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Playmakers Canceled?
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Posted by: EchoBravo

Is Playmakers over or was that just the season finale we saw awhile back? Bill Maher* said something about it being yanked because "kids might see it" during Larry King Live on Wednesday night.

________
*Disclaimers: I don't normally watch Larry King. In fact, I think he sucks, but I will watch if I see a promo where he has a really interesting guest. And let's leave Bill Maher's politics out of this Playmakers thread. Some of us like Al Franken. Some of us like Bill O'Reilly.

Posted by: speedy4022

If Playmakers gets canceled it will be because the NFL does not approve of the show and ESPN's Sunday night football contract is up for renewal.

Posted by: Crash331

That's just wrong.

Posted by: YCantAngieRead

That's exactly right-it was cancelled because they weren't able to get sponsors for it and the NFL was able to pull some strings (meaning pulling the Sunday night game from ESPN). I never watched the show but I found that extremely sad.

Posted by: minorthr

The NFL was upset that it portrayed a bad image and tried to say things like that do not occur in the NFL. We all know there is no drug use [cough] Lawrence Taylor [/cough] and they never beat their wife or kill people [cough] Ray Caruth [/cough] that sort of stuff just doesn't happen in the nfl. I mean steroids are not used by NFL players anymore and they never ever get arrested for anything :rolleyes: They should just change it to the squeaky clean league

Posted by: DreadPirateRob

Are we sure it has been cancelled? I have heard that the NFL was not happy with it, but since it was by far ESPN's highest-rated program that there could be some sort of staredown between the two goliaths, but I had not heard definitively one way or the other that a decision had been made.

Posted by: Supfreak26

I seriously doubt it's been cancelled since they continue to show reruns of the show. If the NFL tried to pull Sunday night football because of the show then I'm sure the show would be gone without a trace. They wouldn't continue to show it.

My guess (and that's all it is because I've heard nothing) is that they are filming a second season now to debut late this summer. Hopefully they do more episodes this year if they do return. Things were just starting to get good when the ended things this time.

Posted by: Frylock

The show has not been cancelled yet. ESPN is still debating what to do. The show is showing re-runs now because they didn't do that many episodes for the first season.

Yes, the NFL doesn't like it, and got Gatorade to pull their sponsorship. And yes, it is one of the highest rated shows for ESPN. I think if ESPN doesn't continue it, which I hope they do, the NFL should accept it as a DRAMA and not a reality series, that another network like HBO pick it up and do something with it.

Posted by: DreadPirateRob

ESPN.com is running promos for Playmakers S1 on DVD... not that it means much of anything with regard to whether S2 has been picked up or not.

Posted by: daperlman

quote:
Originally posted by minorthr
The NFL was upset that it portrayed a bad image and tried to say things like that do not occur in the NFL. We all know there is no drug use [cough] Lawrence Taylor [/cough] and they never beat their wife or kill people [cough] Ray Caruth [/cough] that sort of stuff just doesn't happen in the nfl. I mean steroids are not used by NFL players anymore and they never ever get arrested for anything :rolleyes: They should just change it to the squeaky clean league

But is it really appropriate to have the gay guy portraying the team's tight end?

Posted by: DreadPirateRob

^^ He was their star wide receiver.... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Posted by: TomK

I just wish ESPN would stick to 'live' sports shows and leave the fictional sports dramas/comedies to other networks.

Posted by: Frylock

I disagree TomK, why shouldn't ESPN show fictional sports drama/comedies? Their focus is sports, so if anything, they know more about it than anyone else. They already run Spportscenter 12+ hours a day, so they need something else to fill in the gaps in their schedule. I think it's a good opportunity for them to branch out. Now, if it turned into MTV where there were more shows than sports (ala MTV more shows that have nothing to do with music and hardly any music) then it would be a problem.

But at least they all have to do with sports. Personally, I enjoyed Playmakers. It wasn't an amazing show, and it was weird to see the dumb kid from Smart guy in it, but it was good enough to watch.

Posted by: EchoBravo

quote:
I just wish ESPN would stick to 'live' sports shows and leave the fictional sports dramas/comedies to other networks.

I also disagree. I'd rather see a quality sports-related drama than bass fishing, hunting, strongman challenges, poker or any of the pseudo-sports filler they sometimes air.

Posted by: smak

ESPN won't pull any football, they just may look elsewhere for the cable contract next time.

