Great Sports-Themed Television Series
Image: Patrick McElhenney/FX
Hollywood Reporter TV Critics Daniel Fienberg and Inkoo Kang recommend shows about, or peripherally about, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and the glory of athletics of all stripes, both obvious and perhaps less-than-obvious.
Atypical
Sam navigating increasing independence while he and his family learn more about his autism, was the show's initial centerpiece. But it quickly became Sam’s sister Casey, a budding track star whose athletic pursuit has shaped her journey and the travails of the entire Gardner clan — D.F.
Image: Courtesy of Luc Roux
Brockmire
Hank Azaria's performance as a foul-mouthed baseball announcer with a deep hatred for Joe Buck is every bit as hilarious as you'd expect from this master of funny-voiced comedy. – D.F.
Image: Jace Downs/IFC
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which debuted on The WB two decades before Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, is perennially underrated as a showcase of female brawn and stamina. — I.K.
Image: Photofest
Cheer
There's self-discipline, and then there's self-sacrifice. On the breakthrough Netflix docuseries Cheer, the two are rivetingly blurred as the co-ed members of a Texas junior-college cheerleading team train for another first-place finish at a national competition. — I.K.
Image: Courtesy of Netflix
GLOW
Everyone knows wrestling is "fake," but GLOW delights in presenting all the work that goes into the staged wins, hokey characters and choreographed performances. — I.K.
Image: Erica Parise/Netflix
The League
Of course, FX’s The League is really only barely about fantasy sports, much less real sports. It's about friends busting one another's chops in the most hilariously cruel ways possible. — D.F.
Image: Patrick McElhenney/FX
Survivor's Remorse
A Black family from Boston's economically depressed Dorchester neighborhood finds their golden child, Cam, joining the NBA. The rest of Cam’s relatives reel in the wake of his success — and the suddenly topsy-turvy family dynamics it brings. — I.K.
Image: Courtesy of Starz
Warriors of Liberty City
Warriors of Liberty City is harrowing, inspiring and probing of the myths and realities tied to neighborhoods in which sports are seen as one of the few ways to achieve the American Dream. — D.F.
Image: Kyle Alexander/Starz