Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, created by Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, is an American television series on the genre sports and drama broadcasting on HBO. The series is based on the book written by Jeff Pearlman in the 1980s called Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty. The first season shows the show casts NBA stars such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson during the Showtime era of the 1980’s Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. The show features a cast of Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, John C. Reilly, and Adrien Brody. The series aired on March 6, 2022, along with a pilot episode which was directed by Adam McKay.
The series goes back to the 1980s to show the personal and professional lives of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team said to be the team that defined an era and one of the most revered and dominant dynasties whether on or off the court.
On, Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the series has an approval rating of 87% which is based on 30 critic reviews with 7.8/10 as an average rating. On another review website Metacritic, the series has a score of 69 out of 100 calculated based on 23 reviews, which indicates generally favorable reviews.
Winning Time Episode 3 Release Date
The third episode of Winning Time, titled “The Good Life” is scheduled to release on March 20, 2022. Winning Time can be watched on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 pm ET. It follows the second episode, titled “Is That All There Is?” and will be continued by the fourth episode, “Who the F**k Is Jack McKinney?” which will air on March 27, 2022. Winning Time is already set to release 10 episodes.
| Episodes | Release Dates |
| Winning Time Episode 1 Release Date | 6 March 2022 |
| Winning Time Episode 2 Release Date | 13 March 2022 |
| Winning Time Episode 3 Release Date | 20 March 2022 |
Winning Time Season 1 Story
In April 2019 it was announced that HBO has ordered a pilot for the series Winning Time which was a story by Jim Hecht and written by Max Borenstein with Adam McKay working on the direction. As the series was based on Pearlman’s book and the Laker’s era, the series was initially referred to by its working title Showtime. During summer the series was said to be untitled, with Casey Bloys, an HBO executive later stating that the title would cause some marketing issues due to that being the same name of HBO’s direct premium TV and streaming competitors. HBO officially greenlit a series order, in December. HBO, on December 8, 2021, announced that the series would be titled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. It was also stated that the title “Winning Time” is a phrase that was associated with Magic Johnson.
Jason Clarke was cast to play Jerry West and Michael Shannon was cast to portray Jerry Buss in August 2019. After extensive casting research, Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes were cast to play Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. DeVaughn Nixon was also added as a part of the cast to play the role of Norm Nixon. By the time of March 2021 additional members were added to the casting, they were, Michael Chiklis, Bo Burnham, Jason Segel, Sarah Ramos, Brett Cullen, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, and Lola Kirke.
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Around May 2021 even more, members were added were Edwin Hodge, Terence Davis, Rory Cochrane, Danny Burstein, Austin Aaron, Ta’Nika Gibson, and Ja’Quan Cole joined the cast.
In August 2021, Sean Patrick Small, Rachel Hilson, Olli Haaskivi, Newton Mayenne, and Jon Young joined the cast.
The principal photography began on April 12, 2021, in Los Angeles and ended on October 31.
Winning Time Season 1 Cast
John C. Reilly plays the role of Jerry Buss. He is an American actor, screenwriter, musician, comedian, and producer. His first film debut was the Casualties of War and he gained experience and exposure through his supporting roles in Days of Thunder, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and The River Wild.
Quincy Isaiah plays the role of Magic Johnson. He is an actor who is famously known for his roles in Corporate Coffee, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and Burning Questions.
Jason Clarke plays the role of Jerry West. He is an Australian actor. He is famously known for playing Tommy Caffee on the television series Brotherhood.
Where to Watch Winning Time Season 1?
Winning Time can be watched on HBO and HBO Max.
Winning Time Season 1 Trailer
Winning Time trailer released on February 11, 2022, on the official YouTube Channel of HBO Max.
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