''Long Slow Exhale'' is an American

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

drama television series created by

Pam Veasey Pamela Renea Veasey (born May 25, 1962) is an American television writer, producer, and director. Career Veasey graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in Journalism and Political Science. She began her writing career i ...

for

Spectrum Originals Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, Cable Internet access, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2014; pr ...

and

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. From

Paramount Television Studios Paramount Television Studios (formerly known as Paramount Television from 2013 to 2020) is an American television production and distribution company, that is a division of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the success ...

, Veasey executive produced alongside her former ''

L.A.'s Finest ''L.A.'s Finest'' is an American action comedy TV series, action comedy crime fiction, crime television series created by Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier; and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It is a Spin-off (media), spinoff of the Ba ...

'' collaborators Anton Cropper and Jon Dove, bringing the trio back to Spectrum after the '' Bad Boys'' spinoff served as their first scripted originals foray. Cropper also directed the series. Also executive producing were

Bruna Papandrea Bruna Papandrea (born 1971) is an Australian Film producer, film and television producer and the founder of production company Made Up Stories (company), Made Up Stories. Prior to Made Up Stories (company), Made Up Stories, Papandrea co-founded ...

and Casey Haver for Made Up Stories. The series premiered April 4, 2022 and was canceled after one season in June 2022.

Premise

A competitive women's college basketball team head coach, J.C. Abernathy, finds herself in a potentially career-ending sexual abuse scandal. As she tries to find the truth among the many secrets she uncovers, she has to make hard decisions that will affect her, her family and the team of female athletes who all rely on her.

Cast and characters

Main

Rose Rollins Rose Rollins (born April 30, 1981) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Tasha Williams in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime drama series, ''The L Word'' (2007–09) and as Valerie Anderson in the American Broadcasting Company, AB ...

as J.C. Abernathy, Head Coach *

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (20 ...

as Hillman Ford, Athletic Director of the university *

Ian Harding Ian Michael Harding (born September 16, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ezra Fitz in the Freeform mystery drama ''Pretty Little Liars'' from 2010 to 2017. Early life Harding was born in Heidelberg, West Germany, to an A ...

as Eddie Hagan, Assistant Coach *

Lyriq Bent Lyriq Bent (born January 3, 1979) is a Jamaican-Canadian actor. He is known for his roles in the ''Saw'' films, the television series ''Rookie Blue'', and '' The Book of Negroes''. Bent portrays Jamie Overstreet in the Netflix series ''She's Go ...

as Garrett Carter, J.C.'s husband * Shalini Bathina as Emily Fisk, Associate Head Coach * Enajite Esegine as Jordan Malone * Brittney Elena as Corrine Porter * Jazmine Stewart as Verdell * Isabella Star LaBlanc as Elfrina * Carmen Flood as Nikki Dessandro * Erin Croom as Lorna Avery

Recurring

Famke Janssen Famke Beumer Janssen (; born ) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in ''GoldenEye'' (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the ''Taken'' film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she ...

as Dr. Melinda Barrington, Chancellor of the university * Samantha Bartow as Shannon Crawford, the star three-pointer on the Clayton Hall Cougars *

Brent Sexton Brent Sexton (born August 12, 1967) is an American actor best known for his roles in the television series '' Bosch'', '' The Killing'', ''Life'', and '' Deadwood''. He has guest starred in several other television series, such as ''The Expanse' ...

as Arlin Swayne, a former Atlanta police officer *

Tony Gonzalez Anthony David Gonzalez (born February 27, 1976) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he is the NFL's all-time leader ...

as Desmond, Corrine's father, a former professional football player and Clayton Hall superstar *

Jaiden Kaine Jaiden Kaine is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Killing Lincoln'' and ''The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, ...

as Deputy Belmont * Gabrielle Byndloss as Vivian, J.C.'s assistant * Enya Flack as Jillian Porter, Corrine's step-mother * Melissa Saint-Amand as Claire Brockman * Britt Rentschler are Rachel Fleming * Betsy Borrego as Jessica Owens * Anabella Raye as Kate Ford

Episodes

Production

The show was announced on February 9, 2021, with the cast announcement of Rose Rollins. There would be twelve episodes in the series. The series, from Paramount Television Studios, would launch first on Spectrum and then on BET after nine months. It was noted that this windowing strategy "is a way to split the costs of producing high-end scripted fare during a time in which many media companies are focusing less on linear networks." The show was in development/pre-production in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA. It was reported that filming would begin in Atlanta in March.

was announced on February 19, 2021. Jeff Schine was announced on March 4, 2021 but due to scheduling conflicts, he was replaced by Ian Harding as announced on March 24, 2021.

was announced on March 9, 2021.

, Shalini Bathina, and the series regulars and recurring cast were also all announced on March 24, 2021. Melissa Saint-Amand was announced on August 4, 2021.

References

External links

* {{Charter Communications 2020s American drama television series 2022 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings Television series by Paramount Television Television series by Made Up Stories Spectrum Originals original programming BET original programming