They will never say this directly to ESPN, but I think everybody at ESPN/ABC/Disney knows what they mean when they say they don't like the portrayal.

-smak-

Posted by: Family

quote:
Originally posted by minorthr
The NFL was upset that it portrayed a bad image and tried to say things like that do not occur in the NFL. We all know there is no drug use [cough] Lawrence Taylor [/cough] and they never beat their wife or kill people [cough] Ray Caruth [/cough] that sort of stuff just doesn't happen in the nfl. I mean steroids are not used by NFL players anymore and they never ever get arrested for anything :rolleyes: They should just change it to the squeaky clean league

It did portray an inaccurate image of the league. Yes people use drugs in the NFL... just like in society or there is domestic violence and other bad stuff. But c'mon.... do you think the starting running is scoring blow a half hour before the game? Or is he meeting his dealer in the parking lot and buying (or better yet having a teammate buy for him because the jones is so bad?) And all this happening on one team??? I liked parts of the show, but this was as from from reality as it gets.

Posted by: FloridaStateNo1

quote:
Originally posted by Family
I liked parts of the show, but this was as from from reality as it gets.

Since when was it promoted as a reality show? It's a fictional drama!! Nobody ever told me this is the inside story of a real NFL team! Did I miss the "Based on a true story" bit that everyone else thinks they saw? This is a TV show, a drama, not a reality show. Las Vegas is not actually based on events that happened in a casino, CSI is not actually based on real crimes that happened, Boston Public is not actually based on a Boston high school or Boston high schoolers, so why does everyone get so upset thinking ESPN is giving the NFL a bad name? This is a fictional show, and everybody, the NFL and all the viewers included, knew it from the beginning. Could someone please tell me if the Cleveland Indians were upset about the way their team and ownership was portrayed in Major League, because I don't recall any controversy over that movie. Also, this was the latest press release from ESPN:

PLAYMAKERS (ESPN) - At its session at the TCA winter press tour ESPN executives remained mum about the future of its original drama series "Playmakers." They also confirmed the network has another two months or so before its option for a second season of the series expires.

So please stop saying it's been canceled, because it's not. Yet.

Posted by: Frylock

I agree that this whole "portrays the NFL in a poor light" is bunk. Any occurances that resemble the NFL is a sad case for the NFL, and not ESPN attempting to cash in on what really goes on.

The HBO series that was not on this past year which followed a team through training camp and preseason was billed as, and portrayed as a reality tv program. It featured real teams with real players. It was fine by the NFL.

Playmakers is just like any other drama out there. If you can suspend disbelief while watching CSI, then why not Playmakers? No one thinks that CSIs solve the cases, while the police just sit back and watch. No one watches Law and Order and thinks it is reality. It's based on it, loosely. But it's just means to give you something to watch and enjoy. Shame on the NFL for trying to bully ESPN/ABC/Disney for a program that they don't agree with. Perhaps they should focus on cleaning up some of their player's images so no one might think that the show is real...

Posted by: PaigeH

quote:
Originally posted by Family
It did portray an inaccurate image of the league. Yes people use drugs in the NFL... just like in society or there is domestic violence and other bad stuff. But c'mon.... do you think the starting running is scoring blow a half hour before the game? Or is he meeting his dealer in the parking lot and buying (or better yet having a teammate buy for him because the jones is so bad?) And all this happening on one team??? I liked parts of the show, but this was as from from reality as it gets.

Look how many players are on one team. OF COURSE this all can occur on one team!

Additionally, I forgot the player's name, but in MLB a while ago (years ago) a player pitched the BEST game of his life while high on LSD - which he took JUST before the game.

Posted by: TomK

quote:
Originally posted by Frylock
I disagree TomK, why shouldn't ESPN show fictional sports drama/comedies? Their focus is sports, so if anything, they know more about it than anyone else. They already run Spportscenter 12+ hours a day, so they need something else to fill in the gaps in their schedule. I think it's a good opportunity for them to branch out. Now, if it turned into MTV where there were more shows than sports (ala MTV more shows that have nothing to do with music and hardly any music) then it would be a problem.

And turning into an 'MTV' sort of situation is what I fear. If those non-music shows on MTV weren't so popular they wouldn't have so many. I guess more people want those shows instead of music videos but I'd rather have music videos on MTV and just sporting events on ESPN. Just my two cents worth.