Wait Till Next Year is a Disney-style family sports comedy about a young play-by-play announcer chasing his radio dreams, despite his father’s desire for him to lead the family’s septic service business.
By day, Edward works in the family business. At night, he calls high school basketball games for the local radio station.
Fired from the radio job after his tardiness leads to a court-side scuffle with a rival, Edward’s frustration leads to an incident: he accidentally destroys his former boss’s car by smashing it with a septic truck, filling it with poo.
Seeing an opportunity, Edward’s father pays his way out of the trouble, locking his son into the family business.
Depressed and defeated, Edward burns all of his radio highlight tapes—a symbolic snuffing of his radio dreams.
When Edward learns his dream radio job is coming open next season, he decides to give it one more shot. He convinces his father to take a deal: he’ll pay his father back ($6,000) by the end of the year AND get the big job OR he’ll take over the family business. No more fighting.
Edward lands a job calling games for a winless high school basketball team. Only, they’re so bad, there are no highlights. And, Edward needs highlights to make an audition tape for the big job.
Desperate, Edward makes up a fake play on the air. He’s happy to have his first highlight, but it leads to a request from the team’s lone scrub. DEXTER wants his own highlight, to win a girl (CARLY). He’s willing to pay. Edward accepts.
The second fake call works. Dexter gets the girl.
Soon, the entire team approaches Edward. They want a win. Edward reluctantly agrees. He needs the money and the highlights.
For the next road game, Edward calls a fake win.
The town greets the team as returning heroes. Carly was listening and spread the news.
The boys all love the attention. Only, they’re not good enough to keep it up. When the next game leads to yet another blowout loss, the attention fades.
Again, the team approaches Edward. They want another win. They’ve sold everything to get it. The first win wasn’t without major consequences, still, he agrees. He needs to pay his father back.
He calls the team to another win. This time, Edward’s father sees what’s happening. Hoping to bring his son home, he alerts the town: it’s all a scam.
Edward is fired on the spot. When he hears the coach is next, he races to the town meeting to defend him. He apologizes to the furious town.
When Carly stands to defend Edward, pointing out their hypocrisy (“You all KNEW it was fake. You just NEEDED it to be real.”), the mood shifts. The town asks for a championship. They, too, need a win.
The championship run changes Edward. He’s connected to the people, feels at home. His father sees the same thing. Happy for his son, he releases Edward from the deal.
