The Bill Simmons Thread

WayBackVazquez

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What leads me to believe that is the fact that the show is flailing desperately in the ratings, and HBO/Simmons are obviously focusing on leadins. You think Wahlberg, Damon, and the Farrelys were a coincidence? You think they might have followed Straight Outta Compton (box office demographics = 75% nonwhite) with Caitlyn Jenner? This is what programmers do. I wouldn't even be surprised if there was polling involved.
 
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WayBackVazquez

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I have no disdain for the guests. Seth Rogen is kind of a nitwit, but whatever. I'm just noting that Simmons is pandering.
 

Cellar-Door

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I have no disdain for the guests. Seth Rogen is kind of a nitwit, but whatever. I'm just noting that Simmons is pandering.
Huh?
Simmons is booking guests, then HBO is scheduling movies. I really doubt they book 3 guest shows based on what movie they want to show rather than you know.... scheduling the movies around the guests they can get?
 

WayBackVazquez

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Huh?
Simmons is booking guests, then HBO is scheduling movies. I really doubt they book 3 guest shows based on what movie they want to show rather than you know.... scheduling the movies around the guests they can get?
HBO's schedule is RELEASED at least a month and a half in advance. It's scheduled at least a few weeks ahead of that. If you think Simmons is booking all of his guests two months in advance, more power to you.
 

kenneycb

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Yeah, that's why I was confused. Some of the guests are also interviewed in advance as well, or at least that was the case with the Michael K Williams and Christina Hendricks ones, which were bumped a week or two for Bosh and Anderson after the Durant signing.

Edit: Does the schedule ever change? I honestly have no idea.

Edit 2: Next week's lead in is Hard Knocks and Trainwreck. I wonder if he gets LeBron.
 

HoyaSoxa

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How many people actually watch HBO the old-fashioned way? Isn't it basically a competitor to Netflix and other streaming services at this point, making concepts like ratings (not to mention lead-ins) nearly obsolete? Even if you aren't borrowing your parents password for HBOGO, everything is available On-Demand, including Straight Outta Compton, which has been available on the HBO platform for at least 2 weeks and cannot possibly be driving the decision to book guests. No matter the demographics, I have to think the kind of viewer who lazily clicks to watch part of a movie they have probably already seen 10 times when they could be watching a fairly major event like the DNC or the Olympics is probably not likely to be an Any Given Wednesday viewer.
 

WayBackVazquez

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How many people actually watch HBO the old-fashioned way? Isn't it basically a competitor to Netflix and other streaming services at this point, making concepts like ratings (not to mention lead-ins) nearly obsolete? Even if you aren't borrowing your parents password for HBOGO, everything is available On-Demand, including Straight Outta Compton, which has been available on the HBO platform for at least 2 weeks and cannot possibly be driving the decision to book guests. No matter the demographics, I have to think the kind of viewer who lazily clicks to watch part of a movie they have probably already seen 10 times when they could be watching a fairly major event like the DNC or the Olympics is probably not likely to be an Any Given Wednesday viewer.
Well, most of this information is available just a few posts above. There are still plenty of people watching HBO the old-fashioned way, otherwise HBO wouldn't hand over approximately half of its subscriber fees to the cable and satellite providers, when they could just go the Netflix route. Lazy viewers though they may be, 320,000 viewers tuned in to watch a couple of hours of Tropic Thunder last Wednesday, though only 247,000 could be bothered to watch a half hour of Simmons. John Oliver draws around a million and a half old-fashioned viewers each week the last time I checked, and Game of Thrones has many millions of TV viewers each week.

But Any Given Wednesday doesn't have the lowest viewership of any HBO original show. That honor goes to the Simmons-produced After The Thrones. So at least HBO is getting its money worth there.
 

LeoCarrillo

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That was excruciating watching Simmons talk weed with Rogen and Ricky Williams. Especially Bill's attempt to throw in his own anecdote. "Me and my buddies got really high once and went to see a movie but accidentally wandered into Adam Sandler's Mr. Deeds and I got really paranoid and thought if I died, it'd be so embarrassing because I was in Mr. Deeds."

