--- title: "All American" year: 2018 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/all-american" fi1m_id: "all-american" imdb_id: "tt7414406" tmdb_id: 82428 wikidata_id: "Q54202857" fi1m_score: 68 critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-09-24T22:54:54.293444+00:00" updated: "2026-09-24T22:54:54.925408+00:00" region: "CL" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # All American (2018) Created by April Blair · 43m · Drama ## Identity All American - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/all-american - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** all-american - **IMDb ID:** tt7414406 - **TMDB ID:** 82428 - **Wikidata ID:** Q54202857 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7414406/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/82428, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q54202857 **Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 75 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* A poor boy with a gift, rich kids with secrets, and football staged by people who have only heard it described > April Blair’s high-school drama moves a Crenshaw footballer into a Beverly Hills house and gets a great deal right about the journey between the two, and Daniel Ezra is a real find. The football, oddly, is the weakest thing in it. ## Synopsis Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) is the best player on his high-school football team in Crenshaw, South Los Angeles, and his talent is going unnoticed. Billy Baker (Taye Diggs), who coaches at Beverly Hills High, has noticed. He offers Spencer a place on his team and, because the district requires a local address, a bedroom in the Baker house. Spencer moves in alongside Billy’s son Jordan (Michael Evans Behling), the team’s golden boy, and daughter Olivia (Samantha Logan), fresh from a difficult year. At school he meets Layla Keating (Greta Onieogou) and Asher Adams (Cody Christian), who is not pleased about the competition. At weekends he goes home to his mother Grace (Karimah Westbrook), his brother Dillon (Jalyn Hall) and his best friend Coop (Bre-Z), who has stayed behind and is finding Crenshaw harder without him. ## Review Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) is the best player on his school team in Crenshaw, and Billy Baker (Taye Diggs), who coaches at Beverly Hills High, wants him. The offer comes with a spare bedroom in Baker’s house, because the rules require an address in the district, and so Spencer spends his weekdays among people whose problems come with a pool. April Blair created the series and Spencer Paysinger, whose own life it draws on, is among its writers. The pitch is *The O.C.* with the class line drawn in black and white, and the series knows it and does not apologise. We would put it in the good-if-the-genre-is-yours column, and we mean that more warmly than it sounds. What it does well is the journey between the two houses. Spencer on the bus home, changing how he stands as the neighbourhoods change. The difference in what a knock at the door means in each place. Karimah Westbrook, as his mother Grace, has the hardest job in the cast, which is to be the person he lies to so she will not worry, and to let us see her not believing a word. The scene that got us was not on any pitch. It was Spencer home for a weekend, telling Grace that everything was fine, and Westbrook looking at him for a second too long before agreeing that it was. We were moved, and it was a small thing, and that is why. Ezra is the reason to stay. His American accent never slips, and he plays Spencer as a boy who has learned to read a room before he enters it, so that his silences in Beverly Hills mean something different from his silences at home. Bre-Z, as Coop, carries the Crenshaw strand almost alone once Spencer has gone, and the series is honest enough to notice that the friend left behind has the more dangerous story. Chelsea Tavares, as Patience, gives that strand somewhere to go. Diggs plays Billy with a coach’s easy warmth and something held back behind it; the series has a secret about him, and we will not go near it. The Beverly Hills teenagers are drawn from stock. Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) is the coach’s son with everything to prove, Olivia (Samantha Logan) is the sister with a past, Layla (Greta Onieogou) is the girl with the big empty house, Asher (Cody Christian) is the rival. The actors are likeable and the writing gives each of them a crisis per episode and then hurries on to the next. Most critics have noticed this. It is the cost of a first season with 16 hours to fill and a large cast to keep employed, and it never quite goes away. Then there is the football. Every match is cut the same way: slow motion, a close-up of a face under a helmet, the crowd noise rising, a catch. We never know where the ball is, how much time is left, or why this play matters more than the last one. For a series about a footballer, the football is the least persuasive thing in it. We were bored during the games and then irritated by being bored, because everything either side of them is done with care. The directing rota is long, as it is on any series of this length, and includes Rose Troche and Rob Hardy; Ezra and Westbrook both direct episodes themselves. Whoever is in the chair, the house style holds: bright interiors, clean light, nobody ever shot in shadow unless the script requires a bad decision. It runs to eight seasons and 132 episodes, at 43 minutes each, and the first season is the tightest of them. Start with that first season. If the family scenes hold you, there is a great deal more waiting. If you have come for the football, you will find it is on most weekends and is better photographed. *Fi1m score 68, published 24 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is All American worth watching?** *All American* is worth watching if teen drama is your genre, and we scored it 68. The family scenes and Daniel Ezra's lead performance carry it; the Beverly Hills teenagers are drawn from stock and the football matches are cut so vaguely you never know where the ball is. Start with the first season, which is the tightest of the eight. **How long is All American, and what is it rated?