The reviews are in for HBO’s new series Ballers, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the verdict… isn’t great. Business Insider says of the pilot that it’s “boring and won’t get better,” while The Observer cleverly claims it “needs more balls.” Grantland writes that Ballers and The Brink “aren’t good,” and TheWrap calls it “grown-up Entourage.” My wonderful colleague Danger Guerrero took it a step further and more accurately referred to it as “football Entourage,” because this is a show about wealthy young athletes acting like crazy A-holes, all while surrounded by fast cars, huge yachts, and lots and lots of women. Also, it’s called Ballers, so it’s sort of obvious what to expect.
Poor reviews probably won’t sink this series, though, because 1) The Rock, and 2) the joy that sports fans get from their favorite athletes and personalities making cameos. For example, the above commercial of sorts that has Spencer Strasmore trying to sell Clay Matthews as a SportsCenter anchor to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. It might be nice to see a little more of this silliness mixed in with the rest of Season 1’s excess…
(Via Business Insider and Grantland)
