YMMV / Winning Time

• Award Snub: Despite its meticulously designed Period Piece setting and an excellent cast of seasoned veterans and newcomers, the first season only earned one Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour). One could argue that this was for the best, given just how many shows were out there vying for nominations (Emmy voters preferred fellow HBO shows Succession and Euphoria), and the fact that its heavy Artistic License and hyper-stylized look was bound to turn off a few viewers.
• Broken Base: There are just as many people who don't like Winning Time because of the heavy Artistic License and lack of involvement from the actual people depicted as there are people who enjoy it and find it compelling in spite of it.
• He Really Can Act: No one ever said John C. Reilly couldn't act, but he really outdid himself with this show, and particularly "Acceptable Loss".
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Vic Weiss' body is shown in gruesome detail, and the camera zooms into his half blown off face. The soundtrack DOES NOT fit the mood at all.
  • Due to the historical nature of the show, pictures of dead historical figures will show up. That, and REAL victims of the Mafia.
• Rooting for the Empire: While the Celtics aren't evil, they are the show's main antagonist thanks to their rivalry with the Lakers. Nonetheless, many viewers admitted to rooting for them in Season 2, primarily because they prefer Red Auerbach's and Larry Bird's no-nonsense approaches to the frequent squabbling and ego clashes by Jerry Buss and the Lakers players.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: A common criticism of the show is that, despite being advertised as a series about the 1980s Lakers dynasty, the first four episodes are focused entirely on the lead up to the 1979-1980 season. In fact, by the end of the fourth episode, the team has only just started training camp.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Episode 8 has quite a few, but the crowner would have to be Buss breaking down in the nurse's arms over the crushing realization that his mother will die soon. Not helping matters is the song that begins to play during this scene: a haunting soul cover of the already haunting The Mamas & the Papas song "California Dreamin'", sung by Lee Moses.
  • Everything surrounding Jessie's death. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but still...
    • Buss making the painful decision to take his mother off life support. The look on his face after he does so, and his cries of anguish over this, are positively soul-crushing. He Really Can Act in its purest form. And if that didn't get to you, then the shot of Jeanie curled up to Jessie's lifeless body just might.
• Win Back the Crowd: Fittingly for a show called Winning Time, it's gotten the best reception for an Adam McKay creation^note not counting movies or shows he produced, such as Succession since The Big Short.