an honest review of the hustlers

Relax, its not a documentary on the pool scene in New York City. From what I can tell, story line centers around Finnegan, and his "stable" at Steinway. At Steinway, Finnegan runs the Monday and Wednesday night tournaments. These tournaments have been previously hosted at Soho, Masters, and has its roots at Golden Cue.

There are ten episodes in this season, so perhaps later they will show the tournament subculture in New York city. It could be a perfect vehicle to showcase the New York pool scene. If you're going to tell a story, you don't reveal everything upfront.

Keep in mind pool is the background for this story, so shot by shot account is not the focus of the show.

If this catches on, we'll may see a 'Finnegan' in every pool room in America, even copying the Predator BK butt for playing cue.

you're review is nullified from the start when you say "an honest review" and then you say a "biased review".........

Maybe because I'm from NY that I find the show pretty good. I thought Mike D came off better than I would have thought. I thought Emily came across pretty good. The godfather was the best actor IMO, but "the kiss my ring scene" was a bit cheesy. Don't forget, this was the first 2 episodes and I'm sure they all were a bit nervous and will relax more as they do more shows. This is by far the best pool related TV show I've seen. I will watch more episodes for sure. Johnnyt

Johnnyt said:

Maybe because I'm from NY that I find the show pretty good. I thought Mike D came off better than I would have thought. I thought Emily came across pretty good. The godfather was the best actor IMO, but "the kiss my ring scene" was a bit cheesy. Don't forget, this was the first 2 episodes and I'm sure they all were a bit nervous and will relax more as they do more shows. This is by far the best pool related TV show I've seen. I will watch more episodes for sure. Johnnyt

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If Johnnyt gives it his stamp of approval, I'm all in.

I got the DVR set to record it, but it hasn't came on yet here in Hawaii. I'll make sure to check it out.

Aloha.

Will

I will watch it again and hope to see it different the 2nd time around. My first impression is it seemed to scripted everything over exaggerated. I thought the personalities would be more like Scooter , Spanky , McCready etc. I hope it improves. It was on against NBA playoffs so that is not going to help it's numbers.

I pretty much agree with everything Johnnyt said. Not bad. It's got a vibe like Hardcore Pawn if anyone has seen that. Sometimes you just need to watch something like this to unwind and let your brain relax after a long week.

Johnnyt said:

Maybe because I'm from NY that I find the show pretty good. I thought Mike D came off better than I would have thought. I thought Emily came across pretty good. The godfather was the best actor IMO, but "the kiss my ring scene" was a bit cheesy. Don't forget, this was the first 2 episodes and I'm sure they all were a bit nervous and will relax more as they do more shows. This is by far the best pool related TV show I've seen. I will watch more episodes for sure. Johnnyt

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Finnegan should be on the mosconi cup...

Lots of room for character development, the explanation of shots and diagrams dumbs it down for non players but the show seems like it is missing some major ingredients. So far it is an introduction to the faces and searching for some conflict even if it is scripted with Mike Dechaine to add some "reality" value.

I'm all for showcasing the gambling side of pool. No doubt that it's more interesting to the general public.

But this show really needs new writers.

I liked it. I would however tell them to STFU while I'm playing.....
<~~~~~~~~~ gonna watch every episode

I just can't stand pool shows that don't stick to reality! Many times I see shots that are completely staged and against the rules. At one point there was a 1-8 combo with just the 9 left on the table. Can anyone even imagine a rack of 9 ball with just the 1, 8, and 9 left? At the 54 minute mark of the first episode, Emily clearly shoots the 2 ball in the corner with the 1 ball sitting just to the right of her shot. Umm, wtf?

A little reality in reality TV would certainly help.

*edit* Cripes! just 2 minutes later there is a cut shot (cut shot as in TV cut shots) where she hits a ball in the corner and comes out 2 rails. She makes the ball (which I couldn't see because the cut shot came in after she got the ball in) but as you watch the cue ball travel the 1 ball is CLEARLY up against the other rail. What ball did she just shoot in? The zero ball maybe?

PaulieB said:

I just can't stand pool shows that don't stick to reality! Many times I see shots that are completely staged and against the rules. At one point there was a 1-8 combo with just the 9 left on the table. Can anyone even imagine a rack of 9 ball with just the 1, 8, and 9 left? At the 54 minute mark of the first episode, Emily clearly shoots the 2 ball in the corner with the 1 ball sitting just to the right of her shot. Umm, wtf?

A little reality in reality TV would certainly help.

*edit* Cripes! just 2 minutes later there is a cut shot (cut shot as in TV cut shots) where she hits a ball in the corner and comes out 2 rails. She makes the ball (which I couldn't see because the cut shot came in after she got the ball in) but as you watch the cue ball travel the 1 ball is CLEARLY up against the other rail. What ball did she just shoot in? The zero ball maybe?

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Really? Gonna have to rewatch that. I know I say her tale ball in hand on 1 and roll up to shot 2 ball that coukd not go past 9 either shot straight in or banked. I assumed she was playing the easy 2 9 combo. Next thing after making 1...she's shooting 5 with a bridge. Just inexcusable.

PaulieB said:

I just can't stand pool shows that don't stick to reality! Many times I see shots that are completely staged and against the rules. At one point there was a 1-8 combo with just the 9 left on the table. Can anyone even imagine a rack of 9 ball with just the 1, 8, and 9 left? At the 54 minute mark of the first episode, Emily clearly shoots the 2 ball in the corner with the 1 ball sitting just to the right of her shot. Umm, wtf?

