Why Not Me – The first episode begins with Stephen Curry (Stephen Curry) introducing the audience to the once-great Danny Grossman (Adam Pally), who no one has practically ever heard of. Why has no one heard of him? That is the story Stephen promises to tell.
After Stephen’s illustrious introduction, the Grossman Family and some of Danny’s contacts are briefly introduced in an interview/documentary-style setting. Sam/Samantha Judlow (Ayden Mayeri) puts extra special attention on her clearly being labeled as Danny’s now ex-wife. Not long after the footage rolls back around to Stephen, the content suggests that Danny was involved in a scandal of sorts, leaving him owing around $90,000 to some shady individuals (Sammy Horrowitz).
The story begins with Danny and Stephen reconnecting backstage at the United Center after the Warriors just cleanly swept the Bulls. Stephen and the head of his PR team, Kimberly (Ego Nwodim) waste little time explaining the omnipresence of Lucy (Tien Tran) and her camera crew before he and Danny begin catching up. This leads back to 1999 when a 12-year-old Danny Grossman wasn’t just all the records, he was doing things that shouldn’t even be possible for a 12-year-old. The reason for this is soon revealed – he wasn’t actually 12, he was 14 ½. Despite, Mitch Grossman (Tracy Letts) taking full responsibility for the scandal, Danny became the laughingstock.
Even now alone with Stephen and Kim at the United Center, Danny maintains his assertion that he knew nothing of his father’s scams. After news of the scandal surfaced, everything fell apart for Danny, including his relationship with Kim and Stephen. Stephen is the first of the two to acknowledge and apologize for that. Although Kim does apologize, it is halfhearted at best. She is also the first to suspect that Danny came looking for a handout. Danny wastes little time playing affronted which much to the displeasure of Kim, leads to him scoring an invite to Stephen’s later dinner with Sasha Obama.
Once Danny is left alone and despite the presence of the film crew, Danny attempts to steal Stephen’s jersey. He also ends up caught red-handed by Stephen and Kim when they return to tell him that evening’s plans have changed. After a bit of awkwardness, Danny spins a story about his sick daughter, Charlie Grossman (Layla Scalisi), which may or may not be true because he claims the doctors don’t know what’s wrong with her. Despite this, Danny asks about spending the evening together.
Danny, Stephen, and Kim spend the evening partying, during which they consume several vintage bottles of wine. Once fairly inebriated, Stephen inspires Danny with his ‘why not me’ theory which ultimately leads to Danny agreeing to take part in a charity basketball game and documentary for Charlie. It isn’t until the following morning that Danny realizes what he’s agreed to. Lucy certainly doesn’t appear too thrilled by her new task either.
Danny immediately attempts to capitalize on the documentary crew by spending the weekend with Charlie. This doesn’t go over so well with Sam and ultimately leads to him trying to spin things like Stephen specifically sought him out for the documentary. Their brief encounter also reveals several other important things, including that Charlie isn’t actually sick. Charlie is also extremely fond of Danny and after he uses the proceeds from Stephen’s jersey sale to fund a Taylor Swift concert experience, there is no question as to why.
The episode ends with Danny and Stephen playing a game of one-on-one in Stephen’s personal gym. Danny may have once been great, but time away from the courts has been cruel. In addition, it appears that Stephen isn’t going to take no for an answer regarding Charlie’s charity game.
Mr. Throwback Review
I have to start by saying that I find the concept of the show incredibly intriguing. It’s not like it’s something new or groundbreaking, but it is interesting. I also like that Stephen is involved, although I will admit I know little to nothing about him or professional basketball these days. I’ll give the series credit for that, the fact that the episodes are shot, as well as the release of all 6 episodes at one time. That should be the winning formula.
In addition, I really enjoy the documentary/interview style of the show as well as the fact that it is presented from a future standpoint, with the characters seemingly looking back. There is plenty of cringe-worthy content but all in all, I enjoyed the premier enough to give another episode a shot. I’d give this first episode a gracious 5.3 out of 10.
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