The Crew (2021 TV series)

The Crew is an American comedy television series created by Jeff Lowell for Netflix that premiered on February 15, 2021. The series stars Kevin James as the crew chief of a NASCAR race team. In July 2021, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

The series takes place in a NASCAR garage where the crew chief butts heads with his new boss and "tech-reliant millennial" staff when his owner decided to retire and let his Stanford-educated daughter take over the racing team.

Cast and characters

Main

Kevin James as Kevin Gibson, the crew chief of Bobby Spencer Racing
Jillian Mueller as Catherine Spencer, the new CEO of Bobby Spencer Racing and Bobby Spencer's daughter
Freddie Stroma as Jake Martin, the driver of Bobby Spencer Racing
Gary Anthony Williams as Chuck Stubbs, the car chief of Bobby Spencer Racing
Dan Ahdoot as Amir Lajani, the chief engineer of Bobby Spencer Racing
Sarah Stiles as Beth Paige, the office manager of Bobby Spencer Racing

Recurring

Bruce McGill as Bobby Spencer, the owner and the old CEO of the racing team
Paris Berelc as Jessie De La Cruz, a young racing driver that Catherine is considering hiring to replace Jake
Mather Zickel as Frank, Beth's boyfriend who is a financial analyst at Kinnane Brothers

Guest starring

Kim Coates as Rob, the racing team's biggest sponsor
Ryan Blaney as Himself
Austin Dillon as Himself
Jamie Little as Herself
Cole Custer as Himself
Lesli Margherita as Morgan Conrad, the owner of Fake Steak and Kevin's love interest

Production

Development

On September 4, 2019, Netflix gave the production a series order. The series is created by Jeff Lowell who also executive produced alongside Kevin James, Jeff Sussman, Todd Garner, Matt Summers and Tim Clark. On July 2, 2021, Netflix canceled the series after one season.

Casting

Upon series order announcement, Kevin James was also cast to star in the series. On December 17, 2019, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Ahdoot, Freddie Stroma, Sarah Stiles, and Jillian Mueller joined the cast as series regulars. On January 30, 2020, Mather Zickel was cast in a recurring role. On January 15, 2021, it was reported that Paris Berelc and Bruce McGill were cast in recurring capacities.

Filming

The Crew was filmed at Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, New York, but it is set in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Release

The series was released on Netflix on February 15, 2021.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 40% based on 10 critic reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 49 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".