Running Point is a comforting and smart sports sitcom

Is a basketball team run by the over-privileged kids of its former illustrious president doomed? And is Netflix the best place for a workplace/family sitcom that needs room and space to grow its many, many characters? These two questions quickly come up while watching Running Point, the new series created by Mindy Kaling, Elaine Ko, Ike Barinholz, and David Stassen. After dabbling with young adult stories in Never Have I Ever and The Sex Lives Of College Girls, Kaling returns to the streamer with her first sitcom about grown-ups since 2018’s Champions.

Kate Hudson (winning, hilarious, and a dream get for a noted romantic-comedy aficionado like Kaling) plays former party girl Isla Gordon, who works in a Brutalist building for her family’s professional basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. When the eldest boy and organization head Cam (a surprisingly present Justin Theroux, who wears a series of cozy scarves) goes to rehab, he names Isla as acting president over her brothers, the team’s general manager Ness (an obvious Barinholtz stand-in played by Scott MacArthur) and CFO Sandy (Drew Tarver). (While not unlikable, Sandy feels a bit toothless in the first half of the season, especially compared to the more cruel and desperate character Tarver portrayed on The Other Two.) Their comedic talents emerge eventually, which is not uncommon in an ensemble sitcom. But the streaming season episode count is not enough here for all of the necessary table-setting.

What’s more, the 10 episodes barely scratch the surface with the team itself. They’re led by Jay Ellis’ charming yet slightly guarded Jay, the head coach who’s also a newly divorced dad and a converted Buddhist. Unsurprisingly, given that the role feels tailored to his public persona, Chet Hanks is a scene-stealer as the wannabe rapper Travis Bugg. Meanwhile, the team’s star player, Marcus (model and Olympic gold medal sprinter Toby Sandeman in a reserved performance), grows into a leadership position as he mentors working-class rookie Dyson (Uche Agada), the most relatable character in the series.

The show functions a little bit like a sitcom version of “what if Shiv Roy became CEO on Sports Succession?”—or, better yet, “what if Ted Lasso‘s Rebecca Welton actually understood and cared about the team she ran?” Isla has strong instincts about the game, and she doesn’t have to worry much about men taking her opinions seriously. That type of sexist storyline about women in the workplace feels appropriately in the past. However, as her best friend and the Waves’ chief-of-staff Ali Lee (a very welcome Brenda Song) says in the pilot, Isla won’t be granted any grace or the opportunity to “get her sea legs” when she takes the job the way her brothers might. Every mistake she makes will be scrutinized harder by the organization, the fans, and the media.