Crave‘s Slo Pitch, an adaptation of a popular web series of the same name, is mockumentary comedy at its finest, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, characters that break out of the stereotype the genre can sometimes fall into, and queerness that feels like the norm, not the exception. And in this day and age where comedy isn’t fully comedy and characters are often written like caricatures, this stands out.
First, because as I said, it’s funny. Of course it’s funny, you say. It’s a comedy. But the lines that define comedy have gotten blurred, and shows like this one have become the exception, not the rule. They should not be. There’s space for everything, including straight-up funny mockumentary shows, horror comedy, and whatever other genre combination we can think of.
Then, because the show deftly avoids the typical mockumentary issues, all while taking advantage of all the possibilities the genre gives us. The characters don’t feel shallow, despite the fact that all we know about them is what we’re seeing on “camera.” Instead, they feel like fully realized characters that we get to see grow, change, and even learn some lessons. And sure, we’re laughing at them sometimes, but just as often we’re laughing with them.
The original web series was created by J Stevens, Gwenlyn Cumyn, and Karen Knox, who all return for the new adaptation. J Stevens serves as executive producer and director, while Gwenlyn Cumyn and Karen Knox return to write, produce, and act. They are joined by Jess Salgueiro as Coach Joanne Pico, alongside Emily Hampshire, Emma Hunter, Chelsea Muirhead, Lane Webber, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, and Amanda Cordner. And the cast is without a doubt a big part of what makes the show work.
Each character is distinct enough that I imagine favorites will very much depend on taste, but everyone nails the intricacies of their character, and the overall cast chemistry is enough that at times it feels like these people are just a group of friends trading jokes back and forth onstage somewhere. It’s like the background could be something other than baseball, because it doesn’t matter all that much. It’s not why we’re here.
Sapphic shows are a dime a dozen, and sapphic comedies feel like a rarity in general. But Slo Pitch isn’t the kind of show you should watch just because it’s queer, even though it is very, very queer. It’s the kind of show you should give a chance to because it’s good. This isn’t about checking a box (or several); it’s about telling a fun story. That it happens to be diverse is just proof that not all good stories have to look the same or cater to the same people.
Slo Pitch premieres with two episodes on September 25, with one episode releasing weekly on Crave after that.
