Apple TV have really found a template for the comedy output with "Ted Lasso" and it's one they are mining again with "Stick", a golf themed family comedy starring Owen Wilson.
Having crashed out from the professional circuit following a personal tragedy, Pryce Cahill (Owen Wilson) spots Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager) hitting balls for fun a the driving range. Spotting his potential, Pryce tries to convince Santi to turn pro, with his help but Santi's mother Elena (Mariana Trevino) is sceptical of Pryce and Santi himself has already been burned by an overbearing golf coach father.
That formula is yet again "nice". Super nice characters, doing nice things for each other and generally being good people. There are some shades of grey to it in this series, as Pryce is capable of bending the truth to fit what he believes is the greater good. The niceness rolls into the supporting characters, even ones that might traditionally have been antagonistic. Pryce's ex-wife played by Judy Greer might, in another show, be written as a killjoy, but here she's very supportive. Similarly, Timothy Olyphant plays one of Pryce's former rivals in the later episodes and whilst he enjoys rubbing his success in his face, and seems prepared to date a character spectacularly too young for him, he comes good when he really needs too.
I wouldn't describe the series as a laugh riot, though both Wilson and Marc Maron, who plays his former caddy and mentor, wring as much as they can out of it. It struggled most when it's trying to do the generational comparison type stuff. But it's hard to not feel positively about the series, based just on its own upbeat and wholesome tone. I'll certainly be back to watch season two.
