Heading into the seventh season of “All American,” series showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll was nervous. The pressure was on to make a dynamic and addicting series about a group of young people trying to achieve the impossible, only this time around, The CW original had to do it without their leading character, Daniel Ezra’s Spencer James.
“The challenge was, are we going to find characters that we care about?” Carroll told TheWrap. She was still anxious about whether or not this new installment would work right up until the point that Nathaniel McIntyre walked into his audition. “I’m just like, ‘Wait a minute. Oh, done. He’s a star,’” Carroll said of the actor she cast as Kingston “KJ” Jeremy, a promising young football player who moves to Beverly Hills as his parents are on the brink of divorce.
In “the blink of an eye,” Carroll’s fears she wouldn’t be able to recreate YA magic dissolved. She felt the same way about Antonio J. Bell, who plays the troubled Khalil Edwards, and Alexis Chikaeze, who plays the now-teenage version of Preach and Monique’s daughter Amina.
“All of a sudden they were not just actors. Those characters came to life for me in a way that got me so excited and then got the studio and the network so excited,” Carroll said. “I pulled all the writers together and I showed them the auditions. I was like, ‘This is the story we are telling for the new generation.’”
This early spark of passion was justified for the showrunner and executive producer when she noticed that her writers were yelling through their office doors, arguing over whether Amina should be with KJ or Khalil. As a longtime fan of the young adult genre, it struck a chord with her. Like Carroll’s favorites “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the newest season of “All American” was inspiring a heated love triangle debate — a staple for the genre.
“All American” has always been a show that explores how its teenagers balance the ordinary tolls of high school with the larger-than-life demands that come with trying to be a professional athlete. That struggle is still at the center of Season 7, but Carroll also wanted to examine the “heavy” burden this current generation of teenagers face.
“I have a kid in high school right now, so I get to see it firsthand. The amount they have to deal with, it’s miraculous that they are just normal, high-functioning kids,” Carroll said. “How they are able to keep this youthful, infectious joy as they are navigating a world that appears to be burning around them, that has been very exciting to explore on this show … I’m always so blown away at what our youth today are able to do despite the weight of what’s around them, dealing with mental health issues in a way that we never did during our youth.”
Though Season 7 of the series returns to high school, Carroll never considered this installment to be a spinoff. That was because she wanted to incorporate the stories of so many characters from the original series. Recently hired coach Jordan (Michael Evans Behling), Layla (Greta Onieogou), Coop (Bre-Z) and Amina are all regulars in Season 7. And, as the season continues, Samantha Logan will return as Olivia Baker for “a few episodes,” and Ezra will return as Spencer. Ezra even directed an episode this season, which will mark the fourth episode of the series he has directed, as will Kareem J. Grimes.
“We’ve just grown the family. We didn’t replace them,” Carroll said.
In a TV age dominated by miniseries and shows that end after two seasons, Carroll is in an increasingly rare position as a showrunner on a long-running scripted show. Over the years, she has been able to see her cast, writers and directors grow creatively. Carroll pointed to John A. Norris, who is expected to release his own show “Motorheads” on Prime Video later this year, and Ezra being cast in the reboot of “The Running Man.”
“It’s funny because Daniel and I have often talked about, when we’re super old and we’re sitting around at dinner somewhere and talking about the legacy of the ‘All American’ universe, what are we most proud of? The thing we’re most proud of is that people came through our show, they grew and they got a chance to realize their dream,” Carroll said. “We’ve had people rise all the way from PAs to producers on the show. We’ve had assistants rise all the way to directors on this show. We’ve had DPs become directors, gaffers become DPs. If someone has a dream of leveling up, we’ve all been together so long that we root for each other’s success
“Every time someone goes off to do something bigger and better, I’m a proud mama bear over here. I can’t wait to be a fan, supporting,” Carroll said. “I always tell Daniel, ‘Just let your security know, when you’re all big time, that I can come in for my hug on the premiere line before they tackle me to the ground.’”