** *All American* has episodes of about 43m. It is a drama series. **Where can I watch All American in Chile?** *All American* is not on any streaming or rental service in Chile at the moment. It is available in 23 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is All American, and is it suitable for children?** *All American* carries a TV-14 rating in the United States and has no UK certificate, so it is pitched at teenagers rather than children. The review notes the Crenshaw strand carries the more dangerous story, and the Beverly Hills teenagers each get a crisis per episode, but the house style is bright and clean. Nothing in it should trouble the squeamish. **How does All American compare to Friday Night Lights?** *All American* moves a poor footballer into a rich household and does its best work on the journey between the two, while [*Friday Night Lights*](https://film.one/tv/friday-night-lights) stays in one small town and gets the game itself right. The earlier series is the better of the two on the football and on the adults. Choose *All American* for a class story told through teenagers, and *Friday Night Lights* if you want to believe in the matches. **What should I watch after All American?** After *All American*, try [*Friday Night Lights*](https://film.one/tv/friday-night-lights) (2006, Fi1m 86): The small-town football series that gets the game right and the marriages righter. Then [*Boyz n the Hood*](https://film.one/film/boyz-n-the-hood) (1991, Fi1m 86): South Los Angeles, three boys, and a father trying to keep one of them alive; and [*Top Boy*](https://film.one/tv/top-boy) (2011, Fi1m 81): East London estate drama that follows the friends who did not get out. ### Reviews we read (5) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (B+): Travers finds the series an addictive, race-conscious teen drama that stands on its own despite its echoes of The O.C. He praises the cast and the show’s emotionally effective handling of racism and other high-school pressures, while noting that football itself is unconvincing. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/all-american-review-cw-the-oc-spencer-james-1202010431/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (70/100, inferred): Fienberg gives the series a conditional recommendation, finding it one of the stronger new broadcast dramas in a weak fall despite its uncertain identity. He especially praises Daniel Ezra’s performance and convincing American accent, while noting that the Crenshaw storyline also benefits from Bre-Z’s work. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/all-american-review-1150765/) - **Variety**, Daniel D'Addario (70/100, inferred): The review finds the series a promising bright spot, though it can feel overstuffed and uneven. It praises the subtle, perceptive moments that show Spencer navigating the cultural divide between Crenshaw and Beverly Hills. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/all-american-cw-review-1202965025/) - **Den of Geek**, Shadia Omer (4.5/5): Omer finds the season premiere an effective opening that leaves viewers wondering what secrets will surface next. She especially praises its touching tribute to Nipsey Hussle, made more affecting by the genuine feelings behind it. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/all-american-season-2-episode-1-review-hussle-motivate/) - **Collider**, Allison Keene (★★★): Keene finds the series familiar, entertaining, and promising, though not yet a revelation. She praises its charismatic cast but criticizes its rushed pacing and shallow treatment of character issues. [Read](https://collider.com/all-american-review/) ## Details - **Created by:** April Blair - **Creator:** April Blair - **Director:** Michael Schultz, David McWhirter, Ryan Zaragoza, Kelli Williams, Dawn Wilkinson, Nikhil Paniz, Avi Youabian, Jes Macallan, Rob Hardy, Kristin Windell, Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul, Benny Boom, Sheelin Choksey, Daniel Ezra, Christine Swanson, David Crabtree, James Lafferty, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Geoff Shotz, Erica A. Watson, Rose Troche, Sudz Sutherland, Gregg Simon, Elodie Keene, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Salli Richardson, Darren Grant, Charles Lee Wilson, Karimah Westbrook - **Writer:** David Strauss, Mike Herro, Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Robert D. Doty, John A. Norris, Jameal Turner, Carrie Gutenberg, Micah Cyrus, Obiageli Odimegwu, Lorna Osunsanmi, Adrian Dukes, Cam’ron Moore, Jon Alston, Michael Bhim, April Blair, Chynna Ladage, Spencer Paysinger, Jennifer A. King, Laura Nava, Natalie Abrams - **Producer:** Robbie Rogers, Jennifer Lence, Carl Ogawa - **Cast:** Daniel Ezra as Spencer James; Michael Evans Behling as Jordan Baker; Greta Onieogou as Layla Keating; Taye Diggs as Billy Baker; Bre-Z as Tamia 'Coop' Cooper; Osy Ikhile as Cassius Jeremy; Samantha Logan as Olivia Baker; Alexis Chikaeze as Amina - **Runtime:** 43m - **Release (Chile):** 10 October 2018 - **Genres:** Drama ## Where to watch in Chile Not streaming, renting or buying in Chile at the last check. Also available in: AT, AU, BG, CA, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Friday Night Lights* (2006), Fi1m 86: The small-town football series that gets the game right and the marriages righter — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/friday-night-lights.md) - *The O.C.* (2003): The poor boy in the rich house, done first and with more jokes - *Boyz n the Hood* (1991), Fi1m 86: South Los Angeles, three boys, and a father trying to keep one of them alive — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/boyz-n-the-hood.md) - *Top Boy* (2011), Fi1m 81: East London estate drama that follows the friends who did not get out — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/top-boy.md) - *Moonlight* (2016), Fi1m 89: A Miami boyhood in three parts, quiet where this is loud — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/all-american