‘Winning Time’: Magic Johnson’s Return Irks Los Angeles Lakers Players (Exclusive Clip)
The second episode of ‘Winning Time’ Season 2 will premiere on HBO this Sunday.
The second episode of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will premiere on HBO and Max on Sunday, and Magic Johnson is back. PopCulture.com obtained an exclusive clip of the upcoming episode, and it shows Magic speaking to reporters about his return to the lineup after suffering a knee injury early in the 1980-81 season. Magic is happy to be back, but the players aren’t as excited since they were playing well without him and they didn’t like the attention he was receiving from the media.
Episode 2 of the second season of Winning Time is titled “The Magic is Back.” Along with Magic returning, the episode also includes Pat Riley and Jerry West pushing for a trade while Paul Westhead fights for his team. Also, Jeanie Buss fights with her brothers while Jerry Buss looks to reunite with an old flame.
Season 2 of Winning Time takes a look at the Lakers from 1980 to 1984. During that period, the Lakers reached the NBA Finals three times and won one title. The most notable Finals appearance was when the Lakers took on the Boston Celtics in 1984, and the Celtics won 4-3. It was the first time the Lakers and Celtics met in the Finals since Johnson and Larry Bird entered the NBA.
PopCulture.com recently spoke to Winning Time showrunner Max Borenstein who explained how Season 2 is bigger and better than the first season. “The thing that excites us about this season is it’s where the stakes really get raised. With victory, they get all the challenges of success, celebrity, and infighting, and personal challenges on and off the floor, and at the same time, what they’re seeking is exponentially harder than just winning one,” he said. “It’s to rise to that level of being a dynasty, of being legendary. To do that, the Lakers have to face their rivals, the Celtics, and this is the season where that first clash will happen.”
Winning Time stars John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah, Adrien Brody, Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Jason Segel, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, McCabe Slye, Thomas Mann, Gillian Jacobs, with Michael Chiklis and Rob Morgan. New episodes air every Sunday on HBO and Max at 9 p.m
After returning to Hollywood via multi-million deals with Netflix and Spotify, Meghan Markle could have her sights set on a return to the small screen. The actress-turned-British royal is reportedly considering a return to her acting roots after having last appeared in Suits, and she has the full support of her husband Prince Harry, according to sources.
Markle’s supposed desire to return to acting has reportedly been prompted by the success of Suits, per a source who spoke to InStyle. The USA Network drama, which ran for nine seasons between 2011 and 2019, recently debuted on Netflix (only the first eight seasons) to massive success. The series, in which Markle starred opposite Patrick J. Adams as Rachel Zane before leaving the series after seven seasons amid her romance with Prince Harry, became the most viewed acquired streaming title after it hit 3 billion viewing minutes between its two streaming platforms, Peacock and Netflix, for the week of June 26 to July 2, according to Nielsen streaming data.
“It’s a hit in reruns, and Meghan’s being told that there’s a demand from fans to see her act again,” the sources said. “She’s feeling the pressure to stay on top, so she’s biting the bullet. With other opportunities drying up, Meghan is now planning an acting comeback. And Harry is supporting her 100 percent.”
In addition to Suits, Markle’s other credits include General Hospital, CSI, The League, the Knight Rider reboot, 90210, and, of course, appearing as a briefcase model on Deal or No Deal. After stepping away from Hollywood in 2017, she made her return alongside her husband when in 2020 they signed a multi-year deal with Netflix. They also signed a deal with Spotify, but it was confirmed in June that the multimillion-dollar deal has ended. Although the royal previously told Variety she had no “intention” of returning to acting, InStyle‘s source noted, “Meghan can always say it’s not what she planned. But secretly she must be very excited.”
Markle is said to be so serious about her possible acting return that she, according to a source who spoke to the Mirror, has allegedly hired “Adam Lining, known as Hollywood’s ‘fixer.'” The source, a leading celebrity publicity expert, told the outlet that by hiring Lining, Markle “could be looking for a career in Hollywood. Acting is what she’s trained in, therefore, it’s viable she may have a cameo in a film or even TV.”
However, PR expert Mayah Ria has cast doubt on reports of Markle’s return to acting, stating that it’s very unlikely fans will see Markle in any “longer commitment roles.” I doubt she would go back to any longer commitment roles such as Suits or any other TV series.” Ria did state, though, “If it is true the couple have hired Adam Lining, then I’m sure we can expect some prominent Hollywood roles.”
It’s no secret that The CW has canceled a lot of shows, especially in recent years, and a lot that were pretty premature. Even though the network used to be known for renewing almost its entire lineup, that has changed due to the Nexstar ownership. A lot of series have fallen through the cracks, unfortunately, and it’s not just shows that recently got the ax.
From one-season favorites to franchise-enders and superheroes, many shows have come and gone from The CW, and not by choice. After going through some canceled CBS shows that should come back, we are now going through CW shows that need to come back, so buckle in and take a look.
