Back in the Game has sports, family and humor, not to mention an underdog story about a group of rejected baseball playing kids who have formed their own team, thanks to Maggie Lawson's determined character Terry Gannon Jr. If it had football and Ed O'Neill, it'd be Little Giants. Alas, O'Neill is busy with the comedy that airs after Back in the Game on Wednesday nights, come this fall. But this one does have the excellent James Caan, who serves as Terry's estranged father.
Here's ABC's full description for Back in the Game…
Terry Gannon Jr. (Maggie Lawson) was an All Star softball player until life threw her a few curve balls -- a baby, a lost college scholarship and a loser for a husband. After striking out on her own, Terry and her son, Danny (Griffin Gluck), move in with her estranged father, Terry Sr., aka "The Cannon" (James Caan). The Cannon is an opinionated, beer-guzzling, ex-athlete who never quite made the cut either as a single father or professional baseball player. As hard as Terry tries to keep Danny away from the sports-driven lifestyle of her youth, Tommy wants to play Little League. His stunning lack of baseball skills (he doesn't even know which hand the mitt goes on) makes him the laughing stock of the baseball field and of his grandfather's living room. When Danny and a group of other athletically-challenged hopefuls fail to make the team, Danny's disappointment forces Terry to face her past. So when a wealthy neighbor volunteers to finance a team for the rejected kids, Terry reluctantly offers to coach the team of misfits."Back in the Game" stars Maggie Lawson ("Psych") as Terry, Jr., James Caan ("Las Vegas") as Terry "The Cannon" Gannon, Sr., Lenora Crichlow ("Being Human," "Fast Girls") as Gigi, Griffin Gluck ("Private Practice") as Danny, Ben Koldyke ("Big Love") as Dick, Kennedy Waite ("I-Doll") as Vanessa, J.J. Totah ("Jessie") as Michael and Cooper Roth as David."Back in the Game" was written by Mark and Robb Cullen ("Lucky," "Las Vegas"), who also executive-produce along with directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra ("Bad Santa," "Crazy, Stupid, Love") and Aaron Kaplan ("The Neighbors"). "Back in the Game" is from 20TH Century Fox Television/ Kapital Entertainment.
With its emphasis on kids and family, Back in the Game looks like it'll be a great fit to air between The Middle and Modern Family. Factor in the draw of Psych's Maggie Lawson and Vegas' James Caan and there are two more reasons to tune in. I'm not sure the trailer really sells me on the humor and heart that the premise potentially offers, so we'll have to wait and see how the pilot looks. In the meantime, there's certainly enough going for it in the cast and concept to look forward to this one when it premieres this fall.
ABC has Back in the Game scheduled to air Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET. Check out the full ABC Fall 2013 schedule here.
Photo Credit: ©ABC.
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