Hang Time is an Americanteen sitcom that aired on NBC from September 9, 1995 to December 16, 2000 as part of the network's Saturday morningprogram block for teenagers, TNBC. Created by Troy Searer, Robert Tarlow and Mark Fink, the series featured extensive cast changes throughout its six-season run, similar to its TNBC stablemate . The show's title is taken from a referring to the length of time that a player spends in the air. Hang Time won a Prism Awardin 1999 for its accurate depictions of drug use in the season four episodes "High Hoops" and "Breaks of the Game".
Synopsis
The series centers on the exploits of the Deering Tornados boys' varsity basketball team of the fictional Deering High School in the fictional Midwestern town of Deering, Indiana. In the pilot episode, Julie Connor transfers to Deering High after moving to Indiana from Chicago, Illinois. Although she meets some initial resistance from the male players on the team, Bill Fuller, the team's coach and a former player in the NBA, decides to make Julie the team's first female player after she shows off her basketball skills to the other members of the team – including star player Chris Atwater ; Danny Mellon, who develops a crush on Julie upon their first meeting; sometimes overconfident Michael Maxwell and country-bred Earl Hatfield. Head cheerleader Mary Beth Pepperton – whose father is a wealthy, self-made businessman – was initially jealous of Julie, particularly where her boyfriend for most of the first season Chris was concerned. Samantha Morgan, the Tornados' team manager, became Danny's girlfriend later in the season. For the second season, Saved by the Bellexecutive producerPeter Engel was appointed as the series' showrunner, resulting in extensive changes to the show. About half of the main cast was let go, with new characters being added in their place. Three new players were added – Josh Sanders, whom the team convinced to come out of retirement from competitive sports years after being prodded by his Little League coach to bean another player; Vince D'Amata, a Chicago native who had previously served as an alternate on the team; and Theodore "Teddy" Brodis, Coach Fuller's godson and the son of a professional basketball player – while the peppy Amy Wright became head cheerleader, replacing Mary Beth, who was promoted to team manager. Storylines also began to increasingly incorporate a balance of plotlines focusing on topical issues relevant to teenagers and life lessons about teamwork, alongside wackier comedic plots synonymous with other TNBC series. The remainder of the series' run featured several cast changes, the most notable being the season four addition of former NFL player Dick Butkus as the Tornados' new coach, Mike Katowinski. Although the series ran for six seasons, Daniella Deutscher and Megan Parlen were the only two of the show's original cast members that stayed with the show throughout its entire run; Adam Frost and Amber Barretto – who both joined the series in season three – are the other regular cast members to join the series in later seasons to remain on Hang Time until the series finale. The characters serving as the students featured in the fifth and sixth seasons all graduated and went to different colleges; however, since Eugene's future college was not mentioned, that character was offered a job. Coach Katowinski's future plans were also not mentioned, but he remained in his position as Deering High's boys' basketball coach, which returned to a roster of all boys.
