The CW Gets in Step With HBCU Marching Band Culture in ‘MARCH’ Docuseries
If you’ve ever watched an HBCU football game, you already know the band is the best part. Sorry, football players, but the marching band is the real MVP.
To that end, The CW is taking a deep dive into the world of HBCU marching bands with its new reality series March, premiering Monday, Jan. 24 at 8 pm. Once CW shows All American and All American: Homecoming take over Monday nights, March will move to Sundays on Feb. 27 at 9 pm.
March showcases the eclectic and energetic group of college students at Prairie View A&M University—from drum majors and dancers to the flag team and all the section players—as they navigate performing in one of the most prestigious HBCU marching bands along with tackling a rigorous academic schedule and maintaining a high-grade point average.
The series chronicles their pressure-filled journey to become the highest-ranked HBCU band in the land, including electrifying performances at homecoming, Texas A&M and Southern University. As March shares the personal and unique stories of individual members and staff of the over 300-person marching band, it also explores the legacy and culture of Prairie View A&M and highlights how the Marching Storm band is an integral part of that rich history.
Per a press release: “Embedded inside the Prairie View A&M University Marching Band, The Marching Storm, this engaging eight-part series will capture the blood, sweat, and tears each member sheds to make it to the field while balancing their dynamic college life.”
In a new clip, Prairie View A&M University Marching Band finds out they are No. 8 in The Undefeated’s rankings. Obviously, this is a shock and disappointment for the band members, but it also motivates them to show everyone how wrong they are.
The Marching Storm would eventually finish the season as The Undefeated’s No. 1 band, and this series chronicles the countless challenges that the band faced along the way.
“It is an honor to be validated by a panel of my peers especially in the age of YouTube and instant gratification for everything,” Tim Zachery, director of bands at Prairie View A&M, told The Undefeated. “We have taken the charge of making our students aware of what they do well and areas that they can improve on. ESPN [The Undefeated] gives us a platform to use as a measuring stick, not against others but ourselves.”
MARCH Season 1 Trailer | Premieres on The CW January 24
If you’re a fan of The CW’s All American, and looking forward to its spinoff, All American: Homecoming, which follows Simone as she begins her new HBCU life, then March is probably right in your wheelhouse.
March premieres Monday, Jan. 24 at 8 pm.