Back in the Game is an American sitcom about a newly divorced single mother who has to move back home to live with her ex-minor league baseball manager father.[1] It aired from September 25, 2013, to February 23, 2014, on ABC.[2] The series stars James Caan and Maggie Lawson and aired during the 2013–14 American television season as a Wednesday night entry. Back in the Game was co-created and executive-produced by brothers Mark and Robb Cullen for 20th Century Fox Television. The series was green-lit by ABC for a series order pickup on May 10, 2013.[3]
| Back in the Game | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Starring |
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| Composer | Ryan Beveridge |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (3 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 25, 2013 – February 23, 2014 |
On November 1, 2013, ABC announced it was cancelling Back in the Game.[4] Following its tenth aired episode, ABC pulled the series from its schedule and left three episodes unaired.[5] On February 23, 2014, the remaining episodes were released on iTunes, Amazon and other streaming services.[6]
Cast
edit- Maggie Lawson as Terry Gannon, Jr.
- James Caan as Terry "The Cannon" Gannon, Sr.
- Griffin Gluck as Danny Gannon
- Ben Koldyke as Dick Slingbaugh
- Lenora Crichlow as Gigi Fernandez-Lovette
- Cooper Roth as David Slingbaugh
- Josie Totah as Michael Lovette[a]
- Kennedy Waite as Vanessa
- Brandon Selgado-Telis as Dudley Douglas
- Matthew Zhang as Dong Jing
Episodes
edit| No. | Title [7] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [7] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | John Requa & Glenn Ficarra | Robb & Mark Cullen | September 25, 2013 | 1AWX79 | 8.01[8] |
| 2 | "Stay In or Bail Out" | Eric Appel | Warren Lieberstein | October 2, 2013 | 1AWX01 | 6.71[9] |
| 3 | "Play Hard or Go Home" | Eyal Gordin | Gregg Mettler | October 9, 2013 | 1AWX02 | 6.53[10] |
| 4 | "The Change Up" | Eyal Gordin | Joe Lawson | October 16, 2013 | 1AWX04 | 6.35[11] |
| 5 | "She. Could. Go. All. The. Way!" | Joe Nussbaum | Eric Goldberg & Peter Tibbals | October 23, 2013 | 1AWX03 | 6.27[12] |
| 6 | "Night Games" | David Katzenberg | Scott Boden Hodges | October 30, 2013 | 1AWX05 | 6.11[13] |
| 7 | "Safety Squeeze" | Jeff Melman | Kevin Garnett | November 13, 2013 | 1AWX06 | 6.47[14] |
| 8 | "No Crying in Baseball" | Charles Minsky | Daisy Gardner | November 20, 2013 | 1AWX09 | 6.14[15] |
| 9 | "Massive Election" | Eric Appel | Robb & Mark Cullen | December 4, 2013 | 1AWX10 | 5.12[16] |
| 10 | "I'll Slide Home for Christmas" | Lev L. Spiro | Corinne Kingsbury | December 11, 2013 | 1AWX08 | 6.14[17] |
| 11 | "Color Barrier" | Lev L. Spiro | Robb and Mark Cullen | February 23, 2014[b] | 1AWX07 | N/A |
| 12 | "Sports Therapy" | Michael Patrick Jann | Gregg Mettler | February 23, 2014[b] | 1AWX11 | N/A |
| 13 | "Who's on First" | Charles Minsky | John Requa & Glenn Ficarra | February 23, 2014[b] | 1AWX12 | N/A |
Broadcast
editIn Canada, City simulcast the ABC broadcast, which debuted on the same day as the American broadcast.[18] In Australia, the series aired on the Nine Network, and debuted on April 9, 2014, where it was originally advertised under the title Mum (the spelling of 'Mom' in Australian English) but later reverted to the original title.[19] In India the show airs on STAR World Premiere HD. In New Zealand, the series premiered on TV2 in 2014. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on ITV2 on January 20, 2014.[20]
Reception
editKristin Dos Santos of E! Online said that while the show's writing and casting was good, the premise might not be original enough to score a big audience.[21] Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the show 3 out of 4 stars.[22] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gave the show 2 out of 5 stars.[23] Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times said Caan "owns the screen whenever he's on it," Lawson "holds her own," and Crichlow and Gluck's characters were "a delight."[24]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Amazon.com: Back in the Game Season 1". Amazon.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (July 16, 2013). "ABC Sets Premiere Dates for 2013-2014 Season Including 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.', 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland' & More". TV by the Numbers (Press release). Archived from the original on July 19, 2013.
- ^ Rose, Lacey; Goldberg, Lesley (May 10, 2013). "ABC Orders Ryan Seacrest's 'Mixology,' Sofia Vergara's Killer Women, 'Once' Spinoff, More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (November 1, 2013). "'Back In The Game' Canceled by ABC; 'Trophy Wife' & 'The Goldbergs' Get Full Seasons; More Episodes for 'Super Fun Night'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ "Back in the Game Not Finishing Its Run on ABC; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 9, 2013)". Sitcoms Online. December 6, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
- ^ "Back in the Game, Season 1", iTunes Store, retrieved 2020-03-31
- ^ a b "Shows A-Z - back in the game on abc". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'The Middle', 'Modern Family' and 'Survivor' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' & 'CSI' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (October 3, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Revolution', 'Survivor', 'The Middle', & 'Back In The Game' Adjusted Up; 'Ironside' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (October 10, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Survivor', 'Back in the Game', 'Modern Family' and 'The Tomorrow People' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (October 17, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Modern Family', 'Law & Order:SVU', 'Survivor', 'Toy Story of TERROR!' & 'Back In The Game' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' & 'Ironside' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (October 24, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Survivor', 'The Middle', 'Modern Family' & 'The Tomorrow People' Adjusted Up; 'Super Fun Night' Adjusted Down + Final World Series Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (October 31, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Arrow' & 'The Middle' Adjusted Up; 'Super Fun Night' & 'CSI' Adjusted Down & FInal World Series Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (November 14, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Revolution', 'Arrow', 'The Middle' & 'Survivor' Adjusted Up; 'Super Fun Night' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (November 21, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'The X Factor', 'Modern Family', 'Arrow', 'Survivor' & 'The Middle' Adjusted Up; 'Super Fun Night' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (December 5, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Arrow' & 'Modern Family' Adjusted Up; 'The Tomorrow People' & 'Super Fun Night' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (December 12, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'The Middle' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- ^ "The Definitive Fall 2013 Primetime TV Schedule (Canadian Edition)" from TV Addict (June 6, 2013)
- ^ Aussie faces feature in US shows Archived 2014-08-26 at the Wayback Machine from The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia) (June 5, 2013)
- ^ "ITV2 Sets UK Premiere Date for 'Mom'". 8 January 2014.
- ^ Dos Santos, Kristin (September 25, 2013). "Fall TV Review: ABC's Back in the Game Has Solid Chemistry—But There's a Catch". E! Online. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
- ^ Bianco, Robert (September 25, 2013). "'Back in the Game' is a winner". USA Today. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
- ^ Hinckley, David (September 25, 2013). "'Back in the Game': TV review". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
- ^ McNamara, Mary (25 September 2013). "Review: ABC's 'Back in the Game' finds James Caan in fine Dad form". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 October 2013.