Review: "Big Shot"

You might remember John Stamos best for his role as Uncle Jesse Katsopolis on Full House (1987-1995) and its reboot series Fuller House (2016-2020). He received Emmy Nominations for his role as “Blackie Parrish” on General Hospital (1963-present) and for Executive Producing the miniseries The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000), and he even portrayed leading male roles in Broadway musical revivals including “The Emcee/M.C.” in Cabaret (1998) and Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie (2009). This past Friday, April 16th, 2021, Disney+ released the pilot episode for a new show called Big Shot (2021) starring Stamos. Here’s my review of the show:

in “Big Shot,” Stamos plays Marvin Korn, a divorced and disgruntled Basketball coach, who was forced out by the NCAA for having a bad attitude as a coach but was instead hired to coach the basketball team at an all-girls high school. He is not thrilled by his new assignment at all, and he makes that clear to the team, along with rudely criticizing some of them, which they take personally. However, as he gets to know their assistant coach, Holly Barrett (played by Jessalyn Gilsig), she tells him that he can’t be rude, but she also notices that despite his crankiness, he actually does have potential to be a good coach, and encourages him to inspire the team. Korn ultimately coaches them at the very first game (which they loose), but he inspires the team, and it’s pretty clear that they’re just getting warmed up.

What’s inspiring about this show is that it’s about how important it is to always have a good attitude, especially on the ball court. Marvin has to improve on his own personal attitude toward coaching basketball, but the team also has to improve on their playing skills, as well as respecting their coach. Clearly, both Marvin and the team are learning that you can choose if you want to be a “big shot” or not, but if that’s what you choose, it can make you a jerk.

The show is also very funny. It was co-created by David E. Kelley, Dean Lorey, and Brad Garrett. Kelley and Lorey are both known for executive producing drama/comedy series like Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and Arrested Development (2013-2019). Garrett won three Emmys for his performance as Robert Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005), but he also produced the romantic comedy series ’Til Death (2006-2010).

Furthermore, the show includes the supporting cast of Yvette Nicole Brown as the High School’s Dean of Students and Keala Settle will have an upcoming role as one of the team member’s mothers. Brown previously played Aunt Sarah in the Disney+ remake of Lady and the Tramp (2019) and Settle portrayed Lettie Lutz in The Greatest Showman (2017), the role that made a worldwide sensation of the Oscar-nominated song “This Is Me.”

“Big Shot,” definitely has good potential. It combines the creative vision of accoladed television personalities, along with well-written humor and versatile actors. And it’s also about a man who will inspire girls to have confidence in themselves, not just as a team, but individually too, and that’s perfect for today. Let’s hope we see more of that good in the episodes to come.