A starring role with her talents front and centre always suited Kate Hudson, so, immediately, Running Point lands its lay-up, with the Netflix comedy series giving the actress the material needed to flourish.
Inspired by Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss, the Mindy Kaling-produced series subs in the Los Angeles Waves and Hudson’s Isla Gordon, the only daughter in a professional basketball dynasty who has never really been given the same professional treatment as her rag-tag group of brothers; team president Cam (Justin Theroux), general manager Ness (Scott MacArthur), and chief financial officer Sandy (Drew Tarver).
Isla’s position within the team is that of headlining the charitable-giving department, an initially ironic choice given the selfish party-girl image she projected during her evidently wild 20-something years. That doesn’t stop Cam, who has to check himself into rehab, from choosing her as the new presidential candidate in his absence, which, understandably, doesn’t go down with Ness or Sandy. Isla, though, is probably the most qualified for the position, with her deeply rooted love and understanding of the game eclipsing her brothers, who feel more that they are owed such prominence off their gender alone in a male-dominated industry.
The dynamic of Isla’s fresh, female presence in such an industry already gives itself an opening for comedic hijinks and misunderstandings, but also the opportunity to address gender politics, and whilst Kaling never delves too deep into such musings – the show is more to entertain with its sibling rivalry and romantic subplots – Running Point does touch on the oft-forgotten female following of professional basketball and the type of branding that can lead to.
Running Point predominantly succeeds because it has someone as likeable as Hudson at its core. She has an everywoman quality about her, and her powder keg energy when she’s threatened makes way for some booming moments of hilarity; she’s “that bitch”, as she so confirms to her right-hand bestie – and chief of staff – Ali (Brenda Song, who comes dangerously close to walking away with the entire series on her own). On the mention of Song, the ensemble Hudson has around her also benefits the successful execution of many of the show’s plays, with Jay Ellis adding swoon as the Waves’ coach, Jay, Max Greenfield utilising his goofy charm as Isla’s fiancée, and, in quite the sense of meta casting, Chet Hanks as the team’s loosest cannon, who ends up earning one of the show’s most emotional storylines.
Given all the talent on hand, Running Point is probably more lightweight than it should be, but, ultimately, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a show that is all too aware of its audience’s attention span, so each episode running between 30 and 40 minutes, with the comedic placement overruling the dramatic notes, makes perfect sense in the current climate. Kaling has very neatly structured each of its players with their own personality, certainly enough for us to care about their plight across the 10 episodes, and whilst its Netflix housing means a second series isn’t guaranteed, it would be a shame for the streaming service to not want to give the Waves their sophomore season, with the show setting up enough juicy reveals and worthy storylines to garner a continuation; especially when the final episode, especially, brings about a few unanswered beats.
Effortlessly entertaining and, however slight, an enjoyable insight into the world of professional basketball, Running Point shoots and scores more than it doesn’t.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
All 10 episodes of Running Point are now available to stream on Netflix.
