When I first watched the trailer for “Mr. Throwback,” I thought it was a fever dream. A mockumentary-style sitcom starring NBA legend Steph Curry with Adam Pally as a Jewish (I assumed) basketball player named Danny Grossman who Curry looked up to in his youth? It was like one of those videos you watch on your phone early in the morning between sleep and waking and aren’t really 100% sure if it was real or not.
But “Mr. Throwback,” directed by “Wet Hot American Summer” director David Wain, is a real show, with six episodes, all of which are now streaming on Peacock. I suppose I should’ve known it was real. Adam Pally’s project before “Mr. Throwback” was playing a Jewish police officer and wrestler in “Knuckles,” a Paramount+ “Sonic the Hedgehog” spinoff that gave us one of the wildest (and strangely delightful) Shabbat TV episodes I’ve ever watched — featuring gefilte fish, Idris Elba, challah, Stockard Channing, “Pretty Woman” and fight scenes with menorahs. So a sitcom with Steph Curry in which Pally’s character was once the better basketball player of the two is, I suppose, the less hallucinatory project by comparison.
Pally’s character is indeed Jewish in “Mr. Throwback.” He’s a celebrated middle school b-ball player who was once known as “the Jewish Jordan.” And Steph Curry, while not Jewish, does have an affinity for Hebrew tattoos and names, so in a way he is an honorary member of the tribe. But you won’t find any Jewish celebrations or Shabbat dinners in this show; Grossman’s Jewish identity is mostly an aside, one that gets subtly referenced in random “Borat” jokes and stray “mazel tovs.” That may be because Grossman’s character, along with his father, Mitch Grossman, played by Pulitzer-winning playwright and legendary actor Tracy Letts (“Homeland,” “Divorce”), are both conmen, and I do think making them too Jewish would have been leaning into some gnarly Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories we’re not too excited about furthering at the moment.
In the series, Mitch was Steph and Danny’s coach, the best coach Curry has ever had, according to him (Steve Kerr gets a little disheartened when he discovers that through the crew filming a documentary about Steph’s life, whose work is derailed when Danny Grossman hijacks the tale). Mitch was a great coach, but not a great dad, according to Danny: “My dad made Earl Woods look like Elle Woods.” But throwing kids on the court (literally!) and pimping out his son for ad campaigns (Danny became the youngest Wheaties cover boy, which may or may not be a bit Jewish) was not the worst thing he did: Mitch made his son lie about his age, which derailed his entire basketball career and his friendship with Curry and Kim, played by SNL cast member Ego Nwodim, their classmate and Steph’s manager.
Danny becomes a vintage store owner and memorabilia seller. When we meet him, he’s long estranged from his father and divorced, sharing custody of his daughter Charlie, played by Layla Scalisi. When he gets in trouble with the Polish mafia, he goes to the one person whose jersey he knows will help him cover his debts. But as he reconnects with Curry and Kim, he discovers the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, at least not when it comes to the ability to pull off long cons.
Is “Mr. Throwback” a “Succession”-level masterpiece? No, but I don’t think it is aiming to be an arthouse comedy show, just a really winning and enjoyable sitcom — and that is something it absolutely is. Pally is always a brilliant sitcom actor, with great comedic timing and acting chops to match, and Ngowin is equally gifted. Curry may not be as natural an actor as the other two, but the Golden State Warriors star player and Olympic gold medalist is probably the most charming human in America. He’s incredibly funny and affable in the show and doesn’t take himself seriously at all. Letts’s performance is equal parts diverting, disturbing and surprisingly moving, and rounding out the cast are the wonderful Ayden Mayeri (“The Afterparty,” “I Love You For That”) as Sam, Danny’s ex-wife who also gets sucked into his schemes, and Rich Sommer (“GLOW,” “In the Dark”) as the overly serious Dr. Josh who proclaims, “I’ve been one of the foremost thought leaders in the preventative wellness space for over six months now.” Tien Tran is also quite wonderful as Lucy, the director of the aforementioned documentary. Add in random cameos from the likes of Jay Leno, Evan Funke and Nick Kroll (who is drafted as a charity event host when Andy Samberg isn’t available) and this show is chock-full of fun and funny faces.
“Mr. Throwback” is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. I mean that literally, which is something that caught me by surprise — I’m not one to usually laugh out loud while watching TV, but I found myself loudly cackling on multiple occasions. The jokes don’t always land, but they’re fun and daring. David Caspe, Matthew Libman and Daniel Libman who worked on “Happy Endings” with Pally, all serve as writers and executive producers, and along with Wain, you can definitely feel that “Mr. Throwback” is handled by comedy veterans.
Perhaps most surprisingly, though not if you consider both that Curry is at the forefront of this show and its creators’ body of work, is that this show is full of heart. In fact, after watching the finale, I would say that at its core, it’s a show about a Jewish father and son finding each other and finding themselves. Despite the fact that they’re petty (or maybe not so petty, there’s $11 million at stakes in one of their scams) conmen, “Mr. Throwback” shows two Jewish men being vulnerable and putting family and authenticity first, which is not bad Jewish representation at all. Curry has hinted that there may be more Danny and Steph shenanigans, and I certainly would appreciate being thrown back into the world of “Mr. Throwback” for another season.
Want more Jewish TV content? Join our Jewish TV Club on Substack!
