“Clip,” which begins on Tuesday Holo, is the latest sports gossip docu-drama, this time about the scandal surrounding Donald Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers who was banned from the NBA for life in 2014 after recordings of him making racist comments became public. Remember? The lady who wore a face mask?
I’m not sure whether Clipped is hoping you know the details of this story or hoping you don’t, but a vague familiarity is at its core: the show itself feels familiar because of the wealth of sports exposition that follows. Documentary and scripted film adaptations of “OJ: Made in America” and “The People v. OJ Simpson,” and basketball stories in particular saw a huge spike after “The Last Dance,” including “Winning Time: The Rise of the “The last one is similar. Lakers dynasty.” Sports-related series aside, “Clipped” is also somewhat similar to prestige podcasts like “Gaslit” or “The Dropout,” and has a similar premise beyond the headlines to “Pam & Tommy.” (“Clip Based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast “The Sterling Affairs.”)
“This story has a girl, a strip, sports, racism, and money,” the crisis PR director says in Episode 5. “There’s something for everyone.” fair enough! “Clipped” already has those things, plus solid, proven performances from Laurence Fishburne as Coach Doc Rivers, Cleopatra Coleman as Vi Stiviano, Ed O’Neill as Sterling, and Jacki Weaver as Shelley Sterling.
At the climax of the show, you can hear a coach reminding his players to focus on the basics: The sound, the stakes, the height, the details. It nails these aspects (and in some cases stabilizes them — manicures take up a lot of screen time), giving the whole thing a wonderful, almost healthy momentum. The characters here are either smart, cunning, talented or cruel, and they say what they mean. This is a rarity in current dramas, giving “Clipped” a refreshing clarity. But it can also feel a bit immature, and what the show gains in aerodynamics it loses in nuance and texture.