Starting off fresh, The CW recently canceled Supernatural spinoff The Winchesters after just one season that consisted of just 13 episodes. The series was the third proposed Supernatural spinoff and the only one to go to series, centering on younger versions of Sam and Dean’s parents, John Winchester and Mary Campbell, and their adventures as hunters. With Jensen Ackles on board as a producer and serving as narrator, once again portraying Dean, plus a few familiar faces from the original series showing up, it seemed like it was a shoo-in for another season.
That was not the case, however, as the series even failed to find a home after its cancellation. While the show did end on closure due to the uncertainty of being renewed, as it even revealed just what Dean was doing and what happened, it did still leave a door open to more adventures with John, Mary, Lata, Carlos, and co. This show ended way too soon, but since nothing in Supernatural stays dead, who knows what could happen in the future.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was among the shows that was part of the “Red Wedding” of cancellations last year on The CW, and it was definitely one of the most surprising. Fans had to say goodbye to the misfit band of heroes on the Waverider after seven seasons, even after the show set up a Season 8 that would have included Scrubs alum Donald Faison as Booster Gold.
The Arrowverse may be done now that The Flash is also done, but it would be in true Legends fashion if the show were to come back and be the last Arrowverse show standing. Even if that doesn’t happen, there is always the possibility that someone could show up in Superman & Lois, even if it isn’t set in the Arrowverse. They could show up as a different version or as someone else completely, maybe even Faison could still appear as Booster Gold.
The Lucy Hale-led Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene only lasted for a season on The CW before getting canceled in 2020, but reportedly it was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hale starred as the titular fashionista, who is also friends with Veronica Lodge. Ashleigh Murray reprised her Riverdale role of Josie McCoy, who is just trying to make it in the Big Apple as a singer. The show also included a few familiar faces, such as Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge and Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, taking place a few years in the future.
Even though the series ended, there is a Katy Keene name-drop every once in a while on Riverdale, with Lucy Hale even providing her voice via phone call with Veronica last season. Zane Holtz, who was Katy’s ex-fiancé and boxer, K.O. Kelly, also appeared in a few episodes of Riverdale. With only a handful of episodes left before Riverdale ends, it’s unlikely any more characters will return, especially with the show taking place in the 1950s, but it would have still been nice to see the show continue amidst everyone’s dreams starting to come true, especially since there were many missed opportunities for the spinoff
When Legacies was canceled, and the doors closed forever on the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, the Vampire Diaries universe officially ended after almost 13 years. Focusing on Hope Mikaelson, a Tribrid — werewolf, witch, and vampire — and daughter of Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall from The Originals, and the students at the Salvatore School, the series brought in a new generation of supernatural beings for four seasons.
Like many cancellations, Legacies was a surprising one. While it did provide closure for Hope as she was able to get a message from her late father, and Candice King returned as Caroline to take on the duties of interim headmaster, there was much more story to be told, especially with the thought of getting much more Caroline and who knows what else. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the TVD universe will come back in some way, and if it does, maybe there will be another way to bring back Legacies, even if it isn’t the series.
Also part of the wave of cancellations on The CW last year, the Roswell reboot, Roswell, New Mexico, was canceled after just four seasons. The show got mixed reviews throughout its run but switched to being a summer show beginning with the third season, which probably didn’t help with ratings as opposed to being midseason, which is where it was the first two seasons.
There is definitely much more to tell with Roswell, New Mexico, considering the fact that Liz and Max got engaged before Max had to leave to save his planet. However, everything else did end on a happy note, with Michael and Alex getting married, Isobel and Kyle starting their relationship, Rosa going back to New York, and even Dallas and Maria confirming their own relationship. Even so, to see what Max is up to would be nice to know, and the aftermath of him leaving would have been interesting. If only…
Another somewhat recent cancellation, DC’s Stargirl completed its three-season run late last year, and although the DC series did have some closure with the new JSA taking over and doing pretty well, there was still so much more to tell with them while they were kids and still figuring it out. Before the show flash forwarded, they were in the midst of recruiting new members and finding kids of the other heroes, which would have made for an interesting fourth season.
Starman himself, Joel McHale, discussed the cancellation news recently, which was heartbreaking to hear. It is nice that the show ended on a nice note with the series finale, but to expand more on the new JSA would have been great, and it’s sad that it won’t happen.
Also a recent cancellation, just like The Winchesters, Gotham Knights was just canceled after only one season, and it only premiered earlier this year. The DC series, which focused on Gotham City after the death of Batman, sees Bruce Wayne’s son getting pulled into a group of kids who are the children of some of Batman’s enemies who end up being framed for the Caped Crusader’s death.
The Gotham Knights series finale saw Supernatural alum Misha Collins finally become Two-Face, but it was only a few seconds that was shown. To see the aftermath of that and how Two-Face will rise into being the villain he is known to be, while Harvey Dent likely still tries to deal with it, would have been a pretty captivating storyline, and it desperately needs to come back. However, even despite fan campaigns, the show failed to find a new home.
Leave a Reply