Ty Watches "Winning Time" Season Premiere

Yesterday I watched the series premiere of "Winning Time" on HBO. The show is about the beginning of the Showtime Lakers. The premiere episode was pretty much all about the Lakers trying to decide if they were going to draft Magic Johnson first overall in the 1979 draft. There was other stuff that happened too, of course.

The show is shot in a very cool, old style type 70's look to it. There are times you can even see the burn marks on the film on the side of the screen. It is pretty neat. The actors also break the fourth wall quite a bit, and I am a fan when directors let actors do that. I just like it when it feels like the person playing a character is talking directly to me. It is a cool change of pace. John C Reilly, who plays Jerry Buss, talks to the audience a ton in the premiere. I love it. Reilly is also really, really good as Buss. I heard this is where the rift between Will Ferrell and Adam McKay started, but Reilly was one of the main reasons this premiere worked for me. I also love, love, love Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson. He moves like him, talks like him, looks like him and embodies the confidence and small town attitude Johnson had as a rookie. Isaiah should get so much more work from this role, and this is based solely on his performance in the first episode. I can only imagine it gets better and better from here. Jason Clarke is wonderful as Jerry West. He is angry and anxious and feels like his voice isn't being heard. Gaby Hoffman is going to be a star on this show. You can just tell. She crushed it. DeVaugh Nixon and Solomon Hughes are perfectly cast as Norm Nixon and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. They both look and sound just like them. The casting is almost as good as Isaiah as Johnson. We also meet a few other people in the premiere, but the people I mentioned are the stars of the first episode. I just can't get over how great Reilly is as Buss. He is confident when he shouldn't be. He is in over his head, but he could care less. He is willing to take a shot, even if everyone tells him he is wrong. The same could be said for Isaiah too. There is a scene where he is at a party and plays Norm Nixon one on one. It is a great insight to a soon to be rookie playing a vet. There are also great moments with him and his dad that felt really real. Those two are going to carry this show.

There are moments in the premiere that felt slow and a little tacked on. I did find myself a bit bored with some of the backstory. But when they shifted the story to Magic, and him being their pick for the draft, things kicked into high gear. I understand that pilot's have to be the table setting, and they have to give a good amount of backstory to people that may not know the whole story. But when the episode ends like this one did, where I am hyped to see what comes next, that is a sign of a, hopefully, good show. I also like McKay being heavily involved with this show. He has a true passion for the NBA, especially the era that they are talking about in this show, and it comes across like gangbusters here.

I have high, high hopes for this show. I think it is going to be a hit. I am pumped for what is going to come and how they are going to tell the story. Now I just have to wait until Sunday for the next episode.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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It is Time for Will Ferrell and Adam McCay to Make Up and Make Great Entertainment Again

Over the past couple of weeks, and months for that matter, my wife and I have been watching Adam McKay and Will Ferrell movies. We love these movies. They are so funny, they fit what I adore about comedy, they are very niche and they are good, despite what the critics say.

We watched "Anchorman" 1 and 2, "The Good Guys", "Talladega Nights", and most recently, "Semi Pro". We had our date night this past Saturday, it was my turn to pick the movie and I wanted a funny sports movie. "Semi Pro" more than fits the bill. I loved this movie when it came out. I saw it in the theaters with a group of friends when I still did that. My wife came with me, except we were only dating back then. That's right, "Semi Pro" came out fourteen years ago, which blew my mind. The critics were tough on this movie, but, to me, it is the quintessential Ferrell and McKay movie. It is goofy, well made, has a ton of great comedic actors and they got to base it on basketball, a sport both of them love. All the other movies I mentioned are great, but "Semi Pro" is the best thing those two ever did.

After watching the movie my wife and I got to talking about how much of a bummer it is that they do not work together anymore. I know that Ferrell wanted to do his own thing and that McKay wanted to make more serious movies. But I was holding out hope that they would get together every now and then to do a silly movie. But the more we talked about their split, the more bummed I got at how minuscule it truly seemed. As I said, they each wanted to do their own thing.

More news has come out recently, with McKay even commenting on record why they actually split. McKay has a new basketball show coming out soon on premium cable, and I cannot wait to watch. I am not a Laker fan at all, but this show looks amazing. And when I saw the casting I was pumped. There are a good amount of unknowns, but there are some big name people in it as well. McKay has gotten to a level where he is a guy that actors want to work with. He has some pull now. And when they showed John C Reilly as Jerry Buss, I was stoked. But this seems to be where most of the trouble with McKay and Ferrell bubbled over. I guess they had someone else in mind for Buss, but when that actor pulled out, McKay gave the role to Reilly. Seems simple enough. Well, according to McKay, Ferrell was really upset that McKay didn't even ask him to play Buss. Ferrell is a lifetime Laker fan, and it seemed like he was destined for this role, especially considering McKay was making the show. Well I guess McKay never asked him, just gave the role to Reilly, and this pushed Ferrell over the edge.

