“They don’t get to decide if this is real or not,” Abbi Jacobson declares in the new trailer for her “A League of Their Own” series reboot. “We do.” Jacobson’s Carson, her fellow Rockford Peaches, and Maxine (Chanté Adams, “The Photograph”), a young Black woman who isn’t even allowed to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), decide they are going to make the most of the changing times and pursue their dreams — naysayers be damned.
For the Rockford Peaches — portrayed by D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”), Roberta Colindrez (“Vida”), Kate Berlant (“Search Party”), and Melanie Field (“You”), among others — this opportunity means “forgetting the rules” and breaking out of societal gender norms. Unfortunately, the League’s leadership thinks that doubling down on the players’ femininity is the only way to success. “You want the game to be more exciting, shorten the skirts,” the Peaches’ coach (Nick Offerman, “Parks and Rec”) says. Strict rules are also implemented: 10 p.m. curfew, “no smoking or drinking, no pants.”
Meanwhile, Maxine decides if she can’t play for the AAGPBL, she’ll find another team. She and her bestie, Clance (Gbemisola Ikumelo, “The Power”), apply for jobs at a local factory with the goal of eventually joining the company’s integrated (men’s) baseball team.
Created by Jacobson and Will Graham, “A League of Their Own” is inspired by the real-life AAGPBL, which shut out Black women, as well as Penny Marshall’s beloved 1992 film of the same name. The new series promises to broaden the original’s scope, boasting a great deal more diversity of race, sexual orientation, and body type.
“A League of Their Own” premieres August 12 on Prime Video. Jamie Babbit (“But I’m a Cheerleader”) directed the pilot.
