'Playmakers' never seems totally believable it's like a distorted, over-the-top version of the NFL. With that said, I didn't like 'Playmakers' all that much, for the same reason that I stopped watching 'Oz' right after Adebici died (for God's sake, couldn't they have spun him off into his own sitcom?) and inmates started getting killed in every way imaginable. If you like football and you like different types of TV shows, it's worth sitting through the pilot - if only because it's a unique show, and because there hasn't been a truly memorable sports-related show since 'The White Shadow' ( as I described in detail two years ago).Ģ. I watched the first two episodes of 'Playmakers' - the finished pilot and a rough cut of the second episode - and it kept my interest the entire time. Omar Gooding, as cocky running back Demetrius Harris, is clearly the star of the series.ġ. Much like 'Oz,' you need to suspend your 'Believability Radar' for an hour and enjoy the ride if you're saying to yourself, 'Wait a second, there's no way a running back could smoke crack 90 minutes before a game and still play,' then this probably isn't the show for you.īefore we delve any further, you should know three things: We've come a long way from the days of Sal Marciano and Lou Palmer, folks.Īs it turns out, 'Playmakers' is an intense, fairly exhausting show, like if someone took 'Oz,' watered it down, removed the gang rapes and threw football helmets on everybody. While watching everything unfold, I kept imagining my buddy Gus' 70-year-old father searching for a Giants score, clicking on (what he thought was) 'Baseball Tonight,' then being helped out of the room five minutes later. Looking back, it was a watershed moment for the Worldwide Leader, right up there with Jeff Brantley unleashing his retro-Larry Legend mullet-perm to an ecstatic 'Baseball Tonight' audience for the first time.Īnyway, (expletive) set the tone for the rest of the pilot: Semi-naked groupies, guys smoking crack, and more swear words like (bleep) and (expletive deleted), none of which I'm allowed to use in this column. Eventually it dawned on me that somebody just said (expletive) on ESPN. I waited for Vitale to enter the hospital room. Put on your game face because 'Playmakers' is certainly intense.

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