10 Best TV Shows Like All American

As much as we hate to see it go, the eighth and final season of “All American” has premiered, beginning the end of this coming-of-age sports saga. Ever since 2018, audiences had tuned in to see the adventures of Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), whose football skills take him to a posh school in Los Angeles. While keeping an eye on the less affluent community where he came from, Spencer got to achieve his dreams of playing professional football in the NFL. Through it all, audiences watched Spencer grow up, fall in love, and start a family of his own between all the hard-hitting football action.

Like “All American,” some of the best coming-of-age shows of all time feature a prominent athletic focus in their narratives. With that in mind, we’re highlighting similar shows, either with a major sports component or that follow main characters in their own respectively rough neighborhoods. In some cases, these include documentaries, reminding viewers that these stories come from a very real place with grounded emotional stakes. These are the 10 best TV shows like “All American” that fans should definitely check out next.

When it comes to 21st-century high school dramas on The CW with a prominent athletic element, “One Tree Hill” helped make those stories a network tradition. The show initially revolves around the complicated dynamic between half-brothers Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty). In addition to being classmates at a high school in small-town North Carolina, the two are teammates on their school’s basketball team, with Nathan intimidated by Lucas’ presence. This rivalry spills out into the personal relationships that the brothers get into with other classmates in their close-knit community.

A staple in the coming-of-age genre, “One Tree Hill” uses its basketball element well in providing a more physical showcase for its interpersonal drama. But even as the show moves away from its high school athletics, the personal stakes remain as intense as ever. “One Tree Hill” has a sequel series in development at Netflix, continuing its main characters’ intertwined journeys as adults. It’ll be interesting to see if basketball makes a return to the narrative, including revisiting Lucas as a coach or Nathan as a sports agent.

Still the high school football-centric coming-of-age show against which all others will be judged, “Friday Night Lights” infused its narrative with plenty of small-town intrigue. While the younger characters are obviously a huge part of the show’s story and appeal, the narrative unfolds most consistently from the perspective of Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler). Along with his wife Tami (Connie Britton), Coach Taylor is a fixture in their West Texas town, with his coaching of the high school football team under constant scrutiny. That said, the turbulent personal lives of Taylor’s team provide much of the show’s conflict and drama, opening with an accident permanently sidelining the team’s star quarterback.

The one condition to bring “Friday Night Lights” to NBC was to film the series in Texas, lending a greater authenticity to the production. This helps ground the entire show from a genuine place, and the series definitely takes advantage of that Texan backdrop. Beyond filming locations, where “Friday Night Lights” excels is in its ensemble cast, with Chandler and Britton reliably good while Taylor Kitsch and Jesse Plemons deliver strong work themselves. Providing a five-season exploration of a community built around high school football, “Friday Night Lights” remains the gold standard in coming-of-age athletic stories.

The first documentary series that we’re including here is “Last Chance U,” which premiered on Netflix in 2016. Each season of the six-season series follows a different junior college football team linked to various community colleges around the country. The young men playing in these divisions often come from a rough background, visibly lacking structure and discipline in their lives. Their participation on these teams give them that titular last chance to turn things around as they find purpose and support on and off the field through their athletics.

“Last Chance U” is a strong reminder that narratives like “All American” come from a very real place for countless young men nationwide. Viewers get to experience the triumphs and setbacks endured by each of the main figures of these stories, keeping the stakes emotionally grounded and invested. For audiences who may be more interested in other sports than football, the show received a spin-off with “Last Chance U: Basketball” in 2021. In addition to the documentaries, Courteney Cox is attached to a scripted “Last Chance U” adaptation, though the real appeal is in the true stories covered by the Netflix show.

Another football documentary series, albeit focusing on high schoolers rather than junior college students, is “QB1: Beyond the Lights.” Premiering in 2017, each season focuses on three different quarterbacks playing for high school teams around the country. The seasons chronicle each of their final high school seasons before they transition to playing at the collegiate level. Every season has at least one player that has since gone pro in the NFL, with the show documenting their athletic origin story.

“QB1: Beyond the Lights” offers a much more hopeful depiction of a future in sports than many other documentaries covering similar subject matter. The figures covered every season already have commitments to continue playing football at major universities nationwide. But that doesn’t mean the drama and the challenge are any less present in these narratives; setbacks still punctuate these journeys. A case study in athletic success stories juxtaposed with coming-of-age development, “QB1: Beyond the Lights” is a particular must-watch for NFL fans.

Admittedly the least athletically oriented show on this list, “The Chi” nonetheless provides an intimate look at a contemporary inner-city community. More specifically, the show shines a light on the South Side of Chicago and the inhabitants who make the neighborhood what it is. That isn’t to say that there isn’t sports at all throughout the Showtime original series, with high school and youth club basketball figuring into the plot. But the primary focus throughout “The Chi” really is a broader coming-of-age story that captures the hopes and perilous realities of its setting.

