Running Point brought its season two premiere to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Wednesday night, with Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen on hand as the Netflix basketball comedy prepares to send Isla Gordon back into another season with the fictional L.A. Waves.
Kaling said the writers ended season one with multiple cliffhangers on purpose, then set season two around the scramble to answer them. “At the end of the season, as writers, we do this thing where we want so badly to get another season that we do a thousand cliffhangers so that Ted [Sarandos] and Bela [Bajaria] are just like, ‘Well, we got to know what happened, so let’s just pick it up,’” she said. “At the beginning, it’s just like digging ourselves out of the hole of what we created, which is really fun.”
The new season keeps Kate Hudson at the center as Isla Gordon, while the front office and locker room pick up fresh faces and shifting dynamics. Brenda Song, Drew Tarver, Scott MacArthur, Fabrizio Guido, Chet Hanks, Toby Sandeman and Uche Agada are back, with Ray Romano joining the show and Justin Theroux returning as a series regular after recurring in season one. Barinholtz and Lisa Rinna are among the guest stars, along with Octavia Spencer, Nicole Richie and Scott Speedman.
Song said Ali gets more of her own life this time, including marital issues, and that she spends more time bouncing off the brothers. “There’s such growth with Ali this season. We’re getting to know a little bit more about her personal life, [her] marital issues. I also really love that you’re getting to see Ali’s character interact with the brothers [more],” she said. Guido said he wanted Jackie to keep the same heart and loyalties that made him work in the first place, while MacArthur said the cast has settled into the show’s rhythm. “In [season] two, you can drop in, you can relax a little bit more, you can trust the character, trust the writing, trust yourself,” he said.
Running Point is loosely based on the life of longtime Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who recently sold her controlling stake to L.A. Dodgers owner Mark Walter. That real-world backdrop gives the series a familiar shape, but season two appears built to widen the world around the Waves rather than simply repeat the setup. With new additions, guest stars and the aftermath of those season one cliffhangers, the show is running point on its own next chapter now.
