When HBO first brought us into the every day life of the NHL with last season's 24/7 series, which featured the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, three things really struck me.
The first was level of access that was given to the producers of the much talked about series. It seems as though nothing was off limits to the crew. Sure we got to go into the dressing rooms, coaches offices, team meetings and practice facilities, but they also brought us into the team planes, hotels, and even some of the players' homes. Filmmakers dream about having such access to their subjects.
The second thing that struck me about last season's series was Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. I'm certain that the editors of the series were wringing their hands with glee when they first sat down to look over the rough cuts of the footage they shot with the Caps bench boss.
Filmmakers looks for characters with depth. Someone who is interesting looking, in an interesting setting, doing interesting things, in an interesting way.
They certainly got that in spades with Boudreau. The sight of this short, fat, man in the midst pro athletes in the prime of their athletic lives certainly illustrated a contrast. "One of these things is not like the others" as they say on Sesame street.
The level of energy and intensity displayed by Boudreau throughout the series was also fascinating. Seemingly always in motion, always talking, always in the game. It's like the guy has no off switch.
Couldn't help but remember that television series when Bruce Boudreau was fired by the Capitals earlier this season. All the ranting and raving, and cursing and swearing wears thin after a while.
Which brings me to the third element of the series that struck me in the first, and in second, which this time features the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, is the level of language used in the shows final cut.
Specifically, the use of the word "fuck". Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the word fuck. I make use of it myself quite often. When I was in the Army, it was probably the most commonly used verb/noun/adjective.
But the boys in HBO's 24/7 take it to a whole new level. "Fuck this". "Fuck that". "Here a fuck, there a fuck. Everywhere a fuck, fuck." Holy fuck boys, enough with the fuck...
The incidental use of the word fuck, in a series chronicling a hockey team is not surprising, in fact, it's to be expected, but I take issue with the overuse of it in the editing process. It's one thing to let the f-bombs drop when it's used during speeches and on-ice action, quite another when inserted over the top of a video track simply for effect. A couple of examples of this can be found in the third episode of this year's series.
In one shot, a New York Ranger is seen throwing a hard bodycheck. Off camera, someone is heard, presumably a player on the Philadelphia Flyers bench, saying, "Fuckin' Johnny Mitchell...". In another scene, the Philadelphia Flyers score a goal. While the camera stays with the on-ice action, we can clearly hear New York coach John Tortorella exclaim "For fuck sakes" off camera.
Now, these were clearly editorial choices. Someone sat down and decided to put those particular audio clips over those particular video clips. With fuck making at least 75 to 100 appearances in the one hour episode, it is doubtful that the show would suffer by leaving a couple out.
Again, I don't have a major issue with using the word fuck in this series, but some care should be given to avoid using it too much. For fuck sakes.
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