A little reality in reality TV would certainly help.

*edit* Cripes! just 2 minutes later there is a cut shot (cut shot as in TV cut shots) where she hits a ball in the corner and comes out 2 rails. She makes the ball (which I couldn't see because the cut shot came in after she got the ball in) but as you watch the cue ball travel the 1 ball is CLEARLY up against the other rail. What ball did she just shoot in? The zero ball maybe?

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Yeah, noticed that too. It's weird when they are shooting balls, but leave the lower numbered balls on the table, could NOT anyone just pick it off the table "off camera" at least. C'mon mikey Frost, help a brother out here

Man, that girlfriend was annoying as heck. Man, how whipped are you that you have to bring your girl with you to go out and hustle pool, and then let her talk crap when you're playing ?? OMG. I'm sure it's good to have a villain, but I don't think she is an actress and looks like the others are use to her obnoxious behavior....

We support the game and the game is out there for all to see...let's hope the masses will sign a petition for billiards to be an Olympic sport.

There's not a Real Pool Hall within 100 miles of me that would
allow those loud-mouthed-nit-f**ks to run their yaps non-stop
at that volume level.
This ignorant insult to The Game is a combination of Big Brother,
Survivor, & Alaskan Bush People.
I'm certain that 95% of the local bar league bangers will love it.

Update: If they all were Class Acts, it would be entertaining.
Sadly, Mike D. and Jennifer B. are in a Class by themselves.
Episode 2 seems to be toned-down a bit and that's a plus.

Johnnyt said:

Maybe because I'm from NY that I find the show pretty good. I thought Mike D came off better than I would have thought. I thought Emily came across pretty good. The godfather was the best actor IMO, but "the kiss my ring scene" was a bit cheesy. Don't forget, this was the first 2 episodes and I'm sure they all were a bit nervous and will relax more as they do more shows. This is by far the best pool related TV show I've seen. I will watch more episodes for sure. Johnnyt

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Me too...will be tuning in next week. Very entertaining. Isn't that what TV should be? (Not from NY, never lived there..."Me too", means I agree with Johnny.)

For pool aficionados, The Hustlers isn't going to cut the mustard, so to speak, but we pool aficionados are such a small segment of mainstream America, it doesn't matter. The producers are shooting for -- pun intended -- mainstream America, those who know little to nothing about pool.

The back-and-forth banter seemed more like made-for-TV pool barking. It didn't seem real to me, and we all know it wasn't.

I liked Mike D. and Jarrod Clowery's roles. I especially liked seeing Mike happy and laughing, and Jarrod donning that cap while bearing down on his shots was great. Jarrod looked cool! The two Boston road agents, even though, I thought, Mike was from Maine.

It was nice to see Emily in a new light I had never seen before. She reaches out to me and makes me want to root for her to win. She's a lot nicer on that show that some of her publicity photos make her out to be, and that's a good thing.

The star of the show is the Irishman. I think he's the brightest star, but sometimes he's hard to understand due to his accent, which I love. I noticed they had a few subtitles.

The Godfather guy was enjoyable, but I thought his banter was a wee bit over-exaggerated. However, I realize, again, this is for mainstream America, not pool peeps.

The couple were sweet, but I was not impressed with that story line. Maybe it will develop more.

Jennifer and her husband's parts were the most believable, I think, and that, I liked the best.

I didn't get to know "Smiley" that much in these first two episodes, though she seemed nice.

The worst part of the show for me and what I think is a biggest turnoff is the background music. It really sucks. Horrible! Cheap sounding like a porno movie or a low-budget movie. Just did not like it at all. That made it hard to watch for me every time it came on.

And those two sharks with blood coming out of their mouth at the beginning of each show, how cheesy is that!

Does this TV show have a "real" pool player as a consultant? Surely Steinway with all its pool stars, tournaments, and everyday happenings has someone who can advise the technical crew to make this show more believable.

As a side note, I enyoyed seeing the two pool tables named in honor of Ginky and Gypsy in the show. Only we pool folk would understand and appreciate that. Bravo to Steinway!

I wish the show all the best, of course. I hope it gets better as the new episodes come. I realize it's too late to get rid of the cheesy music, but that music really cheapens the TV show.

Str8PoolPlayer said:

There's not a Real Pool Hall within 100 miles of me that would
allow those loud-mouthed-nit-f**ks to run their yaps non-stop
at that volume level.
This ignorant insult to The Game is a combination of Big Brother,
Survivor, & Alaskan Bush People.
I'm certain that 95% of the local bar league bangers will love it.

Update: If they all were Class Acts, it would be entertaining.
Sadly, Mike D. and Jennifer B. are in a Class by themselves.
Episode 2 seems to be toned-down a bit and that's a plus.

Click to expand...

So you think a show with people quietly playing pool would bring in viewers to a reality show? Lol if so you are VERY out of touch with the current generation of people this show is made for.

Of course it's over the top... Of course it's scripted (reality shows are always scripted to a point) but it wasn't bad. It's what I would expect from a small cable channel like tru TV. If you were expecting the hustler you were gonna be disappointed lol I got what I expected so it wasn't bad.

I will say I laughed out loud when I saw the top 5 list as most educated fans of the game would. Even my wife who is just a passive fan of the game laughed at the list. But I moved on from it and just enjoyed it for what it is.