“The Chi” offers a more multifaceted coming-of-age story than many of the other scripted series here, leaning into the strengths of its wider ensemble of characters. Across the show’s eight-season run, audiences really got to know the community that the series depicted, especially its younger characters growing up in it. The idealistic dreams of the youth are very much present, balanced by the ugly realities of life in a way few contemporary shows capture. One of the best Showtime shows of all time, “The Chi” beautifully illustrates the nuances and culture of its Chicago neighborhood.

Another coming-of-age show that doesn’t have a strong sports focus but still has visible similarities to “All American” is “On My Block.” But whereas “All American” juxtaposed the affluent and inner-city communities within Los Angeles, the 2018 Netflix series focuses primarily on the latter dynamics. The show’s protagonist is Monsé Finnie (Sierra Capri), a teenager finding her way through high school with her friends. Monsé is in love with her best friend Cesar Diaz (Diego Tinoco), though he finds himself drawn into an illicit life under pressure from his older brother.

More than just a Los Angeles twist on “The Chi,” the Netflix series has a more pronounced coming-of-age approach to its narrative. The community-building aspects are still very much there, but this really is about Monsé’s journey alongside her friends. The show is rooted in a greater sense of authenticity than many of its genre contemporaries, but still has a buoyant charm provided by its young cast. Running for four seasons, “On My Block” is a tightly crafted tale about growing up on the rough side of the tracks, persevering and thriving in the face of adversity.

One of the more binge-friendly documentary series to stream on Netflix, the 2021 show “Titletown High” revolves around high school football. The documentary chronicles the lives of students at Valdosta High School in Georgia as it welcomes new head coach Rush Propst. More than just focused on their athletic performance over the course of a single season, the series delves into subjects’ personal lives off the field. This includes the mounting pressure not just from the football team’s performance but also the students’ academic commitments.

Unfolding over eight episodes, “Titletown High” really gives viewers a chance to get to know the students that it covers. To be sure, Propst is an incredibly polemical figure who faced even more controversy before and after the Netflix series aired. But, honestly, that only fuels the melodramatic stakes that hook audiences into the saga of its students. A concisely told documentary series that wisely keeps its focus on its students and their coming-of-age journeys, “Titletown High” is the perfect weekend binge.

The origins of NBA player Kevin Durant’s professional career are loosely dramatized for the Apple TV series “Swagger.” With Durant serving as an executive producer, the 2021 series stars O’Shea Jackson, Jr. as Ike Edwards, a youth basketball coach who once possessed his own prodigious athletic skills. Edwards’ latest squad features a young phenomenon in Jace Carson (Isaiah Hill), with Edwards stepping up as his mentor. Though “Swagger” was canceled after two seasons, it does provide a brief coda for its young athletes rather than leaving their respective fates unresolved.

“Swagger” gives Jackson one of the strongest roles of his career to date, playing a former athlete trying to recapture his fading glory days however he can. Edwards’ growth into a mentor figure for his team, particularly through Carson, gives the show its emotional anchor that elevates the scenes on the basketball court. At the same time, the show isn’t a storybook tale of guaranteed success but with its victories hard-won and never a sure thing of happening at all. A show that deserved more than the brief run it got, “Swagger” is a cinematically crafted coming-of-age story that audiences should give a chance.

A serious reimagining of the classic ’90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” may have felt like an odd direction for the property, but “Bel-Air” made it work. The 2022 Peacock series retains the basic premise of high schooler Will Smith (Jabari Banks) relocating from West Philadelphia to Los Angeles. But rather than playing this fish-out-of-water premise for laughs, this version of the story emphasizes the dramatic possibilities of the narrative. The show also heightens the social commentary, not just on the class divide that Will experiences, but also deep-seated racial tension in his new school and neighborhood.

The idea of a teenager from the inner-city being transplanted to an affluent school puts clear parallels between “Bel-Air” and “All American.” Both shows also feature high school sports as a prominent element, albeit basketball in the case of Will’s journey in the Peacock original series. But the most impressive thing about “Bel-Air” is that it makes its complete tonal shift work, taking the premise into prestige television territory more organically than anticipated. Receiving an epic Fresh Prince cameo in the series finale as a grand send-off and cementing the link between the two series, “Bel-Air” overcomes the odds like its underdog protagonist.

It may seem like an obvious inclusion, but fans of “All American” should absolutely watch its spin-off series “All American: Homecoming.” Premiering in 2022, the show primarily is set at a historically Black college in Georgia, following “All American” recurring character Simone Hicks (Geffri Maya). The series also changes up the sports that it revolves around, Simone maintaining her interest in tennis while her initial love interest Damon Sims (Peyton Alex Smith) plays college baseball. The coming-of-age drama and romantic stakes are still present, of course, but through a refreshing change in perspective.

“All American: Homecoming” was canceled with its third season at The CW, heightening the love triangle that Simone found herself in. Through it all, the tennis action remains a big part of her story too, aligning with her finishing college. The stakes veer into melodrama, yet retain that relatability that has defined the wider “All American” franchise all along. A solid expansion of the main series into a new setting and cast of characters, “All American: Homecoming” is largely on par with the show that it spun off from.