Although I’ve seen it before, I rewatched this disappointing second season of Winning Time. It’s not bad, but gets nowhere near the potential of the first season.
With a writer’s strike and a change of ownership at HBO, Winning Time was canceled after this second season. The first was ten episodes long to cover one basketball season, while this second season is seven episodes and covers the rest of the 1980s. Unsurprisingly, the story comes out rushed and disjointed.
Almost every character and storyline this season gets screwed by the rushed format. Jason Segel’s Paul Westhead might be the one exception, as he puts out an excellent performance as a villain for us to root against. Other than Westhead, the other characters have their stories condensed, cut, and rushed until it can feel like they might as well just roll the epilogue text. A prime example is Jeannie Buss… there is a long setup of her trying to get recognized by her father, but instead of taking the time to make it happen, they eventually just make up for no reason. It’s not satisfying, and it makes all of those setup scenes a waste of time. They might as well have cut her from this season. Jerry Buss similarly went from being an excellent character in the first season to pretty much dead weight this time around.
It’s still a good season of TV, but nothing worth remembering. 7 out of 10.
My Score
IMDB Series Score
RT Critics
82
RT Audience
36