Netflix's Hoops has a compelling sports-focused premise, as well a stellar voice cast, but the adult animated comedy is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews across the board. Created by Ben Hoffman, the new sitcom is led by Jake Johnson as a high school basketball coach in rural Kentucky. The series is also notably produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the minds behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which also featured Johnson in a voice role.
Johnson voices Ben Hopkins, the foul-mouthed basketball coach of the Lenwood High Colts. Despite having his sights set on a job in the big leagues, Ben is forced with leading a ragtag team whose best player is a 7-foot-tall awkward newcomer. Ben's personal life also complicates matters seeing as his best friend Ron (Ron Funches) is dating his estranged wife Shannon (Natasha Leggero). In addition, he lives in the shadows of his father, Barry Hopkins (Rob Riggle), a former professional basketball player that holds a celebrity status around town.
Hoops season 1 currently holds a dismal 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience reaction is a few notches under 50%, which is far from stellar for any TV program. Though viewers have highlighted Hoops' surprising reunion of New Girl stars, the voice cast couldn't save this animated comedy. The consensus notes that the series lacks a vision considering the priority in vulgar humor rather than character growth. Here's what some of the most negative reviews had to say:
That’s not to say there aren’t other characters, but none are fleshed out enough to stand out. There’s no satire here, or anything beyond the surface-level ugliness. That’s not to say there aren’t other characters, but none are fleshed out enough to stand out.
Hoops is perfectly content making crass joke after crass joke in the name of earning easy laughs. The problem is that it’s not even particularly good at achieving that extremely basic objective.
The closest "Hoops" goes to getting underneath Ben's hard exterior is during plotlines about fathers and sons, but the show doesn’t have the capacity for it. It’s just another idea to show why Ben is so messed up, and essentially helpless.
But for the most part, “Hoops” doesn’t push itself to be much more than it is: a mean, horny comedy about a mean, horny guy and the people unlucky enough to put up with him.
While most critics agreed that Hoops missed the mark when it came to the humor - with most jokes falling flat or merely being superficial just because they needed a joke in there - some have pointed out by the end of the season, viewers can't help but root for the characters. The supporting voice cast was also highlighted as a bright spot despite the execution of the storytelling. Hoops' characters voiced by Ron Funches and Cleo King help offset the crude behavior of Johnson's Coach Ben. Granted, Hoops didn't get many great reviews, but there were some that had pointed at positive aspects:
So, even though Coach Hopkins curses like five sailors combined and has a bit of a twisted idea of how to lead people, you actually want to root for the guy to get ahead for at least a night.
Funches is, again, an absolute gem in Netflix's new animated comedy Hoops, playing a big-hearted assistant basketball coach dating his best friend's soon-to-be ex-wife. But, like so many Funches projects, Hoops suffers from not putting its best asset front and center — well, that and struggling to find heart in a story filled with generally awful, foul-mouthed cartoon people.
Taking into account the negative critic reviews, in addition to the underwhelming support from general audiences, it will be interesting to see if Netflix gives Hoops any type of future. To each their own when it comes to adult animated comedy, but with the popular competition, the streamer might decide to cut their losses right away. A decision on Hoops will surely be made in the coming months.