‘Rise’ falls short of reaching its potential
New NBC drama feels like a rehash of stories we’ve already seen
You’ve already seen Rise.
Well, you haven’t seen NBC’s new drama itself (Tuesday, 10 ET/PT, ★★☆☆) but you’ve seen parts of it. Created by Friday Night Lights and Parenthood creator Jason Katims, the series has FNL in its DNA, with a little bit of Glee and High School Musical mixed in. But rather than spinning the high-school drama — or even the highschool musical drama — forward, Rise feels like a rehash, a collection of stories we’ve already seen.
Rise follows Lou Mazzuchelli ( How I Met Your Mother‘ s Josh Radnor), a down-and-out teacher who wants to take over the theater department to add some meaning to his life. His promotion comes at the expense of the far more qualified Tracey Wolfe (Rosie Perez), sidelining her because she’s a “pain” and the principal doesn’t like her.
Lou’s big vision is to swap a production of Grease for Spring Awakening, a Tony-winning musical about teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality. Some folks are less than enthused about the musical in the rundown steel town where the series is set, but Lou and Tracey assemble a ragtag cast of students who are instantly devoted to it (one of the stranger aspects of the messy first episode).
The kids are far more appealing than the adult characters, and it flows much more smoothly when it focuses on the younger generation. The teens include football quarterback Robbie (Damon J. Gillespie), outsider Lilette (Auli’i Cravalho, Moana) and drama club regulars Gwen (Amy Forsyth) and Simon (Ted Sutherland), whom Lou demotes, mostly because he can.
Lou is just too mean to be a hero, and he continually degrades the women in his life, especially Tracey and Gwen: He thinks they’re too big, too noticeable, too loud. It’s hard to buy that this guy inspires kids.
The conflict between art and sport is one of the oldest tropes in pop culture, and yet here we have another football player who struggles to both be in the school musical and make the big game. The storyline is tired and the least compelling aspect of Rise: It’s 2018 — kids can be more than one thing.
The other plots also feel tired: The diva who has to grapple with being relegated to a supporting role. The theater boy who’s struggling with his sexuality. Religious parents arguing against what they see as inappropriate art.
There are glimmers of a better show. The more you watch, the more the series irons out some of its kinks, but overall Rise takes too few risks. Its major driving force is a man who wants to put on a subversive and provocative musical to challenge people, and yet it’s hard to ignore that the broadcast TV series censors some of the language in its songs.
The theater is full of boundless possibilities. If only our stories about it embraced them.