Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Reality show-within-a-show is winning, some mature humor.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Big Leap
What's the Story?
Seven years ago, Gabby Lewis (Simone Recasner) and her boyfriend Justin Calgrove (Raymond Cham Jr.) were promising high school dancers, until circumstance in the form of Gabby's surprise pregnancy and Justin's public realization that he's actually gay tore them apart both from each other and from dance competitions. Now Gabby's a single mom working an office job and living with her own mother (Nora Dunn), while Justin works in a bowling alley and is estranged from his family. But when Gabby sees poster advertising reality dance competition THE BIG LEAP, she believes she and Justin just may have a chance to dance again and shake up their now-humdrum lives. Gabby's not the only one who hopes the competition will change their lives: Julia (Teri Polo) is told her online videos about aging gracefully are starting to lose relevance and wonders if her dance background might make her stand out in the version of Swan Lake that THE BIG LEAP is putting on; Mike (Mike Rudnitsky) is working multiple gig economy jobs and hopes a spin on the show will win back his estranged wife. They know they're not the typical people who might be dancing on TV, but if they can change that, what else about their lives might change?
Is It Any Good?
Sweet and easy to love, this gentle comedy takes a behind the scenes look at a reality competition we can easily imagine home network Fox airing, with relatable characters and tender humor. On the relatable character front, as single mom Gabby Lewis, Simone Recasner is a star, plain and simple. As Big Leap (the show within the show, not the show we're watching right now) executive producer Nick Blackburn (Scott Foley) enthuses when he looks at her, "She looks like America to me." And she does. Women who look like Gabby are usually playing the best friend role on television, providing electric wit on the sidelines while some skinny girl gets most of the screentime and the romantic lead. Here, she's front and center, surprised to be thrust into a starring role in the ballet the reality show contestants are mounting when she thought that was only for women with tiny bodies. Every emotion Recasner channels, from defiance to disappointment to fledgling hope, is vividly rendered and authentic.
Her burgeoning romance with Big Leap's only big name, notorious football star Reggie Sadler (Ser'Darius Blain), is unexpected and surprisingly lovely too; a moment near the end of the first episode in which Reggie upends Gabby's expectations by performing a balletic lift may make some viewers tear up. A show in which a woman with a larger body type is portrayed as a real romantic possibility for a conventionally attractive man is rare on television, and though THE BIG LEAP (the show we're watching, not the show within a show) conspires to entangle Gabby and Reggie in a TV-friendly love triangle, the connection between these two characters still reads as genuine and touching. Some of the other characters on the show are introduced less sympathetically (Julia's arc as an aging ballet dancer with an uncaring family is particularly unappealing), but in a show with this much heart, it's a safe bet that we'll eventually understand where they're coming from, and start to cheer for them too. THE BIG LEAP is a winner, on and off the stage.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how much can you take at face value when you watch a reality show. Do you think the cast members are behaving the same way they would in real life, or are these shows being edited a certain way to make the story more entertaining? Do you find the behind-the-scenes scenarios shown in The Big Leap believable?
How can you tell what characters to relate to on a TV show? What cues does the show give you in terms of lighting, costuming, dialogue, screen time and other factors? What characters on The Big Leap are you supposed to like? Which are you supposed to find negative or villainous? Do you expect these perceptions to change over the course of the show?
How do the characters in The Big Leap demonstrate courage and integrity? Why are these important character strengths?
TV Details
- Premiere date : September 20, 2021
- Cast : Karen Rodriguez , Rickey Colbert , Maya Lou Hlava
- Network : Fox
- Genre : Comedy
- Character Strengths : Courage , Integrity
- TV rating :
- Last updated : December 10, 2025
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