Last Chance U
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''Last Chance U'' is an American documentary television series that is produced by and premiered on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
. The six-episode first season explores the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
program at East Mississippi Community College, which features several collegiate athletes that have had trouble in their lives and struggled with finding structure. The players are then required to perform at the
junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
(JUCO) level, under the stewardship of coach Buddy Stephens, in order to prove themselves and return to Division I. The series' second season returned to Mississippi, but transitioned to
Independence Community College Independence Community College is a public community college in Independence, Kansas. It was formerly Independence Community Junior College. History Independence Community College was established in 1925 as grades 13 and 14 of the Independence p ...
in Kansas for the show's third season, which premiered on July 21, 2018. This was followed by a return to Independence for the fourth season; it debuted on July 19, 2019. The final season took place at
Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. ...
in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
and premiered on July 28, 2020. In 2020, it was announced that a scripted drama based on the first two seasons would be produced by and star
Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She rose to international prominence by playing Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004) and Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise '' Scream'' ...
.


Synopsis

The first two seasons focus on all aspects of the football program at East Mississippi Community College, one of the most successful JUCO programs in the country. Major themes include the academic struggles of the players – some of whom have come from severely disadvantaged backgrounds. This is set against an overall redemption and coming-of-age “last chance” theme for the group of men struggling to find their place. Team academic advisor Brittany Wagner is featured prominently as she is tasked with getting all team members to graduate on time. Head coach Buddy Stephens' struggles with controlling his temper is also a major theme, which is often juxtaposed with his devout Christian faith that he attempts to impart on the team.


Season 1

The crew followed the EMCC Lions during their 2015 season as they attempted to capture their fourth JUCO national title. While the team appeared dominant for much of the year, their season was derailed after a brawl broke out during their game with
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
. EMCC was disqualified from the state playoffs and a potential berth to the national championship game. Ranking: NJCAA released prior to game.


Season 2

Netflix returned to Scooba to follow their 2016 season. Once again holding national championship aspirations, the team faced a major hurdle in that only 32 of their players were eligible for their opening game with Jones County Junior College due to suspensions related to the previous season's brawl. EMCC lost that game, 27–25, their first season-opening loss since 2010. The Lions would go on to win the rest of their games, but were left out of the national championship game when they finished the season ranked No. 3 in the polls. Ranking: NJCAA released prior to game.


Season 3

Despite being invited back to EMCC for a third season, producers decided to move the show to
Independence Community College Independence Community College is a public community college in Independence, Kansas. It was formerly Independence Community Junior College. History Independence Community College was established in 1925 as grades 13 and 14 of the Independence p ...
of Kansas. The new location is different in that ICC has historically had much lower expectations than EMCC; in 2016, it ended the season 5–4, its first winning season in ten years. The ICC Pirates had a very successful recruiting campaign for the 2017 season, landing many acclaimed players who began at
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
schools. Jeff Carpenter, the long-time Voice of the Indy Pirates delivers the back story of the team and the town of Independence, KS. Ranking: NJCAA released prior to game.


Season 4

The fourth season continues in Independence, where the team fails to live up to high preseason expectations, finishing 2–8. After the season, Coach Brown is forced to resign for insensitive remarks. The season received the 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary. Ranking: NJCAA released prior to game.


Season 5

The fifth season takes place in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
at
Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. ...
alongside football head coach John Beam. It premiered in July 2020.


Episodes


Series overview


Season 1 (2016)


Season 2 (2017)


Season 3 (2018)


Season 4 (2019)


Season 5 (2020)


Reception

The series was given a positive review by ''
SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Blezinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2003. The blog from which the netwo ...
''s Jason Kirk, who summed it up as a "carefully crafted drama with personalities to care about." Critical aggregator website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
awarded the series a score of 79, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Featured staff


EMCC

* Buddy Stephens (head coach) * Brittany Wagner (academic advisor) * Marcus Wood (offensive coordinator) * Davern Williams (defensive line coach) * Ed Holly (defensive coordinator, season 2) * Clint Trickett (quarterbacks coach) * Cade Wilkerson (running backs coach) * Jordan Lesley (defensive coordinator, season 1)


ICC

* Jason Brown (head coach) * Jason Martin (defensive coordinator, secondary coach) * Kiyoshi Harris (offensive coordinator, offensive line coach) * Frank Diaz (quarterback coach) * Raechal Martin (head athletic trainer) * Tammy Geldenhuys (athletic director) * Latonya Pinkard (English teacher, associate professor) * Mark Harris (Sociology Professor) *Heather Mydosh (English teacher) *
Daniel Barwick Daniel Workman Barwick (born June 21, 1968) is an American author, fundraiser, journalist, podcaster, higher education administrator, and teacher. He was the President of Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas from 2011 to 2019. ...
(president) * Jeff Carpenter (voice of the Pirates)


Laney

* John Beam (head coach, athletic director) * Josh Ramos (defensive coordinator, assistant head coach) * Jeff Haagenson (offensive coordinator) * Kevin Evans (offensive line coach) * Bryan Coughlan (defensive line coach) * Vince Bordelon (outside linebackers coach/pass rush specialist) (Uncredited) * Rob Crowley (quarterback coach) * Adam Robinson (wide receivers coach) * Derrick Gardner (cornerbacks coach) * Rick Becker (athletic trainer)


Players


Crew

*Benjamin Cotner – executive producer *Edgar Doumerc – sound department *Joe Labracio – executive producer *Adam Leibowitz – producer * Lisa Nishimura – executive producer *Dawn Ostroff – executive producer *Adam Ridley – producer, director, editor *Jihan Robinson – executive producer *James D. Stern – executive producer *Lucas Smith – executive producer * Greg Whiteley – director, executive producer *Sam Young – sound department *Yuri Tománek – original music *Joseph Minadeo – original music


''Last Chance U: Basketball'' (spin-off series)

On March 10, 2021, a spin-off series ''Last Chance U: Basketball'' premiered on Netflix, introducing a new sport for the award-winning documentary series to follow. The eight-episode first season explores the basketball program at
East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...
, which features a once faltering junior college team that has become a title contender under head coach John Mosley. Through his strong convictions, Coach Mosley leads young men who hope to fulfill their major college potential. On September 10, 2021, the series was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on December 13, 2022.


Synopsis

Mosley's Huskies enjoyed their best season in ELAC history during the 2019–20 season. The team had their eyes on the CCCAA State Title, entering the Championship Tournament with a program-best 29–1 record while being ranked the second-best team in the state. Their season was cancelled, however, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Featured staff


ELAC

* John Mosley (head coach) * Kenneth Hunter (assistant coach) * Frankie Aguilar (assistant coach) * Robert Robinson (assistant coach) * Eric Guzman (team manager) * Bianca Lopez (team manager)


Players


Episodes of ''Last Chance U: Basketball''


Season 1 (2021)


Season 2 (2022)


See also

*''
Cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English" ...
'' *''
Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates ...
'' *''
Wrestlers Wrestling is a Martial arts, martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling ...
''


References


External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American documentary television series 2015 in American football 2015 in Mississippi 2016 American television series debuts 2016 in American football 2016 in Mississippi 2017 in American football 2017 in Kansas 2020 American television series endings 2020s American documentary television series College football television series East Mississippi Lions football Independence Pirates football Laney Eagles football Netflix original documentary television series Television series by Boardwalk Pictures Television series set in 2015 Television series set in 2016 Television series set in 2017 Basketball in Los Angeles