All American Ends After Eight Seasons With Spencer and Billy Back
All American has played its last down.
The CW sports drama closed after eight seasons and 132 episodes with a finale titled "To Live and Die in L.A.," bringing its two original leading men back to the field together, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The series premiered on The CW on Oct. 10, 2018. It followed Spencer James, played by Daniel Ezra, a high school football player recruited from South Crenshaw to play for Beverly Hills High.
For the farewell, Ezra returned as Spencer and stepped behind the camera as well. He directed the final episode. Taye Diggs, who played coach Billy Baker, also returned.
Diggs made a surprise appearance as Billy in the final moments, according to TV Insider. Showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll, meaning the executive in overall charge of the series, discussed both returns in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
The reunion is striking because the show carried on long after both characters had left the weekly story. Billy Baker died on screen, and the series continued for three more seasons without him. Season 6 was its first full season without Diggs as a regular. Spencer was drafted and moved to the East Coast with Olivia, and the show continued for two more seasons after that exit.
The baton passed to the next generation. Michael Evans Behling, who played Jordan Baker, became No. 1 on the call sheet over the last two seasons, meaning he was the top-billed series regular. The closing ensemble also included Greta Onieogou as Layla, Bre-Z as Coop, Kareem J. Grimes as Preach and Samantha Logan as Olivia, Jordan's twin sister.
Along the way, All American passed its 100th episode in season 6. Carroll also launched the spinoff All American: Homecoming, meaning a separate series built from the original, which ran for three seasons.
What makes this stand out is staying power. Few broadcast dramas survive the loss of a coach and a quarterback. This one did, rebuilt around Jordan and its younger players, then brought Spencer and Billy home to finish it.
For fans, this means a proper goodbye. Spencer and Billy started the story. They ended it too.
