ABC Wednesdays @ 8:30pm ET

What's it about?

Terry Gannon Jr. was an All Star softball player until life threw her a couple curve balls: a baby, a lost college scholarship and a loser for a husband. After striking out on her own, Terry and her son Danny move in with her estranged father, Terry Sr. aka “The Cannon”. The Cannon is an opinionated, beer-guzzling, ex-athlete who never quite made the cut as a single father or professional baseball player. As hard as Terry tries to keep Danny away from the sports-driven lifestyle of her childhood, Danny wants to play baseball in the local youth league. His stunning lack of baseball skills (he doesn’t even know which hand the mitt goes on) makes him the laughing stock of the baseball field and his grandfather’s living room. When Danny and a group of other athletically-challenged hopefuls fail to make the team, Danny’s disappointment forces Terry to face her past. So when a wealthy neighbor volunteers to finance a team for the rejected kids, Terry reluctantly offers to coach the team of misfits.

How is it?

"Back In The Game" may be the biggest surprise of the season thus far.  Compared to such high-profile shows as "Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." or Robin Williams' "The Crazy Ones", this little show about baseball flew way under the radar -- and yet managed to deliver one of the most coherent, funny, touching, and satisfying pilots of the fall.

The producers of this show scored one of the biggest casting coups of the season by getting James Caan to play The Cannon.  Caan, an Academy Award-nominated actor famous for roles in such classic films as "The Godfather", "Brian's Song" and "Misery", automatically elevates the quality of the show merely by being in it.  As played by Caan, The Cannon is a fully fleshed-out character -- he's a terrible father, but not without his charms...which is why his daughter finds herself falling back on him in her time of need.  Caan doesn't shy away from portraying The Cannon's faults, including a drunken mean streak that has him consistently forgetting his own grandson's name.

Maggie Lawson ("Psych") is a nice counterpoint to Caan, and the two play off each other well.  Lawson's Terry is upbeat and hopeful without being grating; she's proud of herself and her son and embarrassed to be living at home again.  She wants what's best for her child -- even when that involves reentering the sport she now loathes thanks to her father.  The supporting cast is terrific as well.  Ben Koldyke ("The Newsroom") is ridiculously pompous as Dick Slingbaugh, the giant tool who manages the league.  He insults Terry and doesn't think twice about hitting on her just moments later.  And Lenora Crichlow ("Being Human") steals the show as Terry's new boozy British friend, who isn't above bringing a flask of tequila to a little league game.

Any show whose success relies on a group of children is inherently putting itself at risk of either becoming too cutesy or being hampered by the limited abilities of those children.  Whoever cast "Back In The Game", then, deserves an award for best child-casting ever.  The awkward misfits who populate Terry's team of rejects are believable, often hysterical, and shockingly not annoying, at least in the show's first episode.  Griffin Gluck fares well as Terry's son Danny, who only wants to play baseball to attract the attention of his crush, but it's JJ Totah you'll remember as Lulu's gay feminine son Michael.  If his impromptu rendition of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" on the baseball diamond doesn't have you in stitches, well...then this isn't the show for you.

It's that kind of unexpected off-key humor that makes "Back In The Game" so refreshing.  One of the very first images of the show's first episode is Danny kissing another boy (don't worry, it makes sense later).  That a "family comedy" on ABC isn't afraid to kick off its pilot with such a controversial image says a lot about the people behind this show.  It gives one hope that they'll be able to achieve the rare feat of writing a show about a group of misfit kids without becoming treacle-sweet and/or boringly safe.  In the first episode, at least, they manage to avoid that trap -- hopefully they'll continue to reach the high bar they set for themselves in the weeks to come.

What did you think of "Back In The Game"?  Was it a home run?  Or a strikeout?  Tweet us @StageBuddy to share your thoughts!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya-ALU-nH2U[/youtube]