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At some point in the last 18-22 months, news broke that Adam McKay is making a series about the rise of the Showtime Lakers for HBO. Today, a trailer for the series came out, and as a lover of that 70s grainy look and sports history, I cannot fucking wait. It just shows the type of man I am, I'm not a Lakers fan at all, and much of their success came at the expense of my Boston Celtics, but I can be a nearly 30-year-old adult about it and admit that this looks fucking siiiiiick.
Bo Burnham was originally supposed to play Larry Bird, but he dropped out and now Larry Legend is getting played by someone who doesn't even have a wikipedia page.
As amazing as I'm sure Winning Time will be, it's also a little bit of a bummer because this project directly led to the Will Ferrell-Adam McKay creative partnership to crumble (The Other Guys is one of the most underrated comedies of all-time). I hate to see friendships end, but at the same time, I can't help but respect Will Ferrell for getting this upset that he's not included in the project.
According to McKay (via: People) this is what lead to their creative break-up.
According to Vanity Fair, the pair had talked about disbanding Gary Sanchez Productions prior to the split, but according to McKay, the breaking point came when he decided to recast the role of the Los Angeles Lakers' former team owner Jerry Buss for an upcoming HBO series, hiring their pal and frequent collaborator John C. Reilly instead of Ferrell for the part.
"The truth is, the way the show was always going to be done, it's hyperrealistic. And Ferrell just doesn't look like Jerry Buss, and he's not that vibe of a Jerry Buss. And there were some people involved who were like, 'We love Ferrell, he's a genius, but we can't see him doing it.' It was a bit of a hard discussion," said McKay. He added, "Didn't want to hurt his feelings. Wanted to be respectful. ... I should have called [Ferrell] and I didn't. And Reilly did, of course, because Reilly, he's a stand-up guy."
Will Ferrell is a "die-hard" Laker fan, and if one of my friends and creative partners was making a series about the Patriots Dynasty and was like, "ohhh yea sorry, bro, nothing for you," I'd probably terminate the friendship too. Like wtf? Although, McKay is sort of right...John C. Reilly looks like Jerry Buss.
From the few things I've read, it looks like they'll make amends at some point, but for now, this series is the straw that broke the camel's back and a reminder that all things eventually end. There's no official debut date yet, but Winning Time is set to debut in March of 2022.
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