Robert Wuhl portrayed the quirky and hateable sports agent 'Arli$$' in what some may call the influence to 'pseudo-reality' television.
Most notably 'Entourage' and 'The West Wing' took note of this style of show that basically created highly realistic scenarios within a blatantly hyperbolic world. Arliss was my absolute favorite of these shows as it acts as one of the greatest time capsules for sports the human race has.
In it's run from 1996-2002, the HBO sitcom portrayed thousands of cameos (from a young Kobe Bryant in his rookie year to Shaq and Jeter before their primes). It wasn't only athletes that made this show, but the realism of featuring sportscasters like Jim Hill and Jim Lampley. Arli$$ was also a huge reason mainstream boxers were more popular, and was one of the only popular shows that featured the combat sport at length.The re-release of Arli$$ on HBO Go happened around half a year ago, and I'm still saving a weekend to rewatch them all and feel some intense nostalgia.
The show really was ahead of its time, and as Wuhl revealed in an interview late last year, it wasn't so much the lack of wanting the show back on air, it was simply a matter of clearing a lot of necessary music rights.
If you are a fan of HBO film making and sports, you must check this show out. It precedes nearly every realistic sitcom or drama that made the early 2000s such a distincitve era for storytelling, and it really set the bar for future HBO dramas that follow in the same vein (such as 'The Wire' and 'Entourage').
I think this is one of the more slept on shows in terms of pure entertainment value, but there is a reason it lasted over a half decade and had athletes really wanting to be a part of the show before it left air in its 6th season.
Here is one of the only clips I could find on Youtube, but it's hilarious and may inspire you to get HBO regardless.
"Moltissimo"
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