Winning Ugly
Logline: Centers on an African-American ex-NFL player with an old-school take on parenthood who quickly marries his white Bohemian psychologist girlfriend and is forced to adjust to domestic life with her and her entitled, difficult children.
Cast: Bill Bellamy, Becki Newton
Creators: Chris Chase (Writer / EP), Evan Silverberg (EP), Daniel Rappaport (EP), Chris Spencer (EP)
Studios: 20th Century Fox TV
As we’ve already seen this pilot season, and every pilot season since the dawn of man, having an ex-athlete return home to be a family man will get you a pilot greenlight. What it will rarely get you is a series greenlight. Can Bellamy and Newton break this curse?
In a flashback, we see Jay “Havoc” Hammond is an ex-NFL star dating the always-smartest-person-in-the-room Christy. It’s been a year, so he wants to finally meet the kids. He and Christy marry, he moves in, he’s a dad. Cue freakout!
12 year-old Harry is into rap and stirring up trouble. 16 year-old Colin is a sweet mama’s boy. Jay just wants to be the good cop father. But trouble arises when Harry plays some of his r-rated beats for some girls. Can Jay pull himself together and act like a responsible parent?
Winning Ugly portrays an inter-racial family, which is great. But beyond that one wrinkle, it’s basically a CBS comedy in Fox clothing. If Fox is going for high concept eyeballs, this is not the right route. That being said, if they pick-up Grinder or Grandfathered, they’re probably going to need a companion show. This, amongst all their pilots, is the right tonal and humor fit. But don’t expect a ratings bonanza from this set-up.
