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Old 07-17-16, 06:51 AM
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Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16




Things are getting more competitive and complicated for retired football star turned financial manager Spencer Strasmore. As the lines between professional and personal blur in his pursuit of lasting success and glory, Spencer must face demons from the past when he goes head-to-head with the biggest business manager on the scene. Meanwhile, Spencer's closest friends and clients struggle to find their footing. A humbled Ricky explores his options as a free agent, while getting to know the father who left him behind; Charles tries to balance a new baby and his future in the game; and Vernon deals with the consequences of his life off the field. Returning to help Spencer juggle lucrative deals and big personalities are his outrageous business partner, Joe, level-headed agent, Jason and girlfriend/sports reporter, Tracy. In a business where it's go big or go home, Spencer and his crew are about to learn that having it all means being ready to fight for more dollars, deals and respect. Looking at the whirlwind lifestyles and real-life problems of former and current football players, BALLERS stars Dwayne Johnson as ex-superstar Spencer Strasmore, who has reinvented himself as a financial manager for today's players in sun-soaked Miami. Created by Stephen Levinson (HBO's "Boardwalk Empire"), the hit comedy series kicks off its ten-episode second season SUNDAY, JULY 17 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO.


Convinced to appear on a talk show, Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) ends up facing off with an old adversary, which puts his company and reputation in jeopardy. A reformed Ricky (John David Washington) gets bad news in advance of his 30th birthday party. Charles (Omar Benson Miller) relishes his new status as a fan favorite, but may face changes on the field.

Written by Evan Reilly; directed by Julian Farino.

10 episode 2nd season



Old 07-17-16, 07:31 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

I thought the first season was very repetitive and at times just uninteresting. It's definitely poorly scripted and acted. I will wait to hear what you guys think of the first three eps before watching.
Old 07-17-16, 11:52 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Couldn't tell - did they say how much time had passed since the season finale? I'm assuming about one football season/a year due to the baby, contract renegotiations, etc.
Old 07-18-16, 12:03 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Originally Posted by bluetoast
Couldn't tell - did they say how much time had passed since the season finale? I'm assuming about one football season/a year due to the baby, contract renegotiations, etc.
It's been at least 12 months. Last season took place during the offseason. If you recall Ricky just signed with the Dolphins and Vernon was in the middle of heated contract negotiations with the Cowboys. Charles (the car salesman) signed with them late after deciding to make the comeback and then got the baby news.

This also appears to take place during offseason. Ricky is trying to get a new contract and appears to have gotten screwed by the team giving the money he was looking for to his rival on the team.

Man, T-Sizzle is an asshole. That was a great Jerry Springer-ish fight with Spencer on Glazer's show. But, what sports interview show allows all that cursing?

Entertaining 30 minutes and it went by really fast, but it just ended so abruptly.

I read an article that the NFL wanted to stop their players from making appearances on the show. Guess that didn't stop Ndamukong Suh and Suggs.
Old 07-18-16, 12:40 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Yeah- year makes sense with that stuff in mind, offseason.

That Seford dude- wasn't really a fan of him last season. He always seemed a bit like a know it all/smug wannabe mentor.

Last edited by bluetoast; 07-18-16 at 09:41 AM.
Old 07-25-16, 01:56 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Watched episode 2 last night. Again, it just seemed to end abruptly.

I would hardly consider this show a true comedy. Seems like it's more of a Dramedy. One plus about this show is the 30 minutes goes by pretty fast.

Spencer seems to be dealing with a Pain killer addiction and we saw how fucked up his hip was after getting into that fight with Suggs last week.

and now Vernon fucked up his knee in that paint ball battle. Really hate his leach of a friend trying to get a salary for doing nothing.

I did at Ricky looking for potential new teams with his agent and his comments about each one, especially Denver.

Spencer and Joe letting Suggs walk out of that meeting without signing a deal was stupid. They should have taken advantage his him when he was vulnerable. And Suggs doesn't seem like the smartest guy, so he's probably going to let his current agency talk him out of leaving.

Last edited by DJariya; 07-25-16 at 02:01 PM.
Old 07-26-16, 01:26 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/ball...laymakers.html

This is actually a good write up about Ballers. The writer basically says the show has all the ingredients, but is failing to live up to it's potential.
Old 07-26-16, 03:19 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

The article sums up my feelings pretty well. I didn't think last season was all that great but I kept with it because I thought it could improve, plus, well, the NFL. But season 2 has been even more underwhelming. Unlike the article, I have no desire to see it become another Playmakers, but it has to be more than the worst parts of Entourage with some cliché-ridden NFL caricatures and stilted cameos mixed in. So for now it's a show that's on before Vice Principals.
Old 07-26-16, 09:15 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

I don't know how much variety they can have in the storylines for a show about sports agents and their NFL athlete clients, but so far S2 feels like they're just repeating stuff from S1.

As flawed as Entourage was, it was a helluva lot more interesting and much more comedic/fun.
I guess Joe is the only comedic element here, and that's not even working.

Another problem is while The Rock can carry an action movie, I don't think he can carry a non-action TV series... and Rob Corddry doesn't bring nearly enough to the table in a supporting role.

