Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The one silver (or is it purple?)
We got a call from HBO, whom weve been partnered with for years.
So we did get a chance to prepare, which we appreciated.
But to be clear, we never planned creatively to end at the 84 finals.
Whether we liked it or not, it was a problem that we had to solve.
It was a new scene created to directly address the question that HBO gave us.
It charts the successes of everybody that youve met along the way.
It could have run at the end of any season.
Did John C. Reilly and Hadley Robinson know they were shooting a possible series-finale scene?Yep.
I think we always took it season by season.
But is it safe to say that its something that you wouldve explored at some point?Perhaps.
I mean, again, its season by season.
That was 12 years into his career.
We are just at 84 right now in season two.
Each season is a tricky balancing act of time and facts and gameplay.
I think we succeeded more than we failed at it.
It definitely feels like the reviews and the audience response this season has been great.
Did launching during the strikes have an impact on promoting season two?
Its not centered on one person.
Yeah, that was definitely a frustration for us.
Is there any possible way to shop season three of the show to another platform?
Would HBO even let you do that?We havent really dug into that.
The first thing she said is, You cant end there!
I know its effective because the person that was in the room where it happened was affected by it.
But, again, it wasnt where we wanted to land.
You clearly had Jeanies support by the end of the show.
But some otherfamous Lakerswerent ashappywith the series.
Whats your response to their critiques?We did this season to kind of answer some of those questions.
Everybody involved in this, all the real people, almost everybodys written autobiographies.
Theres tons of press and research.
This season we decided to show our work.
For the most part, I think weve hit most of the major beats.
The show is a love letter to basketball and to the Lakers and to their success and their rise.
That was the whole reason and the inspiration for making the show.
It captured a place and a time in sports history, in entertainment history, in Los Angeles history.
Those were the driving factors.
We got a call from [HBO chief] Casey Bloys saying, You cant call itShowtime.
We struggled with titles for a while and then landed onWinning Time, which we like.
Speaking of Casey, whats your relationship like in the wake of this decision?
Adams relationship extends back even further than mine, back toEastbound and Down.
We have nothing but love and appreciation and support for all of them.
Was HBO transparent with you about the shows ratings performance?
I know the Nielsen numbers are public, but the streaming data on Max isnt.
Did they let you know how it was doing in any concrete way?Theyre very transparent.
The Sunday-night viewing is the smallest percentage of how many people ultimately watch a given episode.
It builds over time.
They shared all of the information, as theyve always done on our shows, week to week.
So it wasnt a surprise for the final decision based on how it was performing.
How it ultimately performs on the platform over time, who knows?
Thats where I leave it up to the universe.
I think season two was where we were taking our bigger swing with their support.
