Taye Diggs to Return to ‘All American’ Season 6 After His Character Died in Season 5

Billy Baker is back — somehow.

Taye Diggs will guest star in the May 20 of the CW’s “All American,” on which he played Billy Baker until the character died in Season 5. It it not yet known how exactly Billy will be incorporated into the episode, which will mark the eighth of the season.

More from Variety

Season 6 of the sports drama, which premiered on April 1 and has released six episodes so far, has followed the remaining “All American” characters as they reel from losing Billy. His son Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) struggles with the pressure of their new NFL draft eligibility while their sister Olivia (Samantha Logan) returns from London to L.A. with hopes to honor Billy’s legacy and their mother Laura (Monét Mazur) finds herself in a new stage of life both personally and as a lawyer.

“All American” is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios in association with Berlanti Productions. Nkechi Okoro Carroll serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside Greg Berlanti, Jameal Turner, Sarah Schechter, Mike Herro and David Strauss.

Season 6 opened to 370,000 viewers per Live + Same Day data from Nielsen and is averaging 387,000 viewers, having hit a series high of 464,000 viewers with Episode 6. Additionally, a significant amount of the show’s viewership is delayed, with the seven-day season average increasing to 777,000 viewers. Seasons of “All American” also perform well on Netflix; for example, Season 5 was added to Netflix the week after it concluded on the CW and remained on the Netflix Top 10 for three weeks.

The 100th episode of “All American” airs on May 27 and will be directed by series star Ezra and written by Carroll and Chynna Ladage.

Deadline was first to report Diggs’ return.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Advertisement