Looking for a sporty, fresh new show to watch as summer draws to a close, temperatures start to cool, and everyone heads back to school? Well, “Crew Girl” dropped just in time for the start of fall on Netflix, and while it would be a pretty great watch at any time of year, this young adult sports drama feels particularly appropriate as we move into the new season.
So what is “Crew Girl?” Both a sports drama for teens and a sweet coming-of-age story that’s made in Canada, “Crew Girl” was created by Vivian Lin and Morwyn Brebner and centers around Teagan Tao (Miku Martineau), a promising young rower who reluctantly agrees to join a boy’s varsity team as their coxswain (a position that shouts orders from the front of the boat to keep the crew team in line and coordinated during races) largely because her own new East Coast girl’s school doesn’t even have a crew team to begin with. As you can probably assume, Teagan is, quite quickly, swept into a love triangle that helps define this first season, which consists of eight episodes. Will Teagan fall for Samuel Braun’s Josh Regis, an entitled rich jerk whose family named the central boathouse but has a secret soft side, or will she gravitate toward the humbler Cam Dillinger (Kyle Clark), who knows he doesn’t fit in with Josh and his wealthy friends?
With “Mad Men” alum Jessica Paré as Teagan’s mother Ella — who gets her own subplots as well — and a talented Canadian cast, “Crew Girl” has been winning audiences over since it premiered in its entirety on September 10. So what should you watch if you love “Crew Girl?” From other teen dramas to Canadian gems, we’ve got some ideas.
Heated Rivalry
If you love steamy romance, Canadian television, and sports dramas, may we point you in the direction of “Heated Rivalry?” There’s a pretty good chance that, if you’re very into “Crew Girl,” you’re probably familiar with Jacob Tierney’s smash hit adaptation of Rachel Reid’s queer sports romance novels … but let’s go over the basics anyway. “Heated Rivalry” originally aired on Crave in Canada and then got a distribution deal from HBO Max in late 2025, which put it on the map in a big way and introduced the world to the love story of rival hockey players Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), a Russian-born star who leads the Boston Raiders, and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), the captain of the Montreal Metros.
After the two young men begin together as rookies — and their teams routinely face off against one another — Ilya and Shane embark on a secret romance, sneaking into each others’ hotel rooms after heated matches on the ice despite being bitter rivals in public. They also have personal hurdles they need to overcome in regards to their respective sexual identities; Ilya is comfortable with his queer identity but can’t be his true self in his home country of Russia, and Shane has never been with a man before and must grapple with his own sexuality as he falls deeper and deeper in love with Ilya.
What is there left to say about the magnificence that is “Heated Rivalry?” From pitch-perfect needle drops to a secondary love story between star New York hockey player Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and barista Christopher “Kip” Grady (Robbie G.K.) to smoldering chemistry between Williams and Storrie, “Heated Rivalry” is great. Go watch it — or re-watch it — if you love “Crew Girl.”
The Summer I Turned Pretty
“Crew Girl” centers around a strong-willed young woman and features plenty of gorgeous beachside views … so if you love that, you’ll definitely love the Amazon Prime Video original series “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
Adapted from the book series of the same name by author and showrunner Jenny Han, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” chronicles the beautifying journey experienced by protagonist Isabel “Belly” Conklin (a truly stunning Lola Tung), who’s spent years enjoying summers at the Fisher house in Cousin’s Beach with her mom Laurel (Jackie Chung). Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard), the owner of the beachfront property and Laurel’s longtime best friend, always welcomes Belly and Laurel to get out of town and hang out all summer, as do Laurel’s sons Conrad and Jeremiah (Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno). During that fateful summer where Belly “turns” “pretty” (try as the show might, it can’t hide Tung’s wild beauty, even in flashbacks where they slap bucket hats and fake braces on her), both boys notice, and a love triangle forms more or less immediately.
Sterling Point
“Crew Girl” has plenty of romantic drama to go with its sports drama, but if you’re leaning toward something a little more romance-heavy — and you’re looking for another Canadian production, potentially — you’ll definitely want to give “Sterling Point” a try.
