Bill Simmons' new show

[sfvega]

I just tried to watch it. I'm on the negative side of the fence on Simmons. I think he's a down-to-earth, funny guy. Like a less likeable Dan LeBatard in a lot of ways. But he's unbearably Boston-centric. The show starts of with some decent banter with Barkley. Barkley is so crazy. Maybe half of the stuff he says is witty and painfully true, and the other half is probably the dumbest garbage I've ever heard from anyone in sports media (which is a very, very low bar.)

So, of course, pretty much the entire 2nd half of the show is him and Ben Affleck discussing how bullshit Deflate-gate was. I FF'ed past the Affleck stuff far enough to see the KG "anything is possible" soundbite.......twice. That's EXACTLY why I wanna hate the guy. That's exactly what I expect his show to be. A local sports show on a nationwide channel for no reason whatsoever. Thoughts? Anyone a fan?

[AwamoriRock]

There is nothing you can do to convince me that Affleck was sober.

That said, I like Simmons more than most. I enjoy his podcast, but what you're saying about him is undeniably true. He's a gigantic Boston homer, which I have no problem with because everyone has a team, but he lets it seep into just about every other sports topic. I also don't think TV is quite his thing, but I have a trust for HBO programming quality and will give the show a bit of a leash to see what it ends up being.

I'm also a bit disappointed in The Ringer. I get that he thinks that people want to process shorter articles and instant media now, but I think it might be the wrong move. I think it's the opposite of what people found appealing about Grantland.

[Wailord Man]

I tapped out when Ben Affleck said deflate gate was made up by the Broncos and Jets cause they hate the Pats success.

[sfvega]

Jun 27, 2016 0:42:15 GMT -5 AwamoriRock said:

There is nothing you can do to convince me that Affleck was sober.

That said, I like Simmons more than most. I enjoy his podcast, but what you're saying about him is undeniably true. He's a gigantic Boston homer, which I have no problem with because everyone has a team, but he lets it seep into just about every other sports topic. I also don't think TV is quite his thing, but I have a trust for HBO programming quality and will give the show a bit of a leash to see what it ends up being.

I'm also a bit disappointed in The Ringer. I get that he thinks that people want to process shorter articles and instant media now, but I think it might be the wrong move. I think it's the opposite of what people found appealing about Grantland.

I admittedly hadn't seen Affleck in a while. I thought he just looked older maybe. Probably not sober.

There's a tipping point to the fanboyism. It is endearing a lot when people gush a little about their team. It's relatable. But there's a point where it's too much, and that point with Simmons has always been about 8 seconds after he's started talking. Like, if someone asked him about the Stanley Cup this year, I'd bet every material possession to my name that within 3 sentences, he's mentioned the word "Bruins" or "Bobby Orr". He's the stereotypical homer.

I liked some Grantland stuff, but the Ringer seems to be him trying to serve too many masters. It's way too all over the place. Tech and music and movies and TV and pop culture. It's cluttered. I still miss the old ESPN Page 2 days where he shined. They did sports, but they didn't cover them like they did on the front page. It was laid back and the pop culture references or tie-ins came naturally, not forced. It was a sports site, and it got away from that just not very far. I agree he's trying to pivot to shorter articles for the attention span of newer consumers. But in doing that, it's so much easier for his site to slip through the cracks.

[andrew8798]

Looks like it's not doing too great

awfulannouncing.com/2016/ratings-for-bill-simmons-any-given-wednesday-arent-pretty.html

[sfvega]

He re-hashed the SAME "defend Tom Brady for 10 minutes of a 30 minute show" bit again! He just doesn't have enough natural charisma for his laid-back persona to drive the show. He desperately needs dynamic guests to play off of. He's a good writer, but in TV, he's a sidekick. He has the demeanor of a drugged up middle age housewife. I can't help but feel like Olbermann would have been a better way for HBO to go.

[andrew8798]

Not a shock but HBO has canceled the show

awfulannouncing.com/2016/bill-simmons-hbo-show-any-given-wednesday-cancelled-after-just-five-months.html

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

He has two massive problems as a TV personality

1. He has all the charisma of a paper plate. Not the Dixie paper plates with the "splashed paint" designs, mind you...the generic plain white paper plate.
2. He never learned the difference between being a fan and a fanboy for a national audience. It's fine to still root for Boston but if that's seemingly ALL you talk about, you're going to quickly turn off the rest of the country. And he did.

I'd keep him as a producer. His biggest successes have been the concepts for Grantland and 30 For 30. Try to figure out something like that if you must, or simply let him disappear into the ether of FS1 when his contract expires.

[sfvega]

What a massive waste of money for HBO. But I think what it really illustrates is that ESPN, for as shitty as it is, that so many guys are only successful in it's vacuum. Simmons, whose release was highly publicized, his stock has completely bottomed out after a very short amount of time. Bayless too.

[Push R Truth]

Simmons works best as a guest on somebody elses show. I always thought he was too dry to be a host.

That said, Simmons should be on the Preshow for WWE PPV's and be on a panel show for the Network.

[domrep]

How many people who have left ESPN have actually been successful?