The Lakers TV show that broke up the Step Brothers team now has a trailer
John C. Reilly returns to the late '70s, for a historical comedy that feels like real Boogie Nights
Aux News John C. Reilly
Winning Time: The Rise of The Lakers Dynasty received a lot of press in the past week for all the wrong reasons. Whether or not HBO Max is capitalizing on the headlines about the show that broke up Will Ferrell and Adam McKay by releasing a trailer this week is anyone’s guess. Either way, the turmoil does a disservice to the trailer. Winning Time looks like the most fun McKay’s had in years, and John C. Reilly, who stars in the show, slips into the role of Jerry Buss with such ease that it’s hard to imagine Ferrell doing the same.
Regardless of the drama, Winning Time now has a trailer, and it would’ve grabbed our attention even without the backstage feuding. Shot with a grainy filter to give it some retro vibes, the series brings John C. Reilly back to 1970s Los Angeles. The actor rekindles some of that Boogie Nights energy as Jerry Buss, the charismatic and obsessive Lakers owner who set a course to create one of the most successful franchises in sports. By his side, he’s got Quincy Isaiah and Dr. Solomon Hughes playing basketball superstars Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There’s even a little Airplane! action from the latter.
Reilly’s energy here is hard to ignore, but the cast certainly tries to divert your attention. This is an all-star game of talent featuring Jason Clarke, Adrien Brody, Gaby Hoffman, Tracy Letts, Jason Segel, Julianne Nicholson, Rob Morgan, and Sally Field. The whole cast seems to be having a ball with the 70s aesthetics.
Why can’t basketball have the style and pizzaz of jazz, Reilly’s Jerry Buss asks Isaiah’s Magic Johnson? Well, Winning Time, with its Martin Scorsese energy and a funky soundtrack, looks to have an abundance of both.
Winning Time premieres in March 2022.
41 Comments
For a really quick second I thought that was Tucker Carlson on the right.
Crossed with Ted Cruz.
I will say this looks more fun than I expected. Hard to see how it has any surprises though & oogling the Laker Girls is not really a plot
Ogling on Laker Girls was part of the culture back then.
I mean, ogling Laker Girls has certainly proven to be a pretty decent plot point. Just look at Bowfinger.
It looks great, but the insufferable POS in me is going “Why make it look like cheap 70s 16mm filmstock if you’re going to put expensive modern camera moves in?”.
I know I know: yes I am a riot at parties.
What expensive contemporary camera moves you are talking about?
It’s possible that’s just for the trailer.
Is there some copyright reason that this wouldn’t just be called Showtime? A perfect named after the perfect Robert De Niro/Eddie Murphy comedy.
Because Showtime wasnt adapted until later into their mid ‘80s run.This is from the ‘70s up to the Showtime era. So why do you name it for something that theoretically hadn’t happened yet?
Fair point; I guess I associated that name with any team that had Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, et. al.
Kareem had a good career going for him before he joined the Lakers. He was the star of The Bucks who won the NBA championship in the early 70s. So Buss didn’t discovered him.
trailer doesnt say he did?
the article sure did though
No, no, there are many things that Jerry Buss did not discover that neither this trailer nor article bothers to mention, so it’s worth pointing out if you’re like Verybored and have nothing but time and energy to waste.
I noticed it was light on the double helix, viagara, and the new world
Kareem as Lew Alcindor was also possibly the most famous and acclaimed college basketball player of all time & the best player on the great UCLA dynasty. So yeah not exactly a Buss family secret
Yeah, and that was when UCLA basketball was at it’s John Wooden peak. He was a definitely a national star even when he was in college.
I think it’s funny that a famous Muslim like Kareem started his pro career in Milwaukee considering how famous it is for beer and brats.
Kareem has always been one of my favourite players. Check out any highlights reel of he and Magic together and it’s such an incredible combo.
Seems like the writer knew that as your point isn’t covered in the article.
Wait, are Will Ferrell and McKay having issues?
Their split mirrors the plot of Talladega Nights quite a bit, minus John C. Reilly stealing his wife….I think?Will wanted the Buss role that Reilly got. Which honestly I think John can do much better. I think they also just had different projects in mind, thus their production company was split up.
McKay knew that Ferrell really wanted to play the part. He then offered Reilly the part without telling Ferrell first. Ferrell did not find out until Reilly called him and told him.
Ah, well he definitely should’ve told him. From experience avoiding telling someone something is always worse than the actual telling.
Well shit, praise 6 pound 7 ounce Baby Jesus.
He was a grown man! HE HAD A BEARD!
Gonna have to ask McKay if he posed nude for a mens magazine
“I’m the Magic Man now.”
this looks delightful…i have very high hopes that it will be tonally consistent and all of the actors will act like they are in the same movieah to dream
Seems like Boogie Nights meets the NBA!
I could see this being really good
They just couldn’t use the word “Showtime”, now could they?
Since this tackling the earliest Lakers dynasty, just when Earvin Magic Johnson got drafted. “Showtime” hasn’t bestowed upon Lakers yet, up until the 80s, by the press.
I believe he means because this is on HBO Max rather than its competitor, Showtime.
I’m so horribly confused by this feud but also I refuse to read anything about it and McKay and Ferrell both sound like ridiculous babies.
Like 90% of this show is going to take place in the 80’s.
Yeah but who is playing Fletch?
Watching this trailer convinces me that McKay, though he screwed up in the way he handled Ferrell, totally made the right call in casting Reilly as Buss. He’s perfect! Adrien Brody as Pat Riley is good casting as well.
Adrien Brody as Pat Riley is good casting as well.
Nah, they should have just de-aged Michael Douglas Ant-Man style again.
That could have worked, especially if they do the whole series in 480i.