What makes 'Real Sports' special? Host says it's because it doesn't have to grovel
January 20, 2008
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
You can count the number of great TV news shows on one hand. There's "Frontline," "60 Minutes," "Bill Moyers Journal" and "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," and what else?
"Real Sports" -- starting its 13th season at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO -- is so good it compels me to watch, and I don't even like sports anymore.
When viewers chat about the show, they often bring up the same fascinating features and investigations from the past few years.
Like the in-depth study of how athletic kids are hampered by asthma, caused by coal-burning plants that would not update their pollution controls.
Or the undercover story exposing how children younger than 5 were enslaved, then turned into camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.
Every episode has a gem or two. Credit goes to hard-nosed producers and correspondents, from the master, Frank DeFord, to Mary Carillo and Jon Frankel, and of course Gumbel.
One overriding thing allows all that talent to shine: At "Real Sports," there are no sacred cows.
As Gumbel puts it, being on HBO means "Real Sports" doesn't grovel for ratings, or bow to sponsors, or fear losing tie-ins with sports leagues.
"If we speak ill of baseball, we don't have to worry they'll call up and cancel their contract," Gumbel says.
"We're pretty much free to pursue a story wherever it may lead. And the networks are not free to do that," he says. "If Budweiser is paying the tab for the show, it's hard to say, 'Part of the problem with drinking in the NFL is Budweiser has sponsorship with 30 of the 32 teams.' They take a dim view of that."
In fact, for an upcoming segment, Gumbel examines alcohol abuse in the stands and in stadium parking lots.
"I think that impacts you whether you are a fan who goes every now and then to a tailgate, or you're somebody who's out on the road after a game lets out, and these people have been drinking. As we show it, it has an effect on all three of you -- a frightening effect."
Personally, I wish Gumbel and HBO would create a second in-depth news show, nailing Washington, D.C. If producers and correspondents hounded politicians the way they stalk alleged horse-dopers, America could be better off for it.
I tell Gumbel this, and he complains that TV news dumps hard-hitting stories for pop culture items. By contrast, he recalls the words of an old journalism friend who claimed great journalists should be unpopular with 99 percent of the people.
"Because you're truthful, and because you are honest, X amount of people at all times should dislike you," Gumbel says. "But that seems to have gone by the wayside in television. Television now seems to be about making sure 100 percent of the people really like you."
TV reporters and producers also succumb to pressure from sources -- both in politics and in sports.
"If you say something untoward, or something they don't like, they cut off access. And once your access is gone, it's really tough to put a show together," he says of politics. Sports leagues play that game, too, if they feel "Real Sports" has "burned" them in the past.
"For example, if we want to do a story on the manner in which Jim Dolan has destroyed the Knicks, if Jim Dolan won't talk, and Isiah Thomas won't talk, and the NBA won't give us footage, it's pretty hard to do that story in effective fashion."
"You can do a hearsay [piece]. You can collect a lot of critics. But unless you talk to the principals, I'm not sure you carry a lot of weight. That's just a far-flung example, and maybe that's an overstatement, but that's kind of what we're talking about."
I contend too many political reporters bend over backward to retain access, only to end up with stories that are bull.
"Absolutely true. Absolutely true," the former "Today" anchor says. "It sickens me. The few times I do watch morning television, these people come on there and they say whatever they want. They're pretty much unchallenged. That doesn't apply across the board. But it applies more often than not. And it's pretty disgusting."
Also disgusting: many athletes. That's my take, anyway. I've interviewed lots of celebs and politicians, but athletes are often the biggest jerks around, I tell Gumbel.
"You're not far off," Gumbel says. "My wife and I have this discussion all the time. I tell her athletes are the male equivalent to models. That is, athletes and models catch on early in life that if they do one thing exceptionally well, they don't need to be nice, fair or smart. That doesn't apply to all of them obviously. But ... it fits a lot of them."
delfman@suntimes.com
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
You can count the number of great TV news shows on one hand. There's "Frontline," "60 Minutes," "Bill Moyers Journal" and "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," and what else?
"Real Sports" -- starting its 13th season at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO -- is so good it compels me to watch, and I don't even like sports anymore.
When viewers chat about the show, they often bring up the same fascinating features and investigations from the past few years.
Like the in-depth study of how athletic kids are hampered by asthma, caused by coal-burning plants that would not update their pollution controls.
Or the undercover story exposing how children younger than 5 were enslaved, then turned into camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.
Every episode has a gem or two. Credit goes to hard-nosed producers and correspondents, from the master, Frank DeFord, to Mary Carillo and Jon Frankel, and of course Gumbel.
One overriding thing allows all that talent to shine: At "Real Sports," there are no sacred cows.
As Gumbel puts it, being on HBO means "Real Sports" doesn't grovel for ratings, or bow to sponsors, or fear losing tie-ins with sports leagues.
"If we speak ill of baseball, we don't have to worry they'll call up and cancel their contract," Gumbel says.
"We're pretty much free to pursue a story wherever it may lead. And the networks are not free to do that," he says. "If Budweiser is paying the tab for the show, it's hard to say, 'Part of the problem with drinking in the NFL is Budweiser has sponsorship with 30 of the 32 teams.' They take a dim view of that."
In fact, for an upcoming segment, Gumbel examines alcohol abuse in the stands and in stadium parking lots.
"I think that impacts you whether you are a fan who goes every now and then to a tailgate, or you're somebody who's out on the road after a game lets out, and these people have been drinking. As we show it, it has an effect on all three of you -- a frightening effect."
Personally, I wish Gumbel and HBO would create a second in-depth news show, nailing Washington, D.C. If producers and correspondents hounded politicians the way they stalk alleged horse-dopers, America could be better off for it.
I tell Gumbel this, and he complains that TV news dumps hard-hitting stories for pop culture items. By contrast, he recalls the words of an old journalism friend who claimed great journalists should be unpopular with 99 percent of the people.
"Because you're truthful, and because you are honest, X amount of people at all times should dislike you," Gumbel says. "But that seems to have gone by the wayside in television. Television now seems to be about making sure 100 percent of the people really like you."
TV reporters and producers also succumb to pressure from sources -- both in politics and in sports.
"If you say something untoward, or something they don't like, they cut off access. And once your access is gone, it's really tough to put a show together," he says of politics. Sports leagues play that game, too, if they feel "Real Sports" has "burned" them in the past.
"For example, if we want to do a story on the manner in which Jim Dolan has destroyed the Knicks, if Jim Dolan won't talk, and Isiah Thomas won't talk, and the NBA won't give us footage, it's pretty hard to do that story in effective fashion."
"You can do a hearsay [piece]. You can collect a lot of critics. But unless you talk to the principals, I'm not sure you carry a lot of weight. That's just a far-flung example, and maybe that's an overstatement, but that's kind of what we're talking about."
I contend too many political reporters bend over backward to retain access, only to end up with stories that are bull.
"Absolutely true. Absolutely true," the former "Today" anchor says. "It sickens me. The few times I do watch morning television, these people come on there and they say whatever they want. They're pretty much unchallenged. That doesn't apply across the board. But it applies more often than not. And it's pretty disgusting."
Also disgusting: many athletes. That's my take, anyway. I've interviewed lots of celebs and politicians, but athletes are often the biggest jerks around, I tell Gumbel.
"You're not far off," Gumbel says. "My wife and I have this discussion all the time. I tell her athletes are the male equivalent to models. That is, athletes and models catch on early in life that if they do one thing exceptionally well, they don't need to be nice, fair or smart. That doesn't apply to all of them obviously. But ... it fits a lot of them."
delfman@suntimes.com
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