While “Stranger Things” has rightly dominated the Netflix conversation this summer, there’s another original series from the streaming service that also deserves attention: “Last Chance U.” You might have heard it plays out like a real-life “Friday Night Lights,” and that’s really not far off the mark, with the six-episode documentary looking at the athletes of East Mississippi Community College, who join the elite football program there looking to give their hopes of a professional career one more boost. And there’s going to be even more.
Netflix has announced they’ve renewed “Last Chance U” for a second season, with the cameras returning to the campus of EMCC. “We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Greg Whiteley who has genuinely captured both the struggles and triumphs these young men face in a world that often seems designed to hold them back,” Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of Original Documentary Programming said in a statement. “Coach Buddy Stephens, Academic Advisor Brittany Wagner and the entire team at EMCC have bravely opened their doors for the filmmakers to capture their real world as it unfolds. We eagerly anticipate having a front row seat as they continue to fight for their dreams in the coming season.”
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Indeed, the show is made up of unlikely heroes, none more than Wagner, EMCC’s Athletic Instructional Adviser who is a guidance counselor, mentor, motivator, and mother figure to the football players who come through the doors of the school. She’s essentially the Tami Taylor of “Last Chance U,” and here’s hoping we get even more time with her in season two. At any rate, she’s been taking the sudden fame she’s received in stride.
“The whole thing has sort of blown my mind,” she told The Clarion-Ledger. “I think I was naive about the scope of audience that this (documentary) was going to reach. I’ve always enjoyed a simple life. I didn’t even have internet at my house until a couple of years ago when my daughter got an iPad for Christmas. I didn’t have a computer at home, didn’t feel like I needed one. I did my work at the office and didn’t care about getting on social media. Now, it’s sort of hard not to keep looking at Twitter when the count is steadily going up.”
With the August movie season pretty barren for the rest of the month, now’s the time to catch up with “Last Chance U,” and see why you’ll be eager for a second season.