It’s no secret that MMA has grown in popularity. With an ever increasing fan base, including female fans that can aspire to be the next Ronda Rousey, and an expanding network of fighters to pit against each other – MMA has proven itself to be a worthy and watchable sport.
It’s unsurprising, then, that someone had finally decided to go beyond the reality shows and MMA fighter appearances in action films in order to create a show based entirely around the fictional lives of an MMA family and gym.
The Emergence of a Kingdom
What is more surprising is that so far the show, Kingdom, appears to be doing exceptionally well. Perhaps it is the natural drama that surrounds MMA fighting at its core. With such an intense atmosphere, crammed with high levels of competition, huge and painful losses, and major wins, there seems little necessity to go beyond the realm of reality. It’s not difficult to believe that Kingdom’s fighters originate from often gritty pasts. Poor home lives and childhoods filled with struggle are the driving forces behind many real-life fighters, many of whom cross from street-fighting into more professional venues.
There’s also the intensity of the sport, which frequently villainizes fighters, dubs others heroes, and creates rivalries purely to entertain. The sport is a direct personification of the human love of competition and tense, win or lose situations. With a setup like that, Kingdom had the outline of a narrative already, without having to stretch for heart pounding moments.
Kingdom centers on the life of Alvey (Frank Grillo), a former MMA champion who owns a struggling, free-membership gym. His two sons, Nate (Nick Jonas) and Jay (Jonathan Tucker) are both active fighters, though Nate shows more promise. Jay, unfortunately, has succumbed to addiction. Alvey is intent on keeping the gym free for all members, but, as expected, this is not an easy financial task. The gym, named Navy Street, is often on the brink of closing, leading Alvey to recruit former champion Ryan Wheeler (Matt Lauria), who is on the rebound from drug addiction himself.
Nick Jonas can assuredly be credited with bringing members of his large fan base (mainly teenage women) to the show, but he’s also proved himself a worthy actor. His physical ability is apparent, as is Matt Lauria’s, perhaps a less shocking discovery since Lauria previously starred as a young football star in Friday Night Lights. Adding on to the believability of the show is the knowledge that the actors not only trained for months prior to shooting, but perform their own stunts.
For his part, Frank Grillo brought years of experience in martial arts, boxing, and wrestling to the table. Starting in his youth he was active in wrestling before gaining an interest in boxing during his late teens. He even made his way to the competitive circuit for a short period and still actively trains in his native New York. In addition to his 35 years of boxing training, he spent time with professional fighter Greg Jackson to get a better feel of what the fighters, and their families, go through on a day to day basis.
Together with Jonas, Tucker, and Lauria, the cast of Kingdom brings a gritty realness to the world of MMA in a show unlike any other. The fans seem to be appreciative of their efforts too, as the show’s premiere episode managed to make its way onto the Nielsen Twitter TV ratings chart, despite being only available to DirectTV customers through the Audience channel, likely in large part to Jonas’s substantial following online.
Thanks to that response, DirectTV has ordered a second season with double the number of episodes of the first season. The second season will have 20 episodes, 10 of which will air in the fall of 2015 and 10 in early 2016. It looks like the fans have spoken, and DirecTV has heard; MMA is here to stay.
Kingdom airs every Wednesday on DirectTV’s Audience channel at 9pm (EST)
By Elizabeth Eckhart
