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Winning Time,for better or for worse, has A LOT of people talking.
Youre here because you love drama!
If only we could access a sepia filter.
Its Showtime!
It finally landed theWinning Timetitle almost two years later, whenHBO released first-look photosin December 2021.
But I will say that winning time is a Magic Johnson phrase.Lets just say the wordShowtimefor old times sake.
Just a few weeks later, the series formerly known asShowtimegot a pilot order from HBO.
McKay had to choose who would play the Showtime man himself: millionaire playboy and Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
Coincidentally, Ferrell is a huge Lakers fan.Like HUGE.
Enough that he started doing bits during Lakers games.Bits!
A comedians most prized possession.He obviously would be down to play Buss.
But McKay had other plans.
In an interview withVanity Fair, McKay revealed that Ferrell wasnt an option.
And Ferrell just doesnt look like Jerry Buss, and hes not that vibe of a Jerry Buss.
It was a bit of a hard discussion.Ouch.
We call that unsportsmanlike conduct.McKay decided to castMichael Shannonas the iconic owner, withFerrell allegedly giving his blessing.
McKay still regrets how he handled the whole situation.
Will was very hurt that I wasnt the one to call him, and I should have.
I fucked up,McKay said toTHR.
There have been no updates as to whether or not Ferrell and McKay have made up.Aw!
But everyone seems happy with how the casting turned out, right?
Abdul-Jabbar, Lakers center andTHRguest columnist,wrote aboutWinning Timein his Substack, a.k.a.
Lets hear him out.
Abdul-Jabbar states that the show discredits Jeanie and Rothmans accomplishments by making them into caricatures.
[Jeanie] wasnt the naive daddys girl, he wrote.
So if hes not a fan of the characters, does he at least think the show is funny?
Those bro-dude attempts are as cringy as a badSNLskit.And hes coming forSNLnow?
Does he want to be a Vulture recapper?
The Pearlman Who Knew Too Much
And now we meet the man who started it all.
Hes also, you guessed it, not happy with the show.
Pearlman was first approached by co-creator Jim Hecht,Ice Age 2screenwriter, who met him on Easter Sunday.
[Hecht] came off as very sincere.
You really should never do that.
I didnt know what I was doing.
But I never expected anything.
Even after meeting with McKay about the series, Pearlman considered it bullshit.
It wasnt until a friend emailed him about Reillys casting that it became real to him.
While Pearlman wasnt directly involved with writingWinning Time, he did offernotes and feedback on scripts.
His heavy involvement with the series didnt come without consequences.
At least theres another season for a redemption arc.
