It’s finally here. The fifth season of Last Chance U is now streaming on Netflix and it will be the final season as the crew will move on from football. Next year Last Chance U: Basketball will premiere and it will focus on a junior college basketball team.
“We’re thrilled to be able to delve into the world of Laney College for our fifth season and to have had the opportunity to document the incredible grit and drive of these JUCO players in Oakland, California,” executive producer/director Greg Whiteley said in a statement. Whiteley also said he “wanted to give viewers a raw behind-the-scenes look at junior college athletics and we’re excited to expand the LCU legacy onto the court with JUCO basketball.”
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Last Chance U: Laney was released on Tuesday. All eight episodes of the season came out at the same time, and the season will focus on Laney College, which is located in California. One year before Netflix arrived, Laney College finished the 2018 season with an 11-2 record and was the California Community College Athletic Association Football Champion. Laney College is led by head coach John Beam who is also the school’s, athletic director. Beam is the “only coach in California history to be recognized as the high school state coach of the year and the junior college state coach of the year, according to his bio.
“Netflix’s critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated series Last Chance U returns for Season 5 in a brand new setting to give viewers a raw, authentic look at the junior college football program at Laney College in the heart of Oakland, California,” the official synopsis states. It goes on to explain how the Laney Eagles “have a hard season to follow and a lot to prove” after winning the state and national championship.
Early reviews of Last Chance U: Laney seem to be positive. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote Last Chance U: Laney is a “satisfying change of pace for the franchise after two years at Kansas’ Independence Community College, where Coach Jason Brown’s abusive and self-aggrandizing approach made for good TV, but sucked all of the oxygen out of the locker room, rendering the actual players a near afterthought in the fourth season.” Last Chance U premiered in 2016. The show spent two seasons at East Mississippi Community College and the next two seasons at Independence Community College in Kansas.