It was one of those screeching car tire moments from the dorm room, when the guy who's sorta peripheral to the group ("No, give him a chance. He's really funny and knows a ton about sports") tries to hang out and everyone realizes at the same time they've gotta ditch him before they all head to the party.

If DC is Hollywood for ugly people, then I've always thought Hollywood was New York for people who fully function on weed.

Okay, I guess it's a little juvenile to pile on a guy because he's obviously not a cannabis guy. But how long has he lived in LA? I don't know anyone there who hasn't found their way to some modest THC-level Blue Dream or something and chilled out a little. At any rate, the guy could use some kinda relaxant for going on camera. It's painful watching Simmons the TV Guy with that weird frozen smile that Simmons the writer would've shredded years ago.

Also, honest question, since I don't listen to his podcasts. Is he knowledgable about much of anything besides sports and TV/movies? When Rogen said the president he'd most like to smoke pot with was Teddy Roosevelt, it looked like Simmons had never heard of the guy. I mean, break out a high-while-hunting-for-rhinos joke or something.
 

WayBackVazquez

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It was Ricky who said Roosevelt. And then Rogan jumped in with the Rough Riders reference. Only the host of the show, who ASKED THE STUPID QUESTION of which past president they'd like to smoke weed with seemed flummoxed. Because he was expecting only one answer. Which is the epitome of a good question, right? And then when he didn't get the cliche answer he was expecting, he just threw it out there himself. He's such a wonderful interviewer.
 

berniecarbo1

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Man you guys have a lot of time on your hands to get this granular on Bill Simmons' show, considering nobody even watches it. I saw a couple of the shows and stopped. I can't believe I am saying this....I actually agree with WBV that he is pandering and the over the top Boston influence is a little much for a national show. His work at ESPN with Grantland and 30 for 30 was tremendous. This show is really not suited for him. Hopefully he will produce some really groundbreaking sports documentaries down the road, but right now, his show is definitely NOT must see TV, IMHO.
 

LeoCarrillo

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I've just stopped on it while surfing, and I admit it's kind of a car-crash curiosity factor at this point. Just to see if it's cringe-inducing. I think he's a bust as an on-camera person, but whatever. He's getting paid. So he can suck, get cancelled and still win.

It makes me wonder though, what if he (or someone else) followed suit with Simmons' own original appeal -- the outsider, the fan? I think that's part of what's so awkward and grating, that he's trying to act all cool with his guests.

I'd rather watch a show (picture something halfway to Chris Farley's "That was awesome..." skit) where a fan acknowledges he's a nobody, in a likable and mildly self-effacing way, and then asks all the questions a fan would want to know. I guess Simmons stumbles on this occasionally when the guests riff on their own, like Hader. But whoever said earlier that Simmons asks no follow ups basically nailed it. At the very least, when Ricky Williams said he smoked up on Willie Nelson's bus, there's gotta be at least 3 or 4 easy follow-up questions there, like how much weed did Willie have on him, what did they smoke out of, did Willie break out the guitar, did they talk at all about football? Even Rogen turned to Ricky and said, "Was he awesome?" and Ricky said yes. And then Simmons club-foots on to his next question without exploring anything funny.

Yeah, this is nitpicky. Show sucks, I guess. Why bother. But there's definitely a good opportunity here on non-network to interview celebs and get them rambling about weird people they've worked with, shit they've done to paparazzi, if their childhood friends try to get back in touch and come over their Hollywood Hills pad. Whatever.
 
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WayBackVazquez

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I also haven't watched an entire show. I caught the last five minutes (hahahaha, the Weed Round!) flipping between Olympic channels and the Sox game.
 

HoyaSoxa

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Jonah Hill, Jon Favreau (the Obama speechwriter) and Wesley Morris tonight. As usual, I would definitely listen to that podcast but might find it tough to find time to watch.
 

bigq

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Jonah Hill, Jon Favreau (the Obama speechwriter) and Wesley Morris tonight. As usual, I would definitely listen to that podcast but might find it tough to find time to watch.
It was tough to watch despite some interesting input from Favreau. I like Simmons however his show is not good. There was a forced and contrived segment on what could be done to make the Olympics better which I first thought might offer some interesting insight but in the end made me feel embarrassed for him to the point that I turned it off.
 
