Arliss


Arliss is an American sitcom about a sports agent. The series premiered on HBO in 1996 and ended in 2002. All episodes were available for streaming on HBO Now, HBO Go and HBO On Demand as of September 14, 2018.

Cast

''Arliss'' on other programs

In July 1999, Robert Wuhl appeared, in character as Arliss, on WCW Monday Nitro as a guest announcer, alongside Scott Hudson and Bobby Heenan. He announced that "the WCW" would appear on Arliss because none of the Big Three networks would have WCW. Arliss said he was scouting Dennis Rodman, who was doing his third stint with the company. Wuhl's appearance was a cross-promotion for HBO, as both it and WCW were owned by Time Warner. In the Arliss episode entitled "To Thy Own Self Be True", WCW creative head Eric Bischoff guest starred along with wrestlers Lex Luger, Randy Savage and Gorgeous George.
In The Simpsons season 13 episode "Half-Decent Proposal", Marge, Patty and Selma are watching Nookie in New York when an announcer states, "Coming up next on BHO , it's Arliss!" Patty and Selma scream and reach for the remote control.
During the October 12, 2002 episode of Saturday Night Live, guest host Sarah Michelle Gellar delivered the following monologue in a fake television commercial sketch:
In the 30 Rock seventh season premiere, "The Beginning of the End", Kenneth says, in response to Tracy Jordan's marriage having lasted for over 20 years, "That's half as long as it felt Arliss was on TV!"

Criticism

The show, which ran for seven seasons, has been referred to as an example of how premium cable networks take a different approach to managing their programming, because viewers specifically pay for the network. Arliss was cited by a number of HBO subscribers as the sole reason that they paid for the network, and so its relatively small fan base was able to keep the show on the air for a lengthy run. The show frequently used obscure sports references, further limiting its appeal to a niche audience of sports fans. Entertainment Weekly repeatedly referred to it as one of the worst shows on television, and sportswriter Bill Simmons used Arliss as an example of what he saw as a lack of quality fictional shows about sports.