Arli$$

Name: Arli$$
Genre: Comedy
Released: August 10, 1996
Rating: 72
Cast: Michael Boatman, Jim Turner (I), Sandra Oh, Robert Wuhl

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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Series Details & Credits

HBO | Release Date: August 10, 1996

Starring: Michael Boatman, Jim Turner (I), Sandra Oh, Robert Wuhl

Summary: It's tough being a professional athlete. Sure, there are big bucks. And big time glory. But there's also responsibility. Temptations. The media. Hangers on. More temptation. Diminishing skills. Lost endorsements. An uncertain future. Still more temptations. In the fast lane of pro sports, an athlete needs someone he can trust. He needs aIt's tough being a professional athlete. Sure, there are big bucks. And big time glory. But there's also responsibility. Temptations. The media. Hangers on. More temptation. Diminishing skills. Lost endorsements. An uncertain future. Still more temptations. In the fast lane of pro sports, an athlete needs someone he can trust. He needs a friend. An adviser. A big brother. Today's sports superstar needs more than just an agent, he needs a super agent. He needs Arliss.

Characters:

Arliss Michaels: Arliss Michaels claims to be the "working man's friend." He is the super athlete's super-agent, wheeling and dealing in the higher echelons of the sports world--an arena filled with glamour, hypocrisy and money. Arliss Michaels, sports agent extraordinaire, is not above misbehaving as outrageously as his superstar clients in an effort to get what he wants when he wants it.

Rita Wu Rita is Arliss' no-nonsense Girl Friday, seven days a week. As Arliss once said, "If there were a Franklin Day Planner event in the Olympics, Rita would take the gold." Rita's the one you want in your boat, ready to pass out life preservers and give directions. With enormous appeal and sass, she is often the moral voice in the AMM chorus, although she does have a certain weakness for Latin golf clients. Kirby Carlisle Kirby is an ex-football star turned agent as well as Arliss' old college buddy and first client. Endearingly ineffective, partially productive and effectively destructive, Kirby has a fondness for gambling, women and other distractions. The junior partner at Arliss Michaels Management (AMM), Kirby best orchestrates a night on the town for restless, action-seeking clients. Stanley Babson On the surface, Stanley appears to be Arliss' buttoned-up, straight-laced, conservative chief financial officer. Beneath his perfect three-piece suit lurks a buttoned-up, straight-laced, conservative chief financial officer. Stanley works magic with AMM clients' financial portfolios, with only an occasional investment blunder in a bum racehorse or pyramid scheme. … Expand

Genre(s): Comedy

Recent Episodes

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S7:E11. All That Glitters
Air Date: September 8, 2002
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S7:E10. Profiles in Agenting
Air Date: September 1, 2002
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S7:E9. End Game
Air Date: August 18, 2002

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Lon Grahnke

Jun 17, 2013

Season 1 Review: With its viciously sarcastic view of shameless business deals in sports, Arli$$ is ready for instant victories as a champion of television satire. [7 Aug 1996, p.53]

Lee Winfrey

Jun 17, 2013

Season 1 Review: Wuhl, who wrote the scripts for the first two episodes, is shrewd and witty in both the creation and delivery of dialogue, and outstanding in physical comedy. If sitcoms were judged like gymnastics, Sanders star Garry Shandling would grab the gold medal with a perfect score of 10 and Wuhl would be a cinch for the silver at 9.9. [7 Aug 1996, p.D01]

Robin Dougherty

Jun 16, 2013

Season 1 Review: It's hilarious...The series doesn't break new ground artistically, but it's got a main character who's already a classic. He seems as fully formed as Frasier or Seinfeld's Kramer. He could become television's new king of self-delusion. [10 Aug 1996, p.1G]

Ray Richmond

Jun 17, 2013

Season 1 Review: Mostly succeeds with cynically outlandish gusto, blurring the reality lines while rendering a fresh new antihero for the '90s in superagent Arliss Michaels. [5 Aug 1996, p.34]

Mike Duffy

Jun 17, 2013

Season 1 Review: Wuhl's madcap shyster has a sublimely bent supporting crew: Jim Turner as the agent's second-in-command Kirby Carlisle, a former quarterback with a bad habit of betting on games; Sandra Oh as crackerjack office assistant Rita Woo; and Michael Boatman ("China Beach") as Stanley, the agency's dour buppie numbers cruncher. [9 Aug 1996, p.1D]

Terry Kelleher

Jun 26, 2013

Season 2 Review: We can always count on a major-league effort from the key player, Robert Wuhl, who somehow makes us root for his character, the smoke-blowing, ego-stroking sports agent Arliss Michaels. But the show as a whole lacks the consistency of a championship series. Read full review

Howard Rosenberg

Jun 16, 2013

Season 1 Review: It tops out at mildly funny and is infrequently even that, suffering from clashing tones and from too much Wuhl. [10 Aug 1996, p.F6]

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Seasons & Episodes

72

Series Overview
Season 7

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- Season 7 Overview
  Air Date: June 16, 2002
- tbd
  S7:E11. All That Glitters
  Air Date: September 8, 2002
- tbd
  S7:E10. Profiles in Agenting
  Air Date: September 1, 2002
- tbd
  S7:E9. End Game
  Air Date: August 18, 2002
- tbd
  S7:E8. Standards and Practices
  Air Date: August 11, 2002
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  S7:E7. It's All in the Game
  Air Date: August 4, 2002
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  S7:E6. Moments to Remember
  Air Date: July 28, 2002
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  S7:E5. Playing It Safe
  Air Date: July 21, 2002
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  S7:E4. There's No I in Team
  Air Date: July 7, 2002
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  S7:E3. In with the New
  Air Date: June 30, 2002
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  S7:E2. What You See Is What You Get
  Air Date: June 23, 2002
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  S7:E1. The Immortal
  Air Date: June 16, 2002
Season 6

tbd
- Season 6 Overview
  Air Date: June 10, 2001
Season 5

tbd
- Season 5 Overview
  Air Date: June 4, 2000
Season 4

tbd
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: June 6, 1999
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: June 7, 1998
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: June 17, 1997
Season 1

74
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: August 10, 1996