CLIPPED
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Jacki Weaver, Ed O’Neill, Cleopatra Coleman, Kelly AuCoin, Richard Sommer, Harriet Sansom Harris, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Sheldon Bailey, and Austin Scott
Creator: Gina Welch
AMARÚ
Improving with each episode, Clipped evolves from its saccharine, throw-as-much-information-at-the-screen-until-something-sticks start into a very entertaining and surprisingly effective series. While the performances are great, with Laurence Fishburne, Jacki Weaver, and Ed O’Neill leading the way, you can’t help but laugh at how much the actors playing NBA stars are not the people they’re portraying. Weirdly, this irreverence highlights the audacity of the Sterlings’ privilege, and creates an enjoyable tone of ridiculous disbelief that not only balances humor and sincerity, but also creates empathy for what those players must’ve been feeling.
NICK
It’s a bad time to be an old white man named Donald. Clipped is the most Ryan Murphy (non Ryan Murphy) show I've ever seen. It's got the exaggerated personalities, the soap opera elements, and that FX sheen. Also, like a Murphy series, Clipped thrives on its accurate casting. Laurence Fishburne and Ed O'Neill drive the show, but the supporting cast all come to play. I knew of Donald Sterling (O’Neill), but was unaware of the intricacies of his tenure with the Clippers or his relationship with his secretary (clear comparisons to the current Vince McMahon case). It’s a dramatization, sure, but it entertained me.
QUENTIN
Overall, Clipped is an entertaining show that features some fantastic performances. However, there is a tonal imbalance that prohibits it from being as great as HBO’s Winning Time. Half of the story is almost a comedy, taking a trashy tabloid approach to Don Sterling’s (Ed O’Neill) and V. Stiviano’s (Cleopatra Coleman) buffoonery. Meanwhile, it (rightfully) gets serious when it explores how this incident affected Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne) and the players (a scene between Fishburne and LaVar Burton, who is playing himself, is especially poignant). It’s still worth your time, but a little more consistency in the tone could have made Clipped great.
