Hang Time:

Article:
Changes to Hang Time in Season #2:

This article was written, by me, on Setpember 7, 1996
and posted to the newsgroup alt.tv.saved-bell. 
That original article has been somewhat edited by me 
before being placed on the web on October 1, 1996.

Well, it looks like me fears have been mostly confirmed: "Hang Time" (HT, for short) has been "Engelized"! What do I mean?...

Well, let's look at the cast changes. Gone are Sam (Hillary Tuck), Chris (David Hanson), Earl (Robert Michael Ryan) and Michael Maxwell (Christian Belnavis). Now granted, some of these actors may have left on their own (Hillary Tuck, for one, already had a somewhat established acting career before "Hang Time").

But what do you want to bet that Chris (Hanson) and Earl (Ryan) were dumped when NBC (presumably) forced out Producer/Creator Mark Fink, and brought in SbtB/CD Producer Peter Engel and his crew? In the case of Chris, the main romantic lead, I'll bet that Engel and crew wanted someone "sexier". After all, no mention was made last season that either Chris or Earl or Sam were seniors (indeed, why else end the season with Mary Beth as Julie's rival for Chris, if he wasn't supposed to return?!!!). And we know that Michael Maxwell was a *freshman*, so where did he go?! Well, at least in Sam's case they bothered to mention that she's at school in Chicago. But it's too bad, because both Sam and Michael were perhaps the most crucial characters, along with Mary Beth, in making HT so good in its first season. Their absence is keenly felt.

So, who do we get in return? For Michael, we get Teddy Brodis (Anthony Anderson), the Godson of Coach Fuller. Unfortunately, this looks to be a fairly marginal replacement for the very funny Michael; Belvanis will definitely be missed. For Earl, we get the completely obnoxious, unfunny Vince D'Amata (Michael Sullivan). Please... Earl was a much better character than this D'Amata guy! Why'd they do this?! For Sam, we get the weakest trade of all: cheerleader Amy Wright (Paige Peterson), who's like a dumber and more uninteresting copy of "California Dreams" character Tiffani Smith. At least Tiffani, has a personality! This Amy Wright character seems to have 0 dimensions, in contrast to the first season character of Samanthat Morgan, who had many dimensions.

Finally, for Chris Atwater, we get Josh Sanders (Kevin Bell). Now I hate to admit is, but this may be the one change which is an improvement over the original. The character of Josh is, initially at least, much more interesting that Chris. And Kevin Bell seems to be probably one of the better actors on HT. But this is the only area that looks promising...

Unfortunately, the "tinkering" with "Hang Time" didn't stop there. Chad Gabriel's Danny seems to be much the same, as does Reggie Theus' Coach Fuller. But the formerly quiet Julie Conner seems to be much more brash and outgoing, and change that clashes with Mary Beth's character. In addition, Mary Beth, who used to get a lot of the best lines, wasn't given much to work with in the premiere, and her character is somehow less interesting. To make matters worse, they improbably made Mary Beth the Team Manager! The old Mary Beth would never have taken this job, and it's a terrible change to the show.

And, as sign of Engel dominance, two other obvious changes were made. First, the formerly pleasant opening sequence of the show has been traded for the trademark Peter Engel, loud, semi-animated opening. (I hate it!) Second, the fashions have been "loosened up" to include the prominently displayed bare midriff on the ladies (something that Engel was criticized for in TV Guide). And finally, they've changed the lighting and filming of the show: now it looks exactly the same as the other T-NBC "product", and HT has now lost the former individuality it had in the T-NBC lineup.

So what does it look like HT has become? To my thinking, "Hang Time" is still a better than "The New Class" (but then again, anything is!). But it is also now a far worse (and less original) show than it was in season #1. Basically, what HT is now is a pale, much less funny copy of "California Dreams". But why go for the diet-"Dreams" of HT, when you can have the real stuff?!

I'll continue the HT FAQ & Guide through this season. But if HT doesn't improve soon, don't expect this viewer to continue watching T-NBC after "California Dreams" goes off the air at the end of this season.

Looks like NBC made a mistake in forcing out HT Creator Mark Fink after all...