The worst part of Bill Simmons’ new HBO show turned out to be the best.
“Any Given Wednesday” debuted on Wednesday night and was equal parts awkward, entertaining — and entirely predictable. There was lots of basketball talk before, after and during Charles Barkley’s appearance as the first guest. But what made viral news — the importance of which cannot be underestimated — was Ben Affleck’s visit.
The somewhat interesting part of the interview — Affleck discussing his up-and-down acting career — was overshadowed by him dropping 19 F-bombs discussing Deflategate. It was a cringe-worthy, completely foreseeable and instantly clickable. There was even internet debate as to whether Affleck was drunk during the appearance, which Simmons dismissed on Twitter.
Simmons had described wanting the show to feel like a shortened podcast — and shooting lengthy interviews that would be cut down. He later confirmed this and stated that longer versions of the interviews would be available online. Barkley’s segment had that feel to it, and it worked, but if that was Affleck’s good stuff, what did they cut out? Twenty minutes of shooting darts at Roger Goodell’s face?
Warning: Graphic language
Moments like Affleck’s could keep the show in the news cycle, if sustainable with a consistent list of solid guests. But without Affleck’s tirade — it was just two Boston guys whining about an old story — the rest of the show’s half-hour was safe to a fault.
Barkley was engaging, as he always is, and the best part of the back-and-forth came when they reminisced over a Celtics-76ers fight in which Barkley restrained Larry Bird.
In interviews leading up to the show, Simmons expressed a nervousness about launching this show, and making the jump from podcasts and columns to the late-night game. He insisted his show is not like now-colleague John Oliver’s or any other host’s.
BTW – we taped AGW in the late-AM, Ben got fired up about DeflateGate during the convo, that's it.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 23, 2016
It’s pre-taped and there’s no studio audience, though for some reason there was a poorly placed laugh track — the elimination of which should be the first change made.
However, the best part of Simmons’s debut had a similar feel to what Oliver does on “Last Week Tonight” with farcical skits to slam home a point. Simmons mocked Stephen Curry’s bland commercials to date, and created one of his own that proved just how simple it is to market the greatest shooter ever.
More moments like that would make the show watchable for a lot more than a train-wreck Ben Affleck rant.