I tried to listen to the Miller podcast, and 10 minutes in I was completely underwhelmed, simply because Simmons (and Miller) never introduced the subject matter in a way that would make uneducated listeners care about it. I listened to Miller talk on podcasts about his other two books, and I think it's fair to say that pretty much anyone with any interest at all in popular culture would know something about Saturday Night Live, and anyone with any interest at all in sports would know a lot about ESPN. But CAA? I mean, here's the opening paragraph of a Vanity Fair article from March which included an early excerpt from Miller's new book:
Founded in 1975 by five refugees from the William Morris agency—Bill Haber, Ron Meyer, Michael Ovitz, Rowland Perkins, and Mike Rosenfeld—Creative Artists Agency became within its first decade one of the most significant agencies in Hollywood, and soon thereafter a multifaceted, dominant force in the worldwide entertainment industry. By 1995, the agency represented most of the top stars and directors in motion pictures, and CAA boss Michael Ovitz was appearing on magazine covers, proclaimed the “Most Powerful Man in Hollywood.”
Would it have killed Simmons to say something like this up front? (Or am I just being dense for not having known anything about CAA, or for not really caring about it now?)
 

Bailey10

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The second half of the podcast about John Skipper and ESPN was pretty fascinating.

Definitely the most candidly BS has spoken on the subject to date.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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I think *maybe* the lack of background is on purpose. It seems like Simmons, and the Ringer, have decided that their stuff is meant to feed the niches. Often, I see Ringer articles posted and the references are so obscure I have no idea what they're talking about. They take deep dives into, and make impassioned arguments about, topics that I'm only vaguely aware.

But I think that's the plan. Serve the hyper nerds in various spaces. Fuck the monoculture and just go after those people who don't feel like anyone goes into depth on their favorite shit.

So, for those Hollywood insiders, the podcast is amazing, and they would have been turned off by a backgrounder into stuff that's *so obvious.*

Or, maybe they just have no idea how to serve a general audience. I dunno.
 

LeoCarrillo

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Damn, just noticed his ears are way too low on his head in comparison to his eyes. Now I can't see anything else....
Dear god, you're right. They're like fish fins or something.



Versus a normal person who's just kinda funny looking.

 

Leather

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It's just perspective. He's looking slightly up (probably in order to emphasize his chin and look more masculine) so his ears look low.

Buscemi, by contrast, is looking slightly down.
 

luckiestman

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It's just perspective. He's looking slightly up (probably in order to emphasize his chin and look more masculine) so his ears look low.

Buscemi, by contrast, is looking slightly down.

I thought so too but google image search shows his low ears from various angles. He does have that crick in his neck though probably from bad posture sitting at a desk.
 

Leather

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You're right. He's a genetic monster.

I wonder if his kind adapted that way so they could lick their own ears.
 

johnmd20

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I really liked Simmons' podcast with Gladwell about the Olympics. It was a very detailed and interesting conversation. Also, Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast quickly vaulted up to one of my favorite podcasts of all time. Check it out if you haven't heard of it.
 

allstonite

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I really liked Simmons' podcast with Gladwell about the Olympics. It was a very detailed and interesting conversation. Also, Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast quickly vaulted up to one of my favorite podcasts of all time. Check it out if you haven't heard of it.
I enjoyed it too except for Simmons' completely serious "tell me why the dunk contest can't be an Olympic sport?"

I also liked their discussion on how to improve the NBA and make games go quicker. I like the NBA and want to keep up with it more but I agreed with a ton of what Simmons said about the games dragging. If someone who follows the league as closely as him feels something needs to be done, maybe it really does. Hopefully Silver starts to look at stuff to improve the flow of games.
 

johnmd20

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I enjoyed it too except for Simmons' completely serious "tell me why the dunk contest can't be an Olympic sport?"

