The series follows the lives of a group of people from both Crenshaw and Beverly Hills and features an ensemble cast starring Daniel Ezra in the lead role as well as Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Samantha Logan, Michael Evans Behling, Cody Christian, Karimah Westbrook, Monet Mazur, Taye Diggs, Jalyn Hall, Chelsea Tavares, Hunter Clowdus, Osy Ikhile, Alexis Chikaeze, Nathaniel Logan McIntyre and Antonio J.

All American is inspired by the life of professional American football player Spencer Paysinger and originally revolves around teen Spencer James (Ezra), a rising star football player from Crenshaw whose dream is to make it to the NFL, as he is recruited by coach Billy Baker (Diggs) to play for his high school team in Beverly Hills.

The series was met with positive reviews from both critics and audiences, with praise being aimed in particular at the football sequences and performances of Ezra, Christian and Diggs.

[3] Cast members of the spin-off All American: Homecoming: In September 2017, it was announced that the CW veteran Greg Berlanti had two pilots in development for the network, one of them inspired by the life of NFL football player Spencer Paysinger.

[43][44] The renewal was a part of the deal in which The CW was sold to Nexstar,[45] with the size of the sixth season being expanded from 13 to 15 episodes on April 22, 2024.

[4] On September 24, 2024, it was announced that Samantha Logan, Cody Christian, Karimah Westbrook, Monet Mazur and Chelsea Tavares would not return as series regulars for the seventh season as well, but it was confirmed that Ezra would make guest appearances, as would others of the former main cast members, and also direct.

The website's critical consensus reads, "All American's ambitious attempts to tackle class struggles and classroom drama largely play thanks to its winning cast—an auspicious start to a promising new series".

[52] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[77] On March 29, 2021, Peyton Alex Smith, Cory Hardrict, Kelly Jenrette, Sylvester Powell, Netta Walker, and Camille Hyde were cast to star in the series.

[78] On May 24, 2021, All American: Homecoming was picked up to series with Nkechi Okoro Carroll serving both as creator and executive producer, the latter alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and Robbie Rogers.

[79] The backdoor pilot, written by Carroll and directed by Michael Schultz, aired on July 5, 2021, as part of the third season of All American.