HBO's "Hard Knocks" Series To Air Same Time As Beijing Olympics
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HBO's "Hard Knocks" To
Air During Beijing Olympics |
HBO's "Hard Knocks" series, this season featuring the Cowboys, will air Wednesday nights from August 6-September 3, and though that collides with NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics from August 8-24, HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg "doesn't think the Cowboys will have a problem finding an audience," according to Jim Carlisle of the VENTURA COUNTY STAR. Greenburg: "It's fair to say this thing should go through the roof." Greenburg also said that "however outrageous" some of the Cowboys players may be, the show "primarily focuses on football." Greenburg: "I swear to you it's not going to be the Pacman Jones or [Terrell Owens] or the Tony Romo story. It just won't. They will be part of a team and part of the story." A 24-person film crew will live at the Cowboys' training facility in Oxnard, California, and more than 700 hours of video coverage will be shot. Carlisle writes it is "interesting that HBO is continuing to produce 'Hard Knocks,' since it decided to cancel 'Inside the NFL'" (VENTURA COUNTY STAR, 5/9).
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT: NFL Films President Steve Sabol and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones appeared on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” to discuss the decision to feature the Cowboys on “Hard Knocks.” Jones: “When you (have the) confidence that we have in NFL Films with Steve Sabol -- he really does make the decisions as to what is best for our fans, what is best for our teams, what is best for the game -- then you can operate pretty free in terms of what you want your organization to be." Jones added he "never dreamed the kind of interest that we have in what goes on off the field and away from the games." Sabol said filming the show is challenging because it is "sort of like building an airplane while it’s flying. When we start out, we have no script, no format, no storylines. The first day of training camp we’ll have 10 cameras rolling, and then it’s all in the editing process after that” (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 5/7).
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