Stream It Or Skip It: ‘March’ On The CW, A Docuseries About The Marching Band At Prairie View A&M

March is a docuseries that focuses on the Marching Storm, the marching band at Prairie View A&M, a college in Texas that’s among the group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that have been around for over 100 years. Being in the marching band at an HBCU is definitely a different experience than being in the band at other universities, and this series tries to show those differences.

MARCH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Shots of the Prairie View A&M marching band during a game.

The Gist: At this point, we’re right before homecoming in 2021. There hasn’t been a homecoming in 2 years due to the pandemic, and the different pieces of the 300-member band are furiously practicing their parts of the halftime routine for the game. The drum majors, led by Aaron, who’s a senior, all have the build of athletes and the dancing skills of professional hip hop dancers. Another senior, Jalen, calls the Marching Storm “the best band in the land.”

They’re always at the top of The Undefeated’s rankings of HBCU marching bands, but currently sit at 8th, a place that Dr. Timothy Zachery, the band director, knows is an unusual spot for his squad. The pressure is on for this group to perform well at homecoming in order to move up the ranks.

Also practicing is the Black Foxes, led by their senior captain Kaylan. The group of young women who dance with the marching band are celebrating the Foxes’ 50th anniversary in 2021, so they also have a lot of pressure on them. Nehemiah, who’s a sophomore, is head of the Dance Routine Committee, that comes up with the new dances that the different members of the marching band incorporate in their routines. He wants to be a drum major in 2022, but Aaron definitely thinks Nehemiah needs to be more patient and yell a lot less if he wants to be a drum major.

We are then introduced to Cardavion, who is non-binary and uses whatever pronoun best describes what he/she is doing that day. An entrepreneur who bakes, sells hair extensions, and other things, she was kicked out of band after an altercation with Martavyia, who was also kicked out. While Cardavion tries to make her way back in by handing out fresh-baked red velvet cookies, Martavyia appeals directly to Dr. Zachary. The band director tells her that she can’t perform for homecoming, but he encourages her by saying that she has learned a lot about life during her time at Prairie View.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? March definitely has Cheer to thank for its format, because the shows’ vibes are similar.

Our Take: March is a bit of a frustrating show, because in one respect, producers Cheryl Horner McDonough, Jamail Shelton, Shari Scorca and Marcel Fuentes have shown viewers a world that has been largely unexamined until now. But in other respects, it doesn’t seem like it goes deep enough in its first episode.

Here’s what we know about HBCU marching bands after the first episode: It’s a highly competitive and pressure-filled environment, both within each squad and between the bands at the various universities. Like most college athletes, the band members have long, often grueling practices, and they tend to not have a ton of time for a social life outside the circle of people that are in their squad. The moves they practice are certainly different than the bands who march in place and form letters on the field. And… that’s it for now.

What we needed more of in the first episode was some more insight into these students’ lives, both at home and on campus. We heard Nehemiah, for instance, call his town a “low-key ‘hood” and say that music basically saved his life. Do the other students come from circumstances like that or something different? What were their paths to getting to Prairie View? And how has being part of the Marching Storm affected their academics, especially during the peak marching band season, which we assume coincides with football season?

Perhaps the producers will address these issues as the season goes along. We’d also like to hear about any issues Cardavion has run across being non-binary in an environment that may or may not have always been LGBTQ friendly. If we’re just going to get multiple episodes of people practicing then being on the field for their performances, March will get boring awfully fast.

Sex and Skin: None so far. Kaylan even mentions that the Black Foxes’ dance routines are sexy but in a family-friendly way.

Parting Shot: “I expect the storm to be able to handle it,” says Aaron about homecoming, “because we’re the best.”

Sleeper Star: Obviously Cardavion has the most unique personality of everyone that has been profiled so far. They seem to be positioned as the show’s breakout star, but you never know.

Most Pilot-y Line: Yes, we know it’s Texas. And everyone is practicing outdoors. But the masking of the various band members was so inconsistent — some wore them under their noses, others not at all — that we wondered why anyone even bothered.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The first episode of March gives audiences a good introduction to one of the top HBCU marching bands and what makes bands from those universities special. But we hope that subsequent episodes dive deeper into the lives of the kids they profile.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.