Advertisement

Big Shot star John Stamos on how Bob Saget's legacy influenced season 2

What's harder than being a disgraced college basketball coach who's relegated to coaching a girls' high school basketball team? Convincing Disney+ that your sweet, heartfelt, young-adult dramedy — about a disgraced college basketball coach who learns to be a better father and overall human being while mentoring a team of girls at Westbrook High — deserves a second season even if it doesn't star any Avengers or Jedi.

"Some executive said, 'Well, it's not a slam dunk for season 2,'" recalls John Stamos, who stars as Coach Marvyn Korn. "I said, 'Well, how do we make it a slam dunk?' There's not much like it on [Disney+], but I think that's why it should be on there." His lobbying worked, and Big Shot is coming back on October 12 with a few notable changes: Shorter episodes, a binge release, and… boys at Westbrook???

As you'll see in the exclusive clip from Big Shot's season 2 premiere, Westbrook is about to go from all-girls to co-ed. While the girls are very excited, Coach Korn worries the influx of testosterone could be a real disaster for the women in his life — specifically his daughter, Emma (Sophia Mitri Schloss), and the players on his team.

Having boys at Westbrook will allow the show to highlight the inequalities between men's and women's sports. Says Stamos, "When they're bringing in the equipment, the boys' equipment is already better than the girls'."

Coach Korn will also have to face some of his own life choices in Big Shot's second season. One storyline, says Stamos, was partly inspired by the death of his longtime friend and Full House costar, Bob Saget.

"When Bob died, it rocked my world and still does. It got me thinking, like, what's my legacy, man? When Bob died there was like this tsunami of love, as you saw," he says. "So I thought, what about Marvyn? What is he leaving behind? So we start [exploring] that towards the end of the season and it gets really powerful. A friend of Marvyn's dies and Marvyn goes, 'What have I left behind? Nothing. I'm a failed basketball coach.' He just feels like a failure, and Emma gets the gang together and they prove why he's not a failure and what his legacy is. It's really very touching."

Big Shot season 2 premieres Wednesday, Oct. 12, on Disney+.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: