for his mother. He also has to learn a whole new football playbook with his new team and make the switch from offense to defense.
Spencer’s Crenshaw family and friends want him to not forget where he’s from while grabbing every opportunity he can in Beverly Hills. Spencer is an empathetic character — almost too empathetic. He tries to be everything to everybody and no one can succeed at that for long.
This Show About Football Isn’t Really About Football
All American is loosely based on the life of an actual football player, but in the show, football takes a back seat to the racial tension and class issues at the heart of this drama. All American isn’t about football, it is about growing up and finding your way in the world. It is about not living in a bubble. Spencer’s South Crenshaw and Beverly Hills friends eventually come together — but not without a lot of clichés and mudslinging on both sides.
All American features a mostly Black cast and dives into racial issues that affect the Black community, including gang violence and its fallout, the mistreatment of Black people in healthcare, racial profiling, police brutality, reverse racism, other forms of discrimination, and what happens to kids when their lives don’t leave them with any opportunities. All American isn’t afraid to go there and talk about the tough issues or other things many television networks might consider “too controversial” (which is often code for not white or cisgender enough). All American may be just another teen drama, but it is head and shoulders above the pack of its genre and dealing with real issues.
