Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

As an NBA-obsessed fan this was right up my alley. The acting is fantastic although the basketball purist in me cringed at some of the liberties taken to make the story more dramatic. Finally, this massively suffers from a self-conscious, "must say fuck in every scene to justify being on HBO" disease some of these shows contract.

Adam McKay remains the infuriating combination of the exact story/characters I'd love to watch with the most distracting and annoying directing/editing. John C. Reilly nails his role as Dr Buss, a perfect balance of comedic and dramatic tension in one seemingly-aloof persona.

I only had a vague knowledge of the events portrayed in Winning Time S1 so it's possible I may have enjoyed a number of things that never happened but were fabricated for the series. C Reilly and Isaiah are superb as the primary characters that carry the whole season. It seems clear that real life restricted some of the dramatic narrative such as when a big deal is made about the Lakers only being tied at HT during a big game (they won easily) but there's definitely a lot of gold on display here

Eccentric in all the ways I expected it to be due to Adam McKay's involvement, Winning Time is stupidly fun to watch.

John C. Reilly is a fascinating to watch! What an actor. This shows more than about basketball. First episode was a very promising. My rating may up or down later.

Completely lost interest a half hour into the first episode. I've never liked basketball. A 10-hour first season? NOPE!

Easily one of the best shows of the year. The game of Basketball may be at the centre of the series but this show is truly about the men and women who made up the Los Angeles Lakers organization that year. It truly shows just how long of a grind a season is. I know they dramatized some things for greater affect but it does truly work as a series and shows the glory days of a sport that brings so much joy to my heart each and every time I have a chance to see it on display.

Placeholder, looks pretty interesting after first episode though. No doubt some parts of the story will differ from real life but that sort of thing has never bothered me that much