The show Blue Mountain State on Spike TV is one of my guilty pleasures. Having just finished its third season, the show features the college-age hijinks of the Blue Mountain State football team, the nationally-ranked Goats. The Division 1 powerhouse is known for its record-setting coach, supported by his outspoken ex-wife (played by Denise Richards, the biggest name in the credits), and its diverse players.
The two lead characters, Thad Castle (Alan Ritchson) and Alex Moran (Darin Brooks), present a great dynamic duo. Alex Moran is the team’s laid-back quarterback who slowly evolved from second-string slacker to starting star, and Thad Castle is the team’s champion linebacker and Captain, sporting male model good looks and a personality that is both charmingly narcissistic and endearingly dim-witted.
I enjoy the show for its juvenile humor and its potent characters, all of whom seemed to offer something far more than you’d expect from lowly Spike TV. The characters of Thad Castle and Alex Moran are both quite watchable and play well off of each other. Castle, being a year older than Moran, begins the show’s run as an insecure, vindictive “role model” for the incoming freshman quarterback. His vicious streak seems to mellow into childish selfishness in the second and third seasons, making the linebacker easier to like.
The show, according to multichannel.com, was a tremendous boost to Spike’s prevalence in the evening time slot, more than doubling its viewers.
But the best thing about the show was its third season finale, which featured great acting and originality. The finale featured positive themes without compromising on the American Pie-esque humor, involved all main characters to a equitable extent, and had a great ending with sufficient nail-biting tension (necessary in any sports show).
I don’t know if Spike will air a fourth season of Blue Mountain State, but I certainly hope it will. If you haven’t taken a peek at this little-known show, give it a chance!
