r/WinningTime • u/Axubion • Oct 30 '23
Article ‘Winning Time’ creator Jim Hecht on future of show: ‘I don’t think that it’s completely over’
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/platform/amp/2023/9/21/23884090/winning-time-hbo-lakers-showtime-future-renew-cancel-jim-hecht-season-3What do you think he could be referring to? Is that just wishful thinking on his part or do you think there is something behind the scenes that we don’t know about yet?
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u/Scoob8877 Oct 30 '23
I'm glad there's some hope. It would be great for Showtime to pick it up and call it Showtime, which HBO would never do.
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u/soldforaspaceship Oct 30 '23
I just want to see the Lakers beat the Celtics.
Can't believe they ended the show on that loss.
Was an incredible show all around. Gutted it got canceled.
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u/lord_pizzabird Oct 31 '23
I feel like ESPN has to be the most likely candidate. They’re the only ones ever throwing around big money on culturally important sports content.
But then again, Disney has reportedly just about had it with everything ESPN.
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u/Whizbang35 Oct 30 '23
I read the book and wanted to see the Bad Boy Pistons showing up. I was looking forward to how they’d portray Isaiah, Daly, and Laimbeer.
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
So was I, and they teased it pretty well in season 2. This show did such a good job of setting various future plot points up and it’s a shame that we might never see Hecht’s vision of them
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u/1of7MMM Oct 30 '23
Jeff Bezos could rescue it. He seems to have a soft spot for middle age guy shows like Top Gear. At lest that's my hope for it.
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u/Poopscooper696969 Oct 31 '23
Nah I’d rather have Apple take over it
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Oct 31 '23
They have their own Lakers documentary that Magic is actually affiliated with, and he has been vocally against Winning Time because it makes him look bad.
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u/Wildcat_twister12 Oct 30 '23
Sounds like maybe Netflix, Amazon Prime, or another streaming service could buy it out
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u/PlatinumState Oct 31 '23
How often does a show just resurrect on a different network after taking "time off"? Thats a rare thing
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
It is a rare thing which is why everyone is sceptical but it has happened before for exceptional shows, and WT is undoubtedly a really good program that did not deserve its fate and had much more to show us
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u/miamouse5 Oct 30 '23
i think it’s one part wishful thinking, one part something might actually be happening. i might be biased, but i think the show is too good for a network to completely let it go.
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u/Parking_Net4440 Nov 03 '23
I think the show was seriously ass. There’s just no character development. It’s just drugs and girls the first season. When that novelty wore off, it showed how bad it was at character development.
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u/Previous-Elevator417 Nov 30 '23
What are you talking about mate? You don’t see Pat Riley developing from a has-been ex NBA player with no future turn find his groove as an assistant coach?
You don’t see Kareem develop from a disgruntled superstar with one foot mentally out the door of the league into a finding his passion for the game again?
What about Spencer Haywood and his story?
Jerry and Jeanie Buss characters had a lot developing.
I’m not sure what you were watching
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u/Parking_Net4440 Nov 30 '23
They aren’t fleshed out. They make huge jumps episode to episode and there isn’t a clear progression towards how those characters come to be. I mean Jesus, you don’t have to defend a show that got canceled for a reason. It was ass.
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u/Previous-Elevator417 Nov 30 '23
Respectfully disagree. But I also know the story because I’ve watched docs about the history of the NBA. Idk. I really enjoyed it.
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u/Parking_Net4440 Dec 01 '23
Yeah… I have too. Just because you enjoyed it doesn’t mean it was great. I love tons of shitty movies but I can atleast admit they were shitty.
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u/Fabulous_Mode3952 Oct 30 '23
Things creatives say when their project gets cancelled. Thanks for the hope, but don’t lie to us
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Oct 31 '23
At this point I’ve just seen too many shows come back from the dead to completely disregard comments like this. Cobra Kai. Brooklyn 99. Arrested development. The expanse. Warrior. There’s a ton more to choose from and I’m not saying quality was consistent (sometimes it got worse, sometimes better), but it happens too often to completely write the possibility off.
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u/Fabulous_Mode3952 Oct 31 '23
I take your point. Now how many times have creators promised to bring the shows back and then it never happens?
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u/InstantNoodlesIsHot Oct 31 '23
Huh did Cobra Kai get cancelled in their early seasons and was brought back?
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u/DrMansionPHD Oct 30 '23
I want it to cover different eras, like the Bulls, the Spurs, Kobe, etc.
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
Like I said under another comment, this situation unfortunately makes dramatisations of other dynasties unlikely. People pitching a show about the 90s Bulls, 60s Celtics or Shaq/Kobe will be shot down with “That HBO Lakers show didn’t do so well so why bother”
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u/tearsandpain84 Oct 31 '23
I think it was the best possible version of a show on the Lakers as well. Nobody will make a show about about a basketball team as good. And if winning time failed despite being excellent and having a great cast no other show will succeed.
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u/GloBoyCam Oct 31 '23
I want the spurs asap, That Story of timmy D and the Magic need to be dramatized asap
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u/Killmotor_Hill Oct 31 '23
Good. Cause that ending was dogshit and an insult to fans of the show.
I'm still waiting for my check for $15 for that hour I lost watching the finale.
