• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, August 5, 2024

The NBA’s best shooter takes a shot at TV comedy and scores.

Steph Curry plays himself in the show, titled “Mr. Throwback.” It premieres Thursday on Peacock.

On the face of it, it would seem that playing oneself is not that big a stretch. But the “Steph Curry” the NBA superstar plays in “Mr. Throwback” is more of a gentle parody of his real self than a real-life depiction of the master of the three-ball.

Evidently, Steph Curry, 36, is a man of many talents.

Applying his trademark charisma, he handles himself like a TV comedy pro alongside the star of this show, comedian Adam Pally (seen with Curry in the above photo), who has a long history of improv work.

Pally is the “Mr. Throwback” of the title. He plays Danny Grossman, the ne’er-do-well owner of a sports memorabilia shop that by all appearances is not doing well at all.

It is not unfair to cavalierly label him a ne’er-do-well because that is the way he is described by more than one observer interviewed on the show, which is styled as a documentary-in-progress about this man.

The synopsis is this: Danny was a basketball phenom in middle school in the 1990s who was the best player on his team and in the entire area.

One of his schoolboy teammates was the young Steph Curry, and even the future NBA star was in awe over his friend Danny’s talent.

Danny’s skills became so well-known that he was already being scouted by the NBA at age 12.

But suddenly, a scandal put an end to Danny’s career while still in middle school, and his hopes of ever advancing in basketball were dashed forever.

Cut to the present day, and he owes money to mobsters. And so he pursues and reunites with his old teammate to seek his financial help.

It is a great premise, and in the tradition of great made-for-TV comedy, Danny’s plans not only go sideways, but they go every which way.

Aside from the pairing of Curry and Pally, “Mr. Throwback” excels because of the quality of its production.

For example, Danny’s middle-school career is shown with the use of vintage videotape that was either cleverly created for the show or taken from real-life home videos and adapted for the show.

The same goes for a sequence that tells the story of the aftermath of Danny’s fall from grace, complete with video of an old Jay Leno monologue in which Leno appears to be telling a Danny Grossman joke.

The TV Blog has not come across that many new comedies in 2024 compared with 2023, but “Mr. Throwback” is one of the best shows that I have seen this year -- comedy or drama.

“Mr. Throwback” starts streaming Thursday (August 8) on Peacock.