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A Review from USA TODAY
Clubhouse': Get caught looking at this gem
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
You don't have to love baseball to love Clubhouse.
A little affection for the national pastime wouldn't hurt, of course, because the show does revolve around a batboy for a mythical major league team. But at heart, this sincerely sweet drama is no more about sports than Joan of Arcadia is about theology. Both these shows are about family — and both represent CBS' smart use of an untraditional hook to invigorate the traditional family drama. (Related story: Clubhouse creates a league of its own)
Nor does the similarity to Joan end there. Like that well-regarded CBS hit, Clubhouse splits its time between an inordinately strong adult supporting cast and a truly marvelous young star: in this case, Jeremy Sumpter from the recent movie remake of Peter Pan. Sumpter is a rare TV commodity: an actual teenager playing a kid who talks and behaves like an actual teenager.
On the adult side, Clubhouse fields one of the best teams on television, led by the always welcome Mare Winningham as a struggling single mother; a delightful Christopher Lloyd as a crusty equipment manager; and a perfectly cast Dean Cain as Conrad Dean, the team's idolized good-guy star. Throw in appearances by stage stars Marian Seldes and Cherry Jones in smaller roles and you have a starting lineup any manager would envy.
Sunday's premiere — a one-time special before the show moves to its regular Tuesday 9 p.m. ET/PT slot — introduces us to Catholic schoolboy Pete Young (Sumpter), the newest batboy for the New York Empires. For a kid whose previous excitement was limited to Scrabble club meetings, this really is a dream come true, except that he hasn't shared his dream with either his mother (Winningham) or his older sister (Kirsten Storms).
They find out when Pete lands in the middle of a baseball drug scandal, a crisis a shade too big and too easily resolved. The scandal also ties into the show's only false notes: a supportive girlfriend for Pete who is too wise beyond her years and a home visit by Cain's baseball hero that plays like something out of a '50s movie.
Still, from its novel setting to its pitch-perfect casting, Clubhouse connects far more often than it whiffs. In an increasingly crude and violent universe, Clubhouse is one of those rare television hours the entire family can not only watch but also enjoy.
That may not make it a hit, but it does make Clubhouse a home run.
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