I also liked their discussion on how to improve the NBA and make games go quicker. I like the NBA and want to keep up with it more but I agreed with a ton of what Simmons said about the games dragging. If someone who follows the league as closely as him feels something needs to be done, maybe it really does. Hopefully Silver starts to look at stuff to improve the flow of games.
The drunk thing was dumb but it was a very Bill Simmons way to look at it. Feels like he says things like that to be funny and for no other reason. Swimming with a beer isn't funny, tho, it's just dumb. Also dumb was Gladwell's assertion that if the NBA sold only 20 commercials a game instead of 40, those 20 commercials would worth double what they are currently worth.

Commercials don't work like that Malcolm, unless the ratings doubled with the decrease in the number of commercials, which has a 0% chance of happening.

Still, despite the nitpicks, that was an excellent podcast. It was long, too, and I was depressed it was over. Simmons is really so much better on the pod than he is in front of the camera.
 
I haven't listened to the Gladwell podcast yet - I'll do so presently on the strength of your positive reviews - but on its face, a dunk contest isn't much less absurd than some of the judging-based sports already in the Olympics. In fact, it's almost a combination of artistic gymnastics (vault) and rhythmic gymnastics (doing funky stuff with your body while tossing or twirling a ball around). How much of his point was a sideways commentary on the sports already in the Olympics, rather than the idea of adding the dunk contest on its own merits?
 

luckiestman

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I haven't listened to the Gladwell podcast yet - I'll do so presently on the strength of your positive reviews - but on its face, a dunk contest isn't much less absurd than some of the judging-based sports already in the Olympics. In fact, it's almost a combination of artistic gymnastics (vault) and rhythmic gymnastics (doing funky stuff with your body while tossing or twirling a ball around). How much of his point was a sideways commentary on the sports already in the Olympics, rather than the idea of adding the dunk contest on its own merits?

His point was in reference to beach volleyball being derivative of indoor volleyball. He actually brought up 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 also.
 

Blacken

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I usually like Bill's podcast, but does anyone ever want to listen to Michael Rapaport?
 

luckiestman

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I just listened to Rappaport driving home and I was entertained. Definitely not some high level intellectual shit but these guys are funny together.
 

Kliq

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I just listened to Rappaport driving home and I was entertained. Definitely not some high level intellectual shit but these guys are funny together.
Rappaport once told this great story about him awkwardly getting an erection during a dance scene with Uma Thurman that was terrific. Not really highbrow stuff but it's easy listening.
 

luckiestman

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Cousin Sal had a great line, I don't remember the exact wording but along lines of "that's all the proof that you need that the Patriots cheat, Bill Belichick went 11-5 with Matt Cassell"
 

Bleedred

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Did anyone see Demaurice Smith on AGW? He basically confirmed that the NFLPA has no chance against the owners because players will cave as soon as a strike enters its 5th or 6th week because a healthy % of his union can't afford to miss the paychecks.
 

Blacken

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Cousin Sal had a great line, I don't remember the exact wording but along lines of "that's all the proof that you need that the Patriots cheat, Bill Belichick went 11-5 with Matt Cassell"
So now we're going to have five threads about how unjust HBO is. Great.
 

luckiestman

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So now we're going to have five threads about how unjust HBO is. Great.

This was on the podcast and well delivered by Sal. Sal calling the Patriots cheaters is a recurring theme, so I don't think a bounty will be placed on him, but Pat's fans play for keeps on this issue so you may want to take Sal in the death pool.
 

Clears Cleaver

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I've learned more about football in the first 15 minutes of the Lombardi podcast than I have in the last year of watching football on tv
 

Drocca

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I think *maybe* the lack of background is on purpose. It seems like Simmons, and the Ringer, have decided that their stuff is meant to feed the niches. Often, I see Ringer articles posted and the references are so obscure I have no idea what they're talking about. They take deep dives into, and make impassioned arguments about, topics that I'm only vaguely aware.

But I think that's the plan. Serve the hyper nerds in various spaces. Fuck the monoculture and just go after those people who don't feel like anyone goes into depth on their favorite shit.

So, for those Hollywood insiders, the podcast is amazing, and they would have been turned off by a backgrounder into stuff that's *so obvious.*

Or, maybe they just have no idea how to serve a general audience. I dunno.
The Ringer has not 'taken a deep dive' or gone into depth about a single subject during its run. For the reasons behind that, and the business model, check out the thread on the site in this forum.