Despite some decent reviews, Steph Curry's first foray into live-action scripted television content is getting wiped off the slate at NBC and Peacock.
The mockumentary-style show, Mr. Throwback, stars Curry as himself in a fictional scenario in which his good friend and former grade-school basketball teammate Danny, played by Adam Pally, comes back into his life for selfish reasons — he's a down-on-his-luck sports memorabilia dealer and he wants some of Curry's game-used uniforms to sell to get out of debt. But the two find an unlikely friendship as adults, and the comedy gets some boosts from co-stars Ego Nwodim (SNL), who plays Curry's loyal assistant, and Ayden Mayeri (I Love That for You), playing Pally's ex-wife.
As The Hollywood Reporter is reporting today, Mr. Throwback is getting thrown back in the dustbin of TV obscurity after just six episodes in large part because it failed to capture much of an audience. The show debuted strong last August, just days before Curry played on the US men's basketball team at the Paris Olympics — which also aired on Peacock, and Curry even made a Mr. Throwback reference on air while at a game, with Adam Pally on the sidelines.
"NBCUniversal executives lost their minds over the moment of true corporate synergy," THR quips.
But the show failed to crack the Nielsen Streaming Top 10, and even putting the show on a broadcast network — it aired on NBC in September — didn't drum up enough interest, according to executives.
The show still enjoys an 86% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but THR itself gave it a middling review when it debuted, saying, it "ends up with the wrong percentage of taking-itself-seriously," and "never quite lives up to Curry’s charm or pedigree."
Curry's Unanimous Media has its mission to "develop, create, and distribute compelling family-, faith-, and sports-based content for all," and Mr. Throwback was their first attempt at live-action fiction content on the television side. Next February, coinciding with the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, Unanimous Media's feature-length, animated sports comedy film GOAT will be having its premiere, but details on that have yet to be shared. We do know that Tyree Dillihay, an Emmy-nominated director of Bob’s Burgers, is directing.
The company previously released an animated reboot of Good Times, last April on Netflix, and the documentary series Black Pop, in addition to the Apple TV+ documentary about Steph Curry, Underrated, and the Oscar-nominated documentary short, The Queen of Basketball, about the first woman ever drafted by the NBA, Lusia Harris.
Unanimous Media is one of multiple business entities that fall under Curry's Thirty Ink banner, and that company had plans to build a new headquarters in SF's Dogpatch which were abruptly called off this month in what may be part of a negotiation with a carpenters' union.
Previously: Steph Curry to Star In New NBC Sitcom 'Mr. Throwback'
