The Winners (partially found sports documentary TV series; 1973-1975)
Series title card.
Status: Partially Found
The Winners is an American sports documentary TV series broadcast on television from 1973 to 1975. The series is notable for several episodes having been directed by the celebrated American film director George A. Romero, best known for directing horror classics such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow, and Day of the Dead among many others.[1] The series is also notable for marking the first collaboration between Romero and American film and television producer Richard P. Rubinstein, who would later go on to produce several of the aforementioned projects and form the production company Laurel Entertainment with Romero.
Content
The series was split into fourteen 45-minute long episodes, each of which featured a different sport (American football, baseball, golf, basketball, wrestling, etc) and focused on the rise of a well-known and renowned player within said sport (with these individuals being the titular winners). The series featured interviews with the players themselves and their friends and families and contained footage of the players both in the games they specialized in and during downtime. Individuals featured in the series include Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, and WWF professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino among others.
The only episode of the series not focused on a specific player or group of players was "NFL Films: The 27th Team", which instead focused on the history of NFL Films, the film and television production company of the National Football League which produces much of the League's promotional material.
Availability
Despite Romero's enduring popularity in some circles, the majority of The Winners has yet to surface. The only episode of the show to be released outside of television was "O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose", which was released on VHS in 1994 by Vidmark Entertainment to capitalize on the media buzz surrounding Simpson's then-ongoing murder trial,[2] before later being included in the DVD release of the 2000 film The Bogus Witch Project as an Easter egg.
To date, three of the show's fourteen episodes have been uploaded online.
Episode List
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Nobody Roots for Goliath | Jan 1st, 1973 | Lost |
| 2 | Bruno Sammartino: Strong Man | 1973 | Lost |
| 3 | Franco Harris: Good Luck on Sunday | 1973 | Lost |
| 4 | O. J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose | Dec 28th, 1974 | Found |
| 5 | Willie Stargell: What If I Didn't Play Baseball | 1974 | Lost |
| 6 | I'm Back: The Rocky Bleier Story | 1975 | Lost |
| 7 | Thank God I'm a Country Boy: Terry Bradshaw | 1975 | Lost |
| 8 | Johnny Rutherford: Eleven Year Odyssey | Unknown | Lost |
| 9 | Lou Brock: The Thief | Unknown | Lost |
| 10 | Mario Andretti: The Driver | Unknown | Found |
| 11 | NFL Films: The 27th Team | Unknown | Lost |
| 12 | Reggie Jackson: One Man Wild Bunch | Unknown | Found |
| 13 | The Steel Curtain: Pittsburgh's Front Four | Unknown | Lost |
| 14 | Tom Weiskopf: On Tour | Unknown | Lost |
Gallery
Title card for "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Nobody Roots for Goliath."
Title card for "Bruno Sammartino: Strong Man."
Title card for "Franco Harris: Good Luck on Sunday."
Title card for "Willie Stargell: What If I Didn't Play Baseball."
Title card for "I'm Back: The Rocky Bleier Story."
Title card for "Thank God I'm a Country Boy: Terry Bradshaw."
Title card for "Lou Brock: The Thief."
Title card for "The Steel Curtain: Pittsburgh's Front Four."
External Links
References
- ↑ List of George Romero's filmography that features the series. Retrieved 18 Mar '22
- ↑ Archived Entertainment Weekly article about the VHS release. Retrieved 18 Mar '22