Show creator David E. Kelley (who has a long track record with legal dramas, not that you’d know it here) has made a number of changes, none of which deepen the narrative. Instead of being a father to one, Rusty now has kids, plural. Instead of hiring a one-time courtroom foe as his attorney, now his former boss, the recently ousted state’s attorney, is mounting Rusty’s defense. Instead of crime scene photos of the victim fully clothed, the show takes us to the crime scene where the victim is trussed up naked. Even her fertility status (a key piece of evidence in the original) is changed. None of these details improve the story or create a sense of “maybe I don’t know where this is going” for anyone familiar with Turow’s novel or the film.

The 1990 movie came out amid a spate of erotic thrillers premised on a lurid femme fatale archetype, of women who are too sexy for their own good and the men whose lives they destroy, from “Basic Instinct” to “Fatal Attraction” (also recently adapted into a inconsequential TV series for Paramount+). There’s a cringe-worthy moment in the film when the victim’s ex all but blames her for her own murder, recalling a look of disgust she once gave him: “At that moment, I remember I had the most desperate wish that she were dead. Maybe she made a man feel like that who actually acted on that fantasy.”

Then again, at least the movie had lines like this: “They’re so close, you can see (one guy’s) nose sticking out of (the other guy’s) belly button.” Even so, the movie is too long at two hours and there’s nowhere near enough story to fill out a multi-episode TV series. Tangents about corruption in the criminal justice system seem to have evaporated, despite the expanded running time.

Gyllenhaal plays Rusty as unsympathetically as possible, which isn’t a bad choice — he’s a man who made bad choices and now his back is against the wall — but Gyllenhaal’s talents are not suited to this suite of emotions and behaviors, which read mostly as “angry” and “desperate.” Rusty is off the rails, but there’s no ambiguity, and the victim is barely a character (true of the movie as well) but rather an idea upon whom everyone can project their issues.

The script does nobody here any favors, including Ruth Negga as Rusty’s wife, Bill Camp as his boss and protector, and Peter Sarsgaard as an office rival who is all too eager to nail him.

Sarsgaard is usually a terrific actor, but even he can’t make any of this work. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” he says, “my name is Tommasino Molto. But I