Our Call: STREAM IT. The stylistic flourishes of Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty can be distracting at times, but the story is still solid (even if it’s not fully factual) and the performances are still across-the-board excellent. It is back.And I 'd rather watch this than 7 -th roster of USA FiBA team
Loved the scene in ep one where Jerry just verbally eviscerates both sons during Monopoly. Witnessing their s*** show at the helm, just seeing them destroyed like that by their old man (even if fictitious) made me smile.
Seems like they're going to really accelerate to get to the Lakers/C Bags stuff. We probably get the 1981 playoff loss, Magic's trade demand and Riley becoming HC all in the next few episodes. Also find it kind of satisfying to see Johnny and Jimmy be portrayed as incompetent.
Is anyone still watching this show? I find that if you skip the Buss family drama scenes, the Laker stuff is still pretty entertaining.
I am. All of it. That dude is Dr Buss appearance wise and Jeanie's cute as a brunette too. Actually am sure this gal at that age couldn't carry Jeanie's jock ..... errrrr
I am. The past two episodes have been really good. The trade demand and Riley taking over as HC. That's the problem though, not enough people are watching it. A lot of people don't seem to know it's even back on. I think HBO has done a piss poor job of advertising it. Why the hell don't you want until the NBA starts back and this is the first ad on during a commercial break. Get one of those baseline courtside billboards. Jeff Pearlman, the writer of the book, is on Twitter begging people to tune in each week. He says if the ratings don't pick up, HBO isn't likely to move forward with season 3.
I’ve seen Jeff’s tweets as well and feel bad. As a Laker fan I do feel obligated to support this show, but I haven’t watched a single episode yet. I just feel like I’ve watched so much great TV over the years, it’s hard to invest hours into a new show if it’s not elite Curious if anyone who is keeping up with the show could pitch it as standing toe to toe with other great HBO shows, to a general audience. I.e, assume I’m not a Laker fan and just a general fan of great TV like Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Succession, etc. Does Winning Time have enough substance to appeal to me even if I have no loyalties to the Lakers or nostalgia for the Showtime era?
yeah, at this point i'd be surprised if there was a season 3. sad because the show has been very entertaining but i agree that HBO hasn't seemed to do a very good job marketing it. i only found out about the new season because someone bumped this thread a month or so ago. unless you follow basketball and/or have HBO, you probably had no idea that there even was a new season
The marketing is partly to blame, as is the quality of the show (i.e. good, not great, and with some filler that allows my mind to wander). But maybe the bigger issue is that it's hard to get people to tune in for a fictionalized portrayal of a sports team they're not already a fan of. I really can't imagine watching a version of this show that centers on a team I don't otherwise root for or didn't grow up with. Yeah, there are a lot of Laker fans around the world. But not enough to get you Game of Thrones level ratings. And a lot of those fans became fans in the 2000s because of Kobe, and probably don't care about people who played 40 years ago, even if some of them had colorful personalities, like Dr. Buss.
yeah, i pretty much agree with the consensus here: it's a good not great show, and there's a lot competing for my time. i do have some nostalgia for showtime (though i was very young), but even my laker fandom doesn't get me there most of the time. and i also feel bad as a fan because being a team that gets an hbo show about you is GREAT for the brand, so you wish it would continue. imagine a kobe/shaq version, maybe that starts in the van exel/del harris era! anyway, i'm going to try to catch up on season 2 (i did watch all of season 1 and the first episode of season 2) at some point. but i'd be lying if i said i didn't have things ahead of it in the queue.
there are plenty of non-lakers fans who watch it. particularly boston fans since the C Bags play a key role i don't think anyone expected it to even come close to being as popular as a show like GOT, but for the most part you have to at least be a casual bball fan to be interested in watching
Am probably the one dude in the world with TVs that never got into GOT or even watched a complete episode. Guess it was my "lost". It's a noun now too right?
I think it'd do better on Netflix, especially capturing that international audience where the Lakers fandom is really at another level. Couple content comps where the Netflix model helped ... Ballers: Dwayne Johnson's HBO show that was essentially Entourage but in the sports world that ended 3 years ago, just hit Netflix and just got a big boost. Breaking Bad: that's the greatest show ever and this is not, but most people didn't discover it until the first couple seasons hit Netflix. So they could either let Netflix get season one and maybe people catch on and are excited about a season 3. Or just don't renew it and maybe Netflix saves it from the grave. HBO has the rights to Jeff's book about that era. Three Ring Circus covers 96-04. Hopefully this one not being a runaway success didn't sour them on that project. If they move forward with that, I hope they use the same casting director as Winning Time. They've killed it in that department.
F*ck 3 ring circus, that book is so anti Kobe it's absolutely ridiculus. As good as Jeff Pearlman was with the Showtime book, 3 ring circus is not only a slap in the face to Lakers fans but KObe fans as well. He absolutely destroys Kobe in that book while skimming over Shaq's misdeeds and even Phil's. He makes Kobe so unlikeable in that book, he goes into every kobe bashing story and doesn't really talk to kobe's friends on the team like Fish or Byron or Devean. Shaq is the big goofy guy who tried to be kobe's friend by inviting a 17 year old teen to bars or strip clubs knowing kobe couldn't go to those places yet. If there is a Shaq/Kobe tv show i pray to GOd Pearlman and his book is nowhere near that show. As far as Winning time goes, there is no publicity cause there is a strike going on and none of the shows stars or writers can publicize the show which is why the streaming numbers took a hit in the beginning but now it appears the views are going up cause more people are aware the show is back on. I love the show especially season 2 which has a heightened reality to it but damn Adrian Brody, Jason Segal and John C Reilly as well as Jason Clarke are awesome on the show. I pray for a season 3 cause it cant end in 84, it just can't. Lastly, as far as non sports fans go, there a lot of people i know that warmed up to the show and put it up there as a top quality show.
I think it'd be used as the road map but would be handled very differently because of Kobe's passing. You see how easy Winning Time is going on Magic. For an era about sex, drugs, booze, and partying; it's being handled with kids gloves. I think it would be that x10 with Kobe. I disagree. None of these actors are the late night circuit guys (Segal was 15 years ago). They're not why anyone tunes in. Will Ferrell is. I only bring him up because he wanted to play Buss and McKay went behind his production partner and friend's back to hire John C (who's also really close to Will). I'm glad McKay did, he was right. Reilly is KILLING it and I think Will would've crashed and burned. But he's an actor who goes on Fallon dressed as Jerry Buss and people are at least going to turn on the first episode to see what that is. It doesn't need stunt casting, but that's the only way an actor promotes this and anyone looks up. The casting is perfect. It really is. I can't think of another show based on real life(ish) where they nailed the casting in look and/or behavior.
Great post! Thanks for the warning on 3 Ring Circus. That better get fixed to be fair …. Kobe and his remaining family are infinitely more important than staying true to a book with a hit piece and unfair portrayal of him compared to Shaq. Jeanie must be aware of the book. I hope she weighs in and carries some clout there.