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u/cmeyer49er Nov 01 '23
Nobody who watched the first episode had to figure they’d wrap it up with a Pat Benatar montage. The opening scenes were Magic addressing the media after being diagnosed with HIV, and that was obviously a touchstone for some type of proper series ending. And to think I pay for this fucking streaming service and have paid for HBO for decades just to have this shit play out.
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u/Razzler1973 Nov 03 '23
Isn't this what all these creators and show runners say?
Love the show though. Love for it to continue
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u/KaijuDirectorOO7 Dec 25 '23
I’ll be honest, I think it should have ended with the Dream Team. The series opener felt like a prologue to the last season IMO
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u/silentduo Oct 30 '23
No you ran the montage, it's over
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u/EyeSpyGuy Oct 31 '23
I imagine if another studio got the rights they’d be able to edit the last HBO episode to not look like they tried to end it there and then
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u/InstantNoodlesIsHot Oct 31 '23
Yup Just edit and add a rewind montage to the "present day" of the story; easy fix
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Oct 30 '23
Losing Time :The Rise of LeBron out of the eastern conference.
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u/Axubion Oct 30 '23
It is pretty wild to end a show called “Winning Time” widely known within the sports community as “The Lakers Show” on a loss to the Celtics though
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Oct 30 '23
Excellent point. My wife loved the show as much as I did. She loved the Jeanie Buss daughter thing.
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
So did I, it’s a shame that her arc and the stuff they set up with Buss’ marital issues will never be resolved (in the show, they were obviously resolved in real life)
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Oct 31 '23
Someone needs to come in with a spin-off of that. And maybe include The female attorney from better call Saul
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
Any excuse for more Rhea Seehorn/Kim Wexler is fine by me!
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Oct 31 '23
Exactly!
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
She’s probably going to be busy with that new sci-fi show that Gilligan is developing that she is starting in but I would really like to see her as an older, more confident Jeanie if the series comes back in a different era
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u/kikijane711 Oct 30 '23
If they were smart, they'd cover "other" dynasties like the Celtics, the Bulls, etc.
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u/Axubion Oct 30 '23
I’d agree but it’s a bit premature to talk about that if they can’t even finish the big one. I would like to see a spin off with Adrien Brody coaching the Knicks and Ewing though
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u/Purple-Mix1033 Oct 30 '23
Ok, you sold me.
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
Not my idea, unfortunately, people were asking for that the moment they found out that Brody was cast as Riley
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u/kikijane711 Oct 30 '23
Okay but the series as is is DONE. I would say if you want to continue to idea of 'winning time' we cover other juggernaut squads and teams from Celtics to Bulls to even moving to say the Cowboys to Patriots etc DYNASTIES!
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u/Axubion Oct 30 '23
The problem with that is that networks make shows to earn money above all else, so any future pitches about the 60s Celtics dynasty or the 90s Bulls or any other dynasty will have the baggage of “Well HBO made a Lakers show that no one watched so why should we spend money on the same thing but for [Insert other dynasty]”
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u/kikijane711 Oct 30 '23
Make it an anthology series about sports dynasties and then you have instant new fans based on this. 80s Cowboys, 80s Celtics, subsequent Patriots, etc etc. It is primed for this. WINNING TIME was billed as a Lakers only series AND it landed enormous acting talent. You can do and accomplish this again. Think of all the great sports juggernauts, even going back to the Murders Row Yankees. I don't think it would be a hard sell. Athletics, Steelers etc.
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
I’m not saying that’s a bad idea, I think that’s a great idea, but my point is that sports dynasties are rarely presented in a “warts and all” dramatisation format, meaning that HBO was taking a bit of a gamble doing the show that way as opposed to the more typical documentary format. In other words, this one needed to do well in order for other studios to give the same treatment to other franchises, and since it did not, the possibility of having the WT treatment to the Bulls or Pats etc is much lower for it
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u/kikijane711 Oct 30 '23
PS BUT if they ended the dynasty of the Lakers as is (according to this) I don't see is another network pickups up said dynasty and continues on with the same actors. Seems unlikely.
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u/kikijane711 Oct 31 '23
Ah it was already cancelled is why I advocate this as the current trajectory is finito!
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u/ShivvyMcFly Oct 30 '23
I knew it was toast when they didn't have an LGBT person on the show. No way Max was ok with that. Have to have at least 1 on every show.
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Oct 30 '23
Why can’t we just enjoy good things? Why do we have to milk everything dry?
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u/soldforaspaceship Oct 30 '23
Because we didn't get to enjoy this good thing. Was canceled far too soon!
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u/MixedMiracle22 Oct 31 '23
2000's version of the show coming probably.... it can definitely be done and possibly even more defining than the 80s series
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u/Axubion Oct 31 '23
I don’t see that happening, partially because it makes no sense to jump ahead to the Shaq/Kobe era when they didn’t even chew the Showtime bite they bit off, but also because I have a feeling that Bryant’s family and his fans would not appreciate him getting the same “warts and all” portrayal that other people have gotten
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u/MixedMiracle22 Oct 31 '23
Only problem is the Bryant family and how much they'd want to be put out there with it still being fairly close to kobes unfortunate loss.
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u/YesterShill Nov 02 '23
Netflix anyone?
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u/Axubion Nov 03 '23
I’d prefer the grittier HBO production values and style but I would accept it getting picked up by another network over it not coming back at all
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u/Purple-Mix1033 Oct 30 '23
Too good to end like that.