ESPN 2's Reality Series Varsity Inc. Is So J.V.

The football stadium may be packed with fans, but Varsity Inc. is no touchdown for television.

Riding on the wave of MTV’s reality show Two-A-Days and NBC’s scripted program Friday Night Lights, a new reality football series is coming to ESPN hoping to capitalize on the football fever that comes with the end of a new year. Premiering on ESPN2, Varsity Inc. is a new reality series by Jason Sciavicco, the creator of Two-A-Days. Sciavicco’s focus now is the 2007 football season of the West Monroe High School Rebels in Louisiana.

Varsity Inc. paints West Monroe as the quintessential American football town—it practically eat, drinks, and breathes high school football. As head coach Don Shows reminds the players at the start of the first preseason match, these teenagers are playing for the integrity of the community: “So when your mom and dad go to work Monday morning, they can walk in that office building ... with their chests stuck out high.” Unfortunately, West Monroe is portrayed as such a stereotypical football town that the show slides into cringe-worthy clichés. This is most egregious when the entire town goes to church on Sunday morning only to hear a sermon blatantly catered to the football season, telling the congregation to “stay in the game” because only “winners believe.”

Worse yet is the stereotypical star of the show—quarterback Shelby Aulds. Shelby is the formulaic popular quarterback with the typical blond cheerleader girlfriend. Regardless of his All-American appeal, he appears dull and listless on the television screen. With his monotonous southern drawl, Shelby spends much of the first episode in a lethargic haze. Despite grueling practices, intense football matches, and thrilling victories, Shelby’s emotions never seem to come alive, depriving the show of a much-needed injection of distinctive personality.

To the show’s credit, it seems Varsity Inc. is not focused as much on creating interesting characters or personal story arcs. Unlike Friday Night Lights and Two-A-Days, this show focuses primarily on the football field. ESPN, in an attempt to appease its own sports-addicted audience, spends little time delving into the personal dramas of these teenagers and more time on the actual football games. In fact, large parts of the episode run like a highlight reel shown daily on SportsCenter. But in its attempt to attract fans, Varsity Inc. neglects to build any narrative momentum, creating little for viewers to root for.