Netflix released its new basketball sitcom Running Point Thursday, a day after prevailing in court over Pepperdine University in a trademark infringement suit.
The new Mindy Kaling-produced show stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, who becomes the new president of the Los Angeles Waves, a pro basketball team owned by her family. Pepperdine is based in the Los Angeles area, and its longtime nickname is the Waves. The university filed suit on Feb. 20 to block Netflix and production company Warner Bros. Discovery from releasing parts of the series, which it alleged infringed on the basketball team’s trademarks.
The Christian university said that the series “bears a striking resemblance in branding to Pepperdine’s longstanding and well-known Waves athletics program. The series prominently features a team name, colors, and other indicia that are identical or highly similar to Pepperdine’s, as well as the number ’37’, which is closely associated with the university’s history and mascot.”
HollywoodReporter.com reported U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela ruled that Netflix’s use of the Waves’ marks “does not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source of the work.”
The 10-episode season of Running Point premiered Thursday. Netflix hasn’t announced a second season, although a cliffhanger at the end of the final episode sets the stage for more to come.
The series has earned generally positive reviews thus far. TV critic Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Something like Ted Lasso meets Succession, but it’s less sentimental than the former, much, much sweeter than the latter and less “naturalistic” than either …”
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.