Clipped Review 2024 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
The new FX on Hulu miniseries Clipped is based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast The Sterling Affairs by Ramona Shelburne. Like the podcast, the new series, produced by Gina Welch (Castle Rock, Feud), takes the viewer behind the scenes of one of the most disturbing developments in professional sports history. The entire story plays out as if the narrative were a gigantic, racist cliché. However, what happens is frighteningly real.
Welch captures the critical figures at fault for their eye-opening and jaw-dropping ignorance. Clipped focuses its spotlight on three prominent people. One is coach Doc Rivers (a stunningly effective Laurence Fishburne). After coming off an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics, Rivers brings his abrasive style to the land of sun-soaked dreams—not to the Lakers, but to the sport’s biggest joke, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers have been a bumbling franchise for decades. Their owner, Ronald Sterling (Ed O’Neill, who plays the man darkly oblivious), and his wife, Shelly (a phenomenal Jacki Weaver, who gives the series the most complex performance), hire Doc to turn the franchise around. However, Rivers soon discovers that Ronald Sterling needs more boundaries and a filter. He even tells Doc not to sign a player because they are white.
Doc struggles to minimize the owner’s toxic influence. Yet, that becomes impossible when Ronald releases a series of racist, bumbling, and delirium rants to the public. He is recorded by his assistant, V. Stiviano (The Last Man on Earth’s Cleopatra Coleman), whom Ronald has been “mentoring” for years. The series then focuses on how Rivers keeps the team focused under strenuous circumstances that seep onto the court.
Clipped is a compelling and uncomfortable experience, focusing on making the situation a sobering comedy. The series writers emphasize the theme of ignorance on multiple fronts, drawing critical lines with the main characters’ ignorance as the central theme. Welch and her staff smartly lead the Sterlings, for lack of a better term, to hang themselves as their life in a rich, white bubble that finally pops.
This is not a Disney movie, so it’s not like these characters will learn their lesson. This ignorance is ingrained, with the couple reportedly making their fortune by being slumlords in historic minority communities. Ron is blatant but seems unaware that his thought process is wrong. Shelly seems warm and horrified by her husband’s actions, but she negligently defends him and boldly claims he isn’t a racist—far from it.
The natural delivery from O’Neill, which is very hard to play, is comedic and quickly makes the male Sterling a joke. Even Coleman’s character shows ignorance in attempting to strike an oil well of social media fame. Fishburne’s Rivers observes most of the series, embodying a fish-out-of-water character. He sees the behaviors of ownership for the first time while his players already experience them firsthand.
While his character even has ignorance, trying to keep his team focused on sports when there is something of more importance happening around them, the gravity of the situation comes to a head in the series’ two best scenes. One is when Fishburne reaches out to the NBA commissioner, as handling the situation on his own has become too much. The other is confronting Shelly as he finally tells her how he feels about the Sterling family.
This is where Clipped gets its juice, morphing into a cultural satire that begins to take its toll. The series is not entirely successful in keeping the narrative tone and storytelling consistent. (Also, the supporting actors are outshined by the leads.); episodes “Let the Games Begin” and “Winning Ugly” best represent the series. However, led by the outstanding Fishburne, the series is always thought-provoking entertainment no matter where it leads.
