Arli$$

For the past few weeks, I've been catching reruns of the show Arli$$ on ESPN Classic. I knew about this show ever since it premiered on HBO in 1996, but I never really had the chance to watch it because I didn't have HBO (although ESPN did occasionally show some amusing snippets from time to time). I've really enjoyed having the chance to watch several of these episodes, although it's unfortunate that the swears get blanked out (it would be funnier if they included the bleeping noises). The series has the rating TV-MA 17.

Robert Wuhl (the pitching coach from Bull Durham) stars as superagent Arliss Michaels ("I represent atheletes. These are my stories.") Every episode has several professional atheletes (as well as coaches, etc) among its guest stars, although the main focus tends to be on fictional athletes. One of the co-stars is Michael Boatman, who played the gay guy on Spin City.

The show is very funny (though it would be nice to hear the cusses as they were intended). There was one episode, however, that caused me some problems because they played The Ride three times. (Based on the context, I'm pretty sure they had Apocalypse Now in mind.) They didn't go all the way through, but each occurrence lasted on the order of a minute, and each occurrence included the beginning of the song, which is the part that really gets my heart going. Normally, I have been on the inflicting end, but it nevertheless has a noticeable effect on me when I haven't braced myself. (The first of the three was thus obviously the most damaging one, and they don't know what kind of anguish they caused with the triple whammy.)