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Arli$$
seasons 1 and 2, 1440x1080
This is obviously not "breaking news" in the strictest
sense, in that Arli$$ was an HBO comedy series that
aired from 1996-2002. I chose to apply a less
restrictive definition. For many years it was impossible
to find this show at all. It wasn't even issued on DVD
except on a "Best of Arli$$" set that included only
about a dozen random episodes out of the 80 that aired,
including none at all from seasons two and three.
The streaming services have rectified that. There are so
many of them, all thirsty for content, all in
competition, that they have caused many a drowned series
to resurface, often in HD. Arli$$ is one of the
beneficiaries of that thirst, as it is now available on
HULU in its entirety. The Arli$$ episodes are even
available in 1080hd, but it's not really the kind of top
quality you would find on a Blu-Ray or on a 2021 series.
That's fine with me. It's better than anything we had
before, which for some episodes was nothing at all.
I enjoyed the series enough to stay with it. It's about
an ethically challenged, but fundamentally good-hearted,
sports agent who goes to great lengths to acquire and
retain clients. Although Arliss Michaels is a cynical
agent, he is also sentimental, so the series has a lot
of heart to go with the satire and raunchy jokes. And it
could get very raunchy and politically incorrect, with
as much locker room humor as we might expect from a show
that regularly took place in actual locker rooms.
The show could also get surprisingly serious. For a
series from a quarter-century ago it was remarkably
prescient in dealing with homosexuality, discrimination,
steroid abuse, greed, strikes, exploitation, female
equality, and other issues that plague sports today.
I also enjoyed seeing so many jocks, owners, announcers
and managers making cameo appearances, especially when
they poked fun at themselves. The jocks of that era were
good enough sports about appearing on the show, but I
especially appreciated seeing the real old-timers like
Yogi, Phil Rizzuto, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson and Ernie
Banks.
16 of the 80 shows contained female nudity, but many of
those were either unidentified background characters or
D-list performers you have never heard of. I'll be
covering the entire series, and I'll elaborate when
there is something of special interest.
Season 1, Episode 5
An unscrupulous owner pretends that she is moving her
hockey team from LA, but she's really just running a
bluff to coax the local authorities to build a new arena
for her club. She tricks Arliss into helping her with
some pie-in-the-sky promises - the presidency of the
club and a minority stake in the franchise. Las
Vegas is one of the cities allegedly under consideration
for the team's new home, and the local wheeler-dealer
treats Arliss and his cohorts to a Vegas-style sales
pitch that includes two
uncredited topless showgirls.
Season 2, Episode 1
A woman named Saveza
Landers gave a lap dance to one of Arliss's
clients. She had only one line, and this is her only
IMDb credit.
Season 2, Episode 4
One of Arliss's clients was a
naive tennis prodigy. Arliss wanted him to turn pro,
but the lad's mother wanted him to get a college
degree. It was thus incumbent upon our favorite
sneaky agent to make sure the kid was so distracted
that he would flunk out of school ASAP. After all,
there's no money in 5% of a sheepskin. Since the boy
had never gotten laid, it was a simple matter for
Jamie Anderson to provide the necessary
distraction. Amazingly, the clever plot had several
twists and turns after that ostensibly simple
set-up!
This was the nudity highlight of
the first two seasons. Andrea Thompson played a
theatrical agent who provided consulting services to
Arliss in an attempt to bring diversity and fresh
ideas to the Arliss Michaels Agency. Andrea and
Robert Wuhl (Arliss) had an easy chemistry onscreen.
Wuhl can sing a little and play the piano, so he was
able to move from the sports world into the
theatrical world without a problem. The two agents
sang together, made love, conspired, smoked cigars,
argued and ultimately went their own ways. I
couldn't blame Arliss for falling in love with her.
By the end of the episode, I was pretty close to
being in love myself - and I've never been an Andrea
Thompson fan. Andrea looked more beautiful here than
I've ever see her before, and she
showed off a stone-hard killer body.
Titans
s3e8, 1080hd
Katie
Buitendyk
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