Created by Megan Park — an actor turned director and showrunner who’s also the mind behind the excellent films “The Fallout” and “My Old Ass” — “Sterling Point” stars Ella Rubin as Annie Jacobson, who’s just 17 years old when she finds out that she and her brother Connor (Keen Ruffalo, son of the acclaimed actor Mark) inherited an entire island from their grandfather in Muskoka, which is located in the province of Ontario. Annie and Connor pull an opposite “Crew Girl,” so to speak, and relocate from New York City to Muskoka to uncover family secrets hidden within the island … and almost immediately, they discover Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle), the biological daughter of the woman who once adopted Annie.
Since this is a coming-of-age teen drama, don’t worry — there’s a love triangle. In this one, Annie finds herself torn between Rory (Daniel Quinn-Toye), her friend from New York who’s had a crush on her for years, and Muskoka boat builder Ellis (Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie), who catches Annie’s eye in Muskoka. With supporting turns from established stars like Missi Pyle, Jay Duplass, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, “Sterling Point” is an excellent teen drama that appeals to all ages, and you’ll definitely love it if you love “Crew Girl.”
Friday Night Lights
In retrospect, it’s wild just how many future famous actors appeared as teenagers in “Friday Night Lights,” the beloved NBC sports drama adapted from both a nonfiction book (H.G. Bissinger’s “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream,” released in 1990) and that book’s adaptation (2004’s “Friday Night Lights,” directed by Peter Berg).
When the series helmed by showrunner Jason Katims begins, we catch up with Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), the coach of the massively successful Texas high school team the Dillon Panthers, and we follow him through his life in Dillon, Texas alongside his wife Tami (a perfectly deployed Connie Britton) and their daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), as well as, of course, his work with the Panthers. In the pilot episode, we watch in horror, along with the in-universe crowd of Panthers fans, as star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) suffers a career-ending injury that ultimately leaves him paralyzed from the waist down.
As “Friday Night Lights” continues, we watch as Jason’s cheerleader girlfriend Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) grapples with her boyfriend’s new life and battles feelings for his best friend and teammate Tim Rigigns (Taylor Kitsch), and with encouragement from his best friend and eventual Panthers player Landry Clark (Jesse Plemons), new quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) comes into his own. Across five seasons and 76 episodes, “Friday Night Lights” centers both football and the personal lives of everyone involved and also features young up-and-comers like Jurnee Smollett, Gaius Charles, and even future Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan. Frankly, “Crew Girl” wouldn’t exist without a blueprint as great as “Friday Night Lights.”
All-American
“Crew Girl” got an immediate boost in ratings by premiering on Netflix as an original series and capturing people’s attention on the streamer, but the 2018 teen sports drama “All-American” took a different approach (albeit not on purpose). When “All-American” first hit the airwaves, it ran on The CW and suffered from relatively weak ratings; when Netflix picked it up for distribution, it got way more views and became somewhat of a sleeper hit. So what is “All-American?”
Created by showrunner April Blair, “All-American” is a loose interpretation of the early years of former NFL player Spencer Paysinger and stars Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, a young boy from Crenshaw in South Los Angeles who’s recruited to play for a team in the ritzy neighborhood of Beverly Hills elsewhere in the city. With the help of coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs), Spencer gains experience and his dreams of becoming an NFL player feel more possible with each passing day, but the socioeconomic divide between Spencer and his classmates is always apparent. All the while, Spencer is supported by his best friend Tamia “Coop” Cooper (Bre-Z), his girlfriend Layla Keating (Greta Onieogou), and even Billy’s son Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling), who becomes a brother figure to Spencer over time. “All-American” can be wild and sensational, sure, but it’s a truly thrilling and compulsively watchable sports show about teens finding themselves and honing their talents, and it’ll be a surefire hit for anyone who loves “Crew Girl.”
As for “Crew Girl,” it’s streaming on Netflix now.