The episodes are short, so I'll go against my original plan from S1 and give them all of S2 to convince me. Otherwise I'm out... although I'm not sure if the show will get cancelled or not anyway.
Old 07-26-16, 10:37 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Is it just me or do Spencer's suits look way too tight on him? I know he's a big guy, but still.
Old 07-27-16, 08:46 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

I'm finding it occasionally funny, and there is a fair share of eye candy, but that's about it.

It's definitely no Entourage.

This pain med story-line is really not interesting, and seems predictable.
Old 07-27-16, 10:26 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

^^ Agreed. The show should be a lot more fun than it is. I still watch for all the obvious reasons but I never walk away thinking I'd ever give any episode a second watch.
Old 07-27-16, 01:37 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Yup, pretty much the worst parts of those later Entourage seasons without any sort of redeeming factors tossed in.
Old 07-27-16, 02:18 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Plus there's like 200 characters, and 50 meandering subplots.
Old 07-28-16, 11:28 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Renewed for a 3rd season: http://deadline.com/2016/07/dwayne-j...bo-1201794212/

They should really try to make the 3rd season take place during a real NFL season, not the offseason.

Might be hard to pull off though since the NFL doesn't support this series.
Old 07-28-16, 02:27 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Originally Posted by DJariya
Renewed for a 3rd season: http://deadline.com/2016/07/dwayne-j...bo-1201794212/

They should really try to make the 3rd season take place during a real NFL season, not the offseason.

Might be hard to pull off though since the NFL doesn't support this series.
I think the problem with that is that most contract signings happen in the off-season, so that would really limit Spencer and Joe's storyline with regards to trying to get players on board with their firm.

Plus the main cast of players would be on the road every couple weeks and when they are home they'll be spending a lot of time at practices and other team related functions/duties - so unless the writers want to be very unrealistic, it would limit their storylines as well.
Old 07-28-16, 02:33 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Isn't there a pending lawsuit against this show or did that get settled. Surprised they renewed it if it is still looming.

Also in the credits there was a Spencer Strasmore listed as a producer. Is that a real person who they named the character after, or is it a joke credit?
Old 07-28-16, 02:37 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Originally Posted by Unclejosh
Isn't there a pending lawsuit against this show or did that get settled. Surprised they renewed it if it is still looming.

Also in the credits there was a Spencer Strasmore listed as a producer. Is that a real person who they named the character after, or is it a joke credit?

http://deadline.com/2016/07/hbo-dway...nt-1201792129/

Lawsuit got tossed.
Old 08-04-16, 02:27 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

at Ricky Jerret's visit with the Saints and that love parade for him at the airport.

Wow, they actually got Sean Payton to appear in this episode.

Vernon is one dumb shit. Cowboys are going to tear up his contract and release him. He made a really dumb mistake, but the last thing you want to do is confess and void your paychecks, especially for football.

This was probably the best of the 3 that aired since it gave more time to the supporting characters and not just Spencer and his issues.
Old 08-04-16, 06:27 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Although Charles's storyline is pretty damn mundane compared to the rest. I don't really give a shit about him hanging out at home. And I'm still wondering WTF the purpose of Spencer's girlfriend's subplot last episode, considering she hasn't been developed at all, and there's no follow up this week.
Old 08-04-16, 06:43 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Originally Posted by bluetoast
And I'm still wondering WTF the purpose of Spencer's girlfriend's subplot last episode, considering she hasn't been developed at all, and there's no follow up this week.
It's called filler. Just like last season when even though we know nothing about Jason, we were introduced to a story line of his mother sleeping with young men... and we haven't seen her since that episode... and we still know nothing about Jason. He basically has a few lines in each episode talking about a contract and that's it.

They've aired 13 episodes of the series so far and it feels VERY light in story lines.
Old 11-06-16, 03:09 AM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

just caught up with this season

Not bad but just getting too serious

This show should be about living large, babes, parties, sex etc
Old 11-06-16, 07:24 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

It hasn't been confirmed, but I read that season 3 will be shot in Los Angeles.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/busi...111055132.html

Apparently Florida's tax credit program for TV/Movie studios shooting there is in shambles and most productions are bailing and leaving the state. Only exception is Bloodline on Netflix.

I'm guessing they're going to try to fake Miami in LA. It's been done before. But, I would be interested in seeing Spencer and Joe take their act to LA.

As for this season. Kind of ended on a meh note. Spencer finally decided to have hip replacement for his fucked up hip that was bothering him all season long.

Season 2 was sorely missing the "fun" factor except one episode where Spencer and Joe got fucked up and partied all night long after scoring a big deal.
Old 11-06-16, 08:46 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

I like the show, but I just want there to be a scene where someone comes in, kills Charles and Mr. Seifert, and then the series continues as normal.
Old 11-06-16, 09:34 PM
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Re: Ballers (HBO) -- S: Dwayne Johnson -- Season 2 Thread -- Premieres 7/17/16

Travis mack story was pretty cool

Vern stuff was poor

Ricky Jarett stuff was poor

Andre stuff was poor

Charles stuff was poor

spencer and his hip stuff was poor

Joe stuff was ok

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