On the Team

***On the Team*** is an original series created by Noggin. It is a 13-episode documentary series about the troubles and triumphs of a youth baseball team in New York City.

The show premiered on January 30, 2001, on Noggin. The episodes were also shown on the main Nickelodeon channel from May to June 2001. From April 2002 onward, the show only aired during The N, Noggin's nighttime programming block for teens. It last aired in reruns on December 21, 2003.

## History

The show was created by Lisa Wood Shapiro. She compared the show's concept to "*The Real World* meets *The Bad News Bears*." In an interview for *The New York Times*, she said "I definitely wanted to do some kind of cinéma vérité for kids, and I knew I wanted to do a sport. I was on a Little League baseball team [as a kid] and I was the only girl, and it was horrible. I always regretted that I didn't do sports more." She chose baseball as the sport to focus on, then spent the summer of 2000 searching for a baseball team that demonstrated team spirit. She chose the Camp Friendship Panthers because, while they were far from the best team, they all enjoyed playing and treated each other as friends.

## Summary

The series follows the real-world experiences of a Brooklyn co-ed youth baseball team, on and off the field, which are documented as the kids battle their way into the playoffs during the 2000 season. The team is called the Camp Friendship Panthers and practices at Prospect Park.

## Cast

* **Bobby Gari** (aka "Coach Bobby") - The vociferous head coach
* **Mr. Cruz** (aka "Mr. C") - Coach Bobby's calm, collected assistant who is the father of Stephanie
* **Stephanie Cruz** - Mr. C's daughter and the team's ace pitcher
* **Aida** - A wannabe pitcher who can only throw a few feet
* **Christine** - A left-fielder who always cheers for her own team
* **Jarian** - The team's best hitter
* **Jarra** - An optimistic right-fielder who is friends with everyone
* **Justin** - The short-stop and outfield player
* **Jordan** - The runt of the team who is stuck in a batting slump
* **Kevin** - Jordan's best friend

## Episodes

The show had 13 episodes. The titles and premiere dates of most episodes are known from the *Excite TV* website. The only unknown title is the ninth episode.

* Episode 1: "The Making of a Ball Player" - Jan 30, 2001
* Episode 2: "Picking the Panthers" - Jan 31, 2001
* Episode 3: "Becoming a Team" - Feb 13, 2001
* Episode 4: "Practice in Life" - Feb 20, 2001
* Episode 5: "Everyone's Friend" - Feb 27, 2001
* Episode 6: "Picking the All Stars" - Mar 6, 2001
* Episode 7: "To Quit or Not to Quit" - Mar 13, 2001
* Episode 8: "Striking Out" - Mar 20, 2001
* Episode 9: ?? - Mar 27, 2001
* Episode 10: "It's Only a Game" - Apr 3, 2001
* Episode 11: "Making the Grade" - Apr 10, 2001
* Episode 12: "The Re-Match" - Apr 17, 2001
* Episode 13: "Trophy Day" - Apr 24, 2001

Sources: episodes 1-3, episodes 4-5, episodes 6-8, episodes 11-13

## Online

The show had its own page on Noggin's website, Noggin.com. There was an online game based on the show called "*On the Team*'s Fantasy Baseball League." It featured segments called "Rules of Baseball" and "Baseball Lingo." In mid-2001, the top ten players of the game won a Noggin package of prizes. The top 100 players were inducted into an online list of players called the *On the Team* Hall of Fame. (source)

The Noggin site also included another element called "*On the Team*'s Calculator" which allowed sport players to catalogue their scores.

## Links

* *Family Screen Scene* article about the show
* *Variety* article
* *The New York Times* article