lastflowers
Banned
It's literally the best podcast on channel 33, by far. (Opinion obviously
)
Bill Simmons' HBO show "Any Given Wednesday" canceled after 4 months
- Thread starter Macho Madness
- Start date
- Status
)Man crazy, that was quick. Seems like the relationship persists though. I wonder if they'll keep After the Thrones going?
I liked the show ok but it never struck as the "right" project for Bill. Looking forward to his next.
You misspelled Jam Session.
I liked the show ok but it never struck as the "right" project for Bill. Looking forward to his next.
It's literally the best podcast on channel 33, by far. (Opinion obviously
You misspelled Jam Session.
I have been a fan of Bill Simmons for almost two decades. I have two books signed by him and have loved just about everything he's done. But I only watched one episode of Any Given Wednesday (it had Glazer, Gladwell, and D. Smith) and thought it was terrible. So, I'm not surprised it was cancelled but I feel bad for him. But he'll rebound. He's too talented not to.
I hope this means more columns and podcasts!
I hope this means more columns and podcasts!
peppermints
Member
He signed a contract with HBO, right? So I'm assuming this means there will be some behind the scenes stuff for him to work on yet.
His podcast output has been good still, but I really miss Zach Lowe and Jalen Rose with Bill.
His podcast output has been good still, but I really miss Zach Lowe and Jalen Rose with Bill.
All I've seen of that show is this promo which had to be the second for second the most obnoxious thing on tv. "Hey, here are some thoughts that popped into my head in the last 8 minutes, HBO sure is giving me a lot of money, they must think this stuff is worthwhile."
I love Bill's podcast and writing, but the show was just kind of ....boring? One of the great things about Last Week Tonight is how much work they put into the show, and they cover topics in depth that no one else is even talking about.
Any Given Wednesday made it seem that Bill just waltzed on the set and started talking to the guests. Didn't notice a lot of prep work being put in to each episode. Might as well just a be a podcast that can't really do anything meaningful because it's only 30 minutes long.
Any Given Wednesday made it seem that Bill just waltzed on the set and started talking to the guests. Didn't notice a lot of prep work being put in to each episode. Might as well just a be a podcast that can't really do anything meaningful because it's only 30 minutes long.
Citizen Mane
Member
The commercial for this that HBO was spamming between all of their shows completely turned me off from checking this out.
VenomousCoffee
Member
I always thought the BS Report podcast was pretty much perfect as background noise (or as a long-distance drive companion). I never saw him as a good fit for a formal, more-intense setting like HBO and I'm not surprised it didn't work.
Bill's biggest issue with TV/Radio is that he lacks gravitas. He was great as a writer, combining sports and pop culture, many years ago as the sportsguy. Bill has great ideas and seems to have a knack for hiring creative people but he should not be in front of the camera or mic. He should be directing and letting others do that sort of thing.
It's literally the best podcast on channel 33, by far. (Opinion obviously
I agree he does good podcasts, but the TV show always felt like a stretch.
StevieWhite
Member
Diddy Kong
Banned
Good riddance. The guy is a hack.
My big issue with Bill, and it really comes across in his writing, especially during the Grantland years, where there were so many incredibly intelligent pieces from other contributors on the site, is that he seems to write down to the lowest common denominator.
I grew up listening to sports radio in NY religiously, so I understand why its smart business to do that, but I just fucking hate it.
I grew up listening to sports radio in NY religiously, so I understand why its smart business to do that, but I just fucking hate it.
SparkleMotion
Member
Due to his rampant Boston homerism, I'm actually kind of happy that his show got cancelled.
dead souls
Member
I watched the first couple and they were terrible. Totally a mercy killing.
lastflowers
Banned
agreed, wasn't a huge fan of the show. I liked the spot with Vince Staples though
A Serious Man
Member
I watched a good number of the episodes. It always felt like a long format show crunched into 30 minutes, I thought it would have worked better at 45 minutes or even an hour. He shot for a conversational podcast vibe but that really doesn't work when you've got multiple interviews, monologues and even sketches crammed into half an hour.
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
The show was too short. Felt rushed. Should been hour or more format.
