Clubhouse

From the beginning, I liked the show despite the flaws. I am not some teenage kid in love with Jeremy. I am a mid 30's man. The point being is that the show could have been written better but had some moral points that are identical to today. I read the post about drinking beer in a stadium. Come on! Kids at 16 years old are doing this. Is it right? NO. I like the show and wish that CBS would make more of an attempt in making it a success. This show and other shows like 7th Heaven and Everwood depict normal family life in their own unique way. I like watching shows like the CSI series or NYPD blue but I also like a break from immoral type lifestyles to more family and kid friendly shows. In the episode with the hazing and Jeremy kissing and drinking beer, a very fundamental and important lesson that all children should learn from is despite all of the hazing and being punched in the mouth, he did not resort to violence to get even. Placing the other guys necklace where he did may not have been right but not physical revenge was used. Maybe some other network will pick up this show and give it a chance that it deserves.

I've watched about 3 episodes of this show, and too much emphasis is being placed on the kid. How much do 16-yr. olds know about the fast-paced world of sports? This is too family-friendly, I wish this would be on cable TV, to show the REAL underbelly of baseball, especially the fame, potential for substance abuse, the bad behavior, etc. For example, could you see a 16-yr. old batboy take life lessons from Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden? Not hardly!

Clubhouse soft sells baseball trials and tribulations and turns it into this softball, cushy, feel-good family show. Dean Cain made a another career boo-boo, when he starred in this show. Maybe if he made peace with Teri Hatcher, maybe he could have a spot on the MORE successful "Desperate Housewives".

Ever since I discovered Jeremy Sumpter was the star of 'Clubhouse' I was hooked. I was excited for the premier, and it was amazing. I discovered that Jeremy isn't just super hot, but hes an amazing actor, too. He makes his character completely realistic and I love his facial expressions. When he was crying in the pilot, I cried too. The rest of the cast is amazing, too. Kirsten Storms' character; Betsy, adds humor to the show with her drinking problem and disregard for the rules. The only thing that annoyed be about the first two episodes, was how similar they were. In both, Pete was put in a situation where he has to decide whether to help the team, and possibly get in trouble, or stay out of it and become hated by them. If the show continues like this, I can see the ratings going down. Overall, Clubhouse is a great original show for everyone, its definitely different from the typical teen dramas. From the die-hard baseball fans, to the squealing fangirls, Clubhouse can be enjoyed by all.

CBS pulled the plug on Clubhouse way too early. A friend gave me the book that Clubhouse was based on. It's called "BAT BOY" by a guy named Matt McGough who was actually a bat boy for the Yankees. It just came out a few months ago, after the show got cancelled (kind of weird timing). As good as the show was, the book is even better.

A lot of the stories from Clubhouse seem like they came straight from the book -- the prank the players pulled on Pete his first day of work, and the potato cannon, and meeting girls at Yankee Stadium, and lots of other inside stories about the Yankees locker room and growing up in New York. Not much about his sister Betsy the JD, but that was actually my least favorite part of the show by far.

I even met Matt at a reading he did in New York last weekend. He didn't know if they're planning on releasing Clubhouse on DVD. But he did say that the book has a website, www.batboybook.com, and that he'd try to post any update.

This show has a few clichés and a few over the top, Dawson's Creek-like moments (a 16-year-old talking about way back when life made sense?), but overall it seems like a decent show. Most of the characters seem very real, and the story seemed to move along well in the pilot - ending with a good lesson in the end. I just hope every episode doesn't turn out to be life-altering like the first, that would just be too much drama for this vehicle. Jeremy Sumpter does an excellent job as a teenager with a passion for baseball, I believe a lot of us could relate to his awe and sometimes tunnel vision for the team that he always wanted to a part of.