Big Shot

There’s real quality writing in this series, and we get glimpses into the lives of Marvyn, Holly and the girls on the team from the start. The pilot gives viewers more than enough to immediately sign on and follow how Marvyn and the Sirens (that’s the school mascot) get better together.

The three episodes provided for review set up a reliably pleasant structure: Coach Korn's single-minded approach clashes comedically with the emotional intricacies of teenage girlhood; bristling and push-back on both sides ensues; by the end of the hour, compromise is achieved, and everyone learns a little bit about themselves in the process. Stamos is the ultimate utility player, capable of delivering dry wit and sweet sentiment in equal measure. The other adult characters aren't as well-defined.

If you want adult drama from your TV coaching, Beartown will still have to suffice, and Big Shot won't fill the Ted Lasso-shaped comic hole in your heart. But I like the potential here and hope the show develops a stronger sense of what niche — or niche within a niche — it's trying to occupy.

All of these sketched out characters keep "Big Shot" in motion, in spite of its recognizable contours.

It’s a sweet, sunny series if not as endearing as Disney+’s “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.”

Big Shot needs more such effective moments [like Destiny standing up for herself], so it features not only Marvyn’s growth, but also shows how the girls are finding their voice and independence. The show needs to be more of a team effort, on and off the court.

It’s great inoffensive family programming with good actors doing good work (especially Stamos). It is hard not to see that this is a story that doesn’t understand how the original script has aged, but odds are the longer it goes on it will shake off the dust of a bygone era.

Someone we’re told was cruel even by the standards of college coaching downshifts easily to, if not cuddly, then at least amiable. Much of the performance is simply being John Stamos. The kids on Stamos’ team have an easy chemistry, but other adult roles tend towards the schematic. Which is fine: This is a show for kids and their parents to watch together. But one wonders, first, what exact involvement David E. Kelley had in a show that feels so underwritten.

Big Shot, while perfectly amiable in most respects, often fails to sweat the details in the way that a tough coach would demand.