Notre Dame Is Getting A "Hard Knocks" Type Series On Showtime
Chicago Trib – It’s almost showtime for Notre Dame football, which begins its season at home Sept. 5 against Texas.
The cable channel Showtime will be there to document the Irish’s season with a series called “A Season with Notre Dame Football.”
The first episode is scheduled to air Sept. 8, according to Showtime Sports. Thirty-minute episodes will air weekly at 9 p.m. Central time.
“We’re honored and thrilled to be granted access to profile a college football program with a legacy as storied and as fascinating as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish,” Showtime sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza said. “The passion of the players and head coach Brian Kelly will make for a compelling television series that will appeal beyond hardcore college football fans to all viewers who appreciate great storytelling.”
Notre Dame began fall camp Friday in Culver, Ind. The team will begin two-a-day practices Wednesday on campus.
…
Hell yeah. Love Notre Dame or hate them, EVERYBODY loves Hard Knocks, so getting a Hard Knocks-style show for a college football team, any college football team is pretty awesome. Behind the scenes footage, seeing what the practices are like, getting to know the players. The whole monster D1 football experience on premium cable.
Obviously there are some downsides here – one being that it’s not actually Hard Knocks, it’s a Showtime knockoff, so who knows if they can pull it off as well. HBO tends to be better overall (with a few exceptions obviously) so we’ll see if Showtime can replicate the success. This is one of those cases where totally copying another network’s product is a-ok in my book. Fuck it, bring in Liev Schrieber while you’re at it.
Two, these aren’t professional athletes, they’re college kids under strict rules. Every appearance they have on screen off the field will most likely be tightly controlled and they’ll be terrified to say too much or be too candid. One of the coolest parts of Hard Knocks is seeing what the players are like in their down time just fucking around. Tough to imagine too many Notre Dame kids being able to completely let loose with cameras around broadcasting their every move.
Third, I can’t stand Brian Kelly. So not too pumped to hear him drone on and on.
But hey who knows, maybe the show will change my mind.
PS – Apparently, we just missed out on greatness.
Separate sources tell FootballScoop that Florida State was very close to agreeing with a major cable production company to produce a similar series last season, but that agreement fell through at the last minute. [FS]
Oh man…a “Hard Knocks” style show for FSU? Practically salivating just thinking about it.