A few weeks back I wrote a review of Bill Simmons new show, "Any Given Wednesday". I thought that it was fine, but I also thought that it had some room to grow. I am a big Bill Simmons fan, so I just assumed that I would love his show. It seemed that he was bringing his wildly popular podcast to the small screen. What could go wrong, I thought.

Well, after four episodes, the show has shown very little, to no growth. It's just the same thing over and over again. I feel like, after only four episodes, the show has become stagnant and a little boring. This show has all the potential to be great, but they cannot seem to get over the hump. Now, it is only four episodes, and a lot can change, but they have done zero so far to make this show better.

The premiere was fine. I thought Charles Barkley was funny and seemed to be having a good time. Simmons seemed a bit nervous, but who wouldn't be with a new show premiering. But, when Ben Affleck went on his rant, that premiere went off the rails. It was bizarre and incredibly awkward TV to watch. I was squirming in my seat at home. I cannot imagine how the studio audience felt. I love that Affleck is such a big fan of his team, but that rant was so, so weird. It was bad TV as well.

The Affleck weirdness was followed by the second episode which featured Simmons interviewing Malcom Gladwell and Mark Cuban. They had a heated discussion about the owners and the amount of money being thrown around in free agency and how it has gotten out of hand. Cuban, being the billionaire and owner that he is, he had no problem with it. He was defending some of the ridiculous contracts being given out to marginal players. Gladwell argued that some of these players weren't worth it, and since he is so smart, his argument was eloquent and poignant. But, that was problem that I had with this episode. Malcom Gladwell is one thousand times smarter than most people in the room, and I felt that he had to dumb down his speech just so Mark Cuban could understand what he was saying. Now, Mark Cuban is by no means a dummy, but he is nowhere near Malcolm Gladwell's intelligence level. Not many people are at his level. This conversation would have been so much better if it was two owners or two intellects. You cannot put one very smart person with a marginally smart person and except a fair argument. This was a mismatch and the interview just didn't work. Simmons kind of lost control pretty early on during the conversation.

Episode three has been the highlight of the season so far, but it wasn't because of Bill Simmons or his writing crew. This episode succeeded because of Chris Bosh. Simmons had Bosh and actor Anthony Anderson as his guests. Anthony Anderson was fine. He is a very well spoken, smart person whose acting I really enjoy. But, when Chris Bosh spoke of Kevin Durant's decision to leave OKC for Golden State, it was phenomenal. There is no one else, possibly on the planet, that can relate better to what KD did. I, and many other people, have written about KD's decision, but we don't really know how it went down, or how he feels. Chris Bosh, on the other hand, he went through exactly the same thing when he left Toronto for Miami. Bosh's speech, and the way he talked about making decisions like that, was just great. He kind of opened my mind. I mean, I'm still kind of pissed that KD left OKC, but, Chris Bosh made me understand just a little bit why players make choices like this.

The latest episode  had Aaron Rodgers on for a one on one interview for the majority of the show. This should have been a slam dunk, especially after Bosh crushed it on the show the previous episode. But, this was very, very boring TV. Aaron Rodgers, while being a great football player, he is a pretty dull person, by choice. Most interviews he does are boring. He just wants to talk about football and being QB for the Packers. and that is fine, that is his job and he is wonderful at it. But, to dedicate 20 plus minutes to an interview with him was a bad choice. It was slow. They didn't talk about any real problems, with the exception of concussions, in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers seemed very coached in a lot of his answers. When asked certain questions, Rodgers would wait, almost calculating the right answer in his head, then proceed with his answer. It was only 20 minutes, but it felt like 20 hours. The other problem with this, this episode was on the day after Tim Duncan retired and they only dedicated about 2 minutes to him. Bill Simmons is a basketball writer, and he only gave himself 120 seconds, on his own show, to talk about one of the 5 greatest players of all time. That was a big bummer to me.

There have been other people on, guys like Joe Rogan and Bill Hader, but their interview were forgettable. I had such high hopes for "Any Given Wednesday", and they can still turn it around, but it feels more like they will be cancelled before they get a second season. Simmons, who seems so comfortable on his podcast, looks and sounds incredibly uncomfortable on his TV show. TV may not be his thing, and that is fine because he will always have his podcast and his website. Some people thrive on TV, but others don't. Bill Simmons, so far, has not lived up to the expectations of being a good host on his own show. His time is running out as well. Hopefully they turn it around, but it seems unlikely.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His podcast hero is still Bill Simmons, but his tv hero will remain to be Homer. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.