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
- 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
| 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
In 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
Kristin 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]
