- 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.
- Awesome Ego: Red Auerbach positively oozes cockiness and self-satisfaction throughout that would qualify him as the smuggest of Smug Snake's were it not for Michael Chiklis' delightfully entertaining and charismatic performance and the fact that he really is as good as he believes himself to be.
- 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.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Red Auerbach is often cited as a highlight of the series due to Michael Chiklis absolutely nailing his personality and mannerisms and making him a compelling villain with an extreme cockiness that would be loathsome in most settings working due to Chiklis' charisma and genuinely being as good as he believes himself to be. More than a few viewers even found themselves rooting for him and the Celtics, especially in the second season.
- 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".
- 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 professional, no-nonsense approaches to the frequent squabbling and ego clashes by Jerry Buss and the Lakers players and are won over by Michael Chiklis' charismatic performance.
- 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.
- Win Back the Crowd: Fittingly for a show called Winning Time, it's gotten the best reception for an Adam McKay creationnote since The Big Short.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ymmv/WinningTime
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