That stinks. I get it. Ferrell probably dreamed of this role, probably assumed he had it, and then it was given to a good friend of his by another former friend of his. But I also feel like it is a bit juvenile to end a friendship and a partnership over something so trivial. I am not there either. I am not in the room, I have no idea what may have gone down with the two of them behind closed doors, maybe they have some bigger beef that they aren't releasing, I don't know. But it kind of bums me out, as a fan, that they simply refuse to work together anymore. This means no more silly, goofy and great comedy movies from two brilliant comedic minds. They have both done great stuff since they split, but nothing that holds the weight of "Anchorman" or "Talladega Nights" or "The Good Guys" or, especially "Semi Pro" for me. I hope they can get together and figure this all out sooner rather than later because the fan in me would love to see them work together again. They were so great as a duo, made some great movies and great content for Funny or Die, and I just really miss their style of comedy. They were unmatched as a team. They were my generation's great comedy team. But now it is just gone.

Again, that stinks. Hopefully, it will change. Hopefully they reconcile. My fingers will be crossed until then.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Listens to "Death at the Wing"

As I am always on the prowl for new podcasts, I was pretty delighted to get a text from RD a few weeks back about one I might like. You all know my love for basketball, and especially the NBA. I am really into the history of the NBA as well, specifically the late 80's and early 90's history. So when RD told me that director and writer Adam McKay had a new podcast about that era, and the players that were lost that could have been great, I was pumped. I immediately subscribed to "Death at the Wheel", and to this day I have listened to every episode, some of them more than once.

This podcast is about some players that could have been great, were great and lost it, or never had a chance. All the people he talks about died or had the game taken away from them over political affiliations or religious beliefs. It is really a fascinating listen. Each episode focuses on one or two guys, usually just one, and McKay talks about them and how they lost the game or their lives. He also talks about the politics that were going on during that era, and how that played into the NBA trying to grow its game and image. I am forever intrigued by the politics since I am so green in that era. I will say it is very eye opening, and it makes my dislike for Ronald Reagan even more than I ever imagined. He was an absolute puppet and a real monster. McKay portrays that perfectly.

The most important stories are the ones about the players, and how they ended up where they ended up. Some of the players I know about, or at least have heard of. We all know what happened to Len Bias. That was such a surprise, and it was something that didn't have to happen. Unfortunately it did happen, and now we are all left to wonder what could have been. The way McKay tells the story makes it even more intriguing. He is so good at weaving the story and telling all sides of it. I could say the same thing about the Benji Wilson and Drazan Petrovic episodes. Benji Wilson could have been a super duper star, but young kids make mistakes. Unfortunately for Wilson it was a horrific, life altering mistake. But what made this episode so interesting was the fact that McKay was able to talk to the man who shot and killed Wilson. He is a completely rehabilitated person, who knows the error of his ways and now he works to help stop gun violence. Petrovic's story was something that also could have been avoided, but it was a terrible accident. Again though, I learned so many things about Petrovic and Yugoslavia and so much more than I ever thought I could know about the basketball played overseas back then, and why Petrovic was so great. Then we have the players I do not know about or never heard of. I had no idea who Terry Furlow was, but Magic Johnson sure as hell did. He was an all time great in college at Michigan State. Magic looked up to him. He was a walking bucket, a player before his time. He died because of the opulence of cocaine in the 80's in the NBA and driving a car erratically. It is a wild, ABA esque story. We also have the story of Ricky Berry. Berry clearly was a person that suffered from depression, but back when he played, you didn't talk about that stuff openly. This was a guy that had everything going his way, seemed like he was going to take over the league, and then the next day he is dead because of a self inflicted gunshot wound. If he could have spoken openly and honestly, he may still be alive today. Hearing Jerry West talk about him, and West's own problems, was very eye opening. Then we have the most recent episode which talks about Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul Raouf. These gentlemen are not dead, but the way they expressed themselves pushed them out of the league. Hodges was an advocate to stop police brutality after seeing the Rodney King outcome. He was another person, a peaceful protestor before his time, that was blackballed because he questioned the super stars of the game back then, the Larry Bird's and Magic Jonhson's and Michael Jordan's, on why they weren't more outspoken This guy was a knockdown shooter, but after going after these players, no one wanted him. That's very unfair. With Rauof. He was just a man who converted to Islam and decided to not put his hand on his heart and look at the flag during the anthem. He was Colin Kaepernick before Kaepernick. But the league all but ousted him after hearing why he didn't want to acknowledge the song, and this guy was an all NBA player and an all star. This was clearly a politically charged move by the NBA. These men were unfairly pushed out of the league.

I cannot wait for another episode. I look forward to the new one every week. This podcast is perfect for a basketball nerd such as myself. I love everything about it and I cannot recommend it enough. I owe a huge thanks to RD for letting me know about it too. "Death at the Wing" is awesome. It is one of the best podcasts out right now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.