The college football comedy series “Blue Mountain State,” which originally aired for three seasons in 2010 and 2011 on Spike TV, is now preparing for a fourth season on Amazon Prime. Created by Eric Falconer and Chris Romano, the show features Alan Ritchson, a former “American Idol” contestant, playing the role of team captain and star linebacker Kevin “Thad” Castle. He teams up with a wild quarterback, Alex Moran, played by Darin Brooks, and Coach Marty Daniels, portrayed by Ed Marinaro, to chase a national championship for their fictional powerhouse team. Chris Romano, now known as Romanski, appeared in all 39 episodes as Sammy Cacciatore, who is Alex’s high school friend and the team’s mascot, a mountain goat named Billy.

The college in “Blue Mountain State” is inspired by the University of Miami and Boise State University, the latter sharing the show’s distinctive blue and orange team colors and mountain backdrop. The fourth season, produced by Lionsgate TV, is set to expand on the narrative from the previous three seasons and a crowdfunded film from 2016 titled “Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland.” Romanski, Brooks, and Falconer are set to return for this new season.

Alan Ritchson has maintained a relationship with Amazon Prime as the star of the platform’s popular crime/mystery series “Reacher” since 2022, a role he actively pursued. His first-look deal with Amazon has earned him an executive producer position for “Blue Mountain State”‘s new season, in addition to reprising his leading role. Ritchson announced the revival of the series at the Daytona 500 in February. In a video shared on X by Orlando reporter Zach Maskavich of WESH, Ritchson expressed, “Playing Thad is probably the most fun I’ve ever had… We’re actually setting things up with Amazon; we’re gonna make a fourth season happen.”

Alan Ritchson expressed optimism for the concept behind the series’ return, saying, “It is so damn funny, and it’s perfect, the way we resurrect the characters and bring them into the way that things are now. I mean, everything’s changed. I mean, you know, you can get paid to play now … There’s so many things that we can play with now that will surprise a character like Thad. I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.“

The series initially focused on Thad, high-risk, high-reward signal-caller Alex Moran (Darin Brooks), try-hard misfit Sammy, and star running back Craig Shilo (Sam Jones III). Brooks and Romanski will reportedly return in their roles as Alex and Sammy for Season 4. There’s no official word from Amazon or the series’ showrunners regarding Jones’ participation in the relaunch, but the actor did share a report about Alan Ritchson’s comments at Daytona to his Instagram reels in February with the hashtags #GoGoats and #Season 4.

Some fans have brought up the fact that Ritchson had undergone a major physical transformation for his role as Jack Reacher, and is now much bigger and more muscular than when he portrayed Thad Castle in prior seasons and the film. Writers will have some work to do with his character, as well, as the film showed Thad faking his death after having his NFL contract voided. His status as a former pro also means he won’t be able to take the field for the Billy Goats in Season 4 or beyond.

As for the feature-length film that showed Thad’s rapid fall from stardom, it would never have made it to the screen without the support of fans of the show. Eric Falconer launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the “Blue Mountain State” follow-up film, picking up $1,911,827 from almost 24,000 backers — a sum well beyond his $1.5 million goal. Rewards for contributing ranged from a PDF copy of the film’s script along with a few X-related favors in exchange for a $10 pledge to various merchandise and VIP packages for larger amounts. 10 backers gave $10,000 for a small speaking role in the film, while other major contributors received some combination of signed memorabilia, tickets to the premiere, or access to the premiere afterparty.

Despite the robust support for the Kickstarter campaign, the film has just a 46% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, well below the 84% figure enjoyed by the existing three seasons of the series. It remains to be seen where in the timeline Season 4 of “Blue Mountain State” will pick up, but the Jay Chandrasekhar-directed movie depicted the destruction of the party central Goat House and some serious damage to the reputations of Thad, Sammy, and Alex. College athletes are known for bouncing back from such disasters, though, so it wouldn’t be out of the question for Season 4 to be a redemption story for the Mountain Goats.

As more details about “Blue Mountain State” Season 4 become available — including a release date — Looper will certainly be here to share them with you.