Sundays on HBO: Ballers, Brink, and True Detective

One of my favorite Sunday night shows these days is HBO's Ballers with Dwayne Johnson and Rob Corrdry (who just appeared on the last episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).  I did not have high hopes for this Mark Wahlberg-produced, football-themed story, expecting it to be Entourage in tights.  In fact, the first episode seemed that way with the spoiled players representing one more tier of the entitled in the entertainment industry, yet Mr. Johnson made the show so much more.  As the mentor of the younger players, he becomes a soothing presence where ever he goes even though he has his own home, health, and financial issues.  It is also fun to watch the ever-energetic Rob Corrdry as his faithful sidekick.  I am glad HBO decided to pick Ballers up for a second season.

HBO's The Brink is a different animal altogether and while I continue to watch the series, I am always ready to quit like a bad habit (and like a bad habit I continue watching it).  Of course, with a cast including Tim Robbins, Jack Black, and John Larroquette, as well as many other familiar faces, it is hard not to like the effort of the whole enterprise.  Yet too often this Middle East-based political comedy seems like an episode of Veep that escaped Washington, DC with real military hardware.  Of course, one could also see it as a M*A*S*H* of sorts, where we laugh in the face of horrible political foibles at play in Pakistan rather than Korea.  However, the 30 minute format does not really allow the show to wrap us the various plots spinning in the air.  A more measures pace over an hour would have served the story better.  HBO has also picked up The Brink for a second season, so my bad habit may continue.

I did not spend much time on True Detective, underwhelmed with the overacting in the first season and completely put off by the dark and strange second season.  Enough ink has been spilled beating up the show, so I will move on.  Plenty more to see on TV, I say.