GOOD. It sucked. Not long enough, not time sensitive enough for the internet age. It
Write more and more podcasts, Bill. More web coverage. That's where your strength lies, and that's where your audience is. Not some HBO shit. Just forget about TV completely. It doesn't suit you at all.
Write more and more podcasts, Bill. More web coverage. That's where your strength lies, and that's where your audience is. Not some HBO shit. Just forget about TV completely. It doesn't suit you at all.
Fueled System
Member
Not surprising.. He is painful to watch on TV and I always changed the channel whenever he cohosted PTI. He became unbearable to follow for me after deflategate and he wouldn't stop complaining about it.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
Simmons is terrible TV. He didn't have anything interesting to say on this show. For a host of a predominantly interview show he did far too much talking.
On the FIRST episode you engage in a self indulgent bitchfest about the cheating Asterisks with Ben Affleck about an issue everyone is tired of hearing about?? Yawn.
On the FIRST episode you engage in a self indulgent bitchfest about the cheating Asterisks with Ben Affleck about an issue everyone is tired of hearing about?? Yawn.
RecRoulette
Member
Pretty much agree with the folks saying his stuff never really translated to TV well. I wish he would write more, but there's no money in that I guess.
The only path to success for Simmons at HBO was doubling down on his work at 30 for 30 and Grantland with a lot of serious and diverse voices and his fading more into the background like he did with those projects. Those places weren't perfect but at times were really filling a void. Of course a lot of that top talent fled after Grantland shut down but maybe they thought he could replicate it. Instead you come out with this very bro vibe to his show and much of the content; from the moment the first promo hits it pretty much looks like a cut-rate FS1 show. None of the quality or thoughtfulness of 30 for 30 or Grantland is visible in pretty much any of the show; it's mostly just Simmons b-roll podcast material and half-baked hot takes (oh the irony).
This is totally fantastical, but if HBO and Simmons were serious about it, they really should have sought out substantial and regular contributions from people like Wesley Morris, Steve James, and Louisa Thomas from the jump. But among many other problems with that, the 30m format doomed any chances of that immediately, and effectively dictated the direction of the show would just be light and chasing virality. It's interesting how casual Simmons was the entire time about the show's direction from the outset (including the 30m thing) -- clearly thinking they'd have a whole season to work out the kinks. Looks like he overestimated that by a lot. While the show may have had more time to work out the kinks if the direction was anywhere near promising.
This is totally fantastical, but if HBO and Simmons were serious about it, they really should have sought out substantial and regular contributions from people like Wesley Morris, Steve James, and Louisa Thomas from the jump. But among many other problems with that, the 30m format doomed any chances of that immediately, and effectively dictated the direction of the show would just be light and chasing virality. It's interesting how casual Simmons was the entire time about the show's direction from the outset (including the 30m thing) -- clearly thinking they'd have a whole season to work out the kinks. Looks like he overestimated that by a lot. While the show may have had more time to work out the kinks if the direction was anywhere near promising.
^^ should have been an hour, should have been almost entirely the conversations, instead of cramming in a 10 minute monologue/hot takes segment at the start of the show simply because that's what sports TV shows are supposed to look like. Then they chopped up the conversation segments and put some of the best bits up as clips on hbogo, which was a terrible idea.
I also think they made a tactical error in having so many guests on that were 100% in the BS universe already, ie former podcast guests and such, but maybe that is the issue, that they couldn't book the kinds of guests they were hoping for.
I'd be more interested in the show if it was just a unedited ~30 minute one-on-one followed by a ~30 minute group conversation.
I think the time slot was also a mistake, late Wednesday night doesn't scream 'sports' to me, and they launched the show during a fairly dead period for sports as well. But the big issue is that they tried to format it like a regular tv show, and tried to make Bill a regular tv host.
jordan0386
Member
The Jump is only 30m and that show works.
They just didnt deliver. On to the next one.
They just didnt deliver. On to the next one.
It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with 30m, just that it plays counter to Simmons's strengths.
Robot Pants
Member
Well I don't know who he is, but the ads and previews for this show made it look pretty awful.
An opinion from someone completely on the outside.
An opinion from someone completely on the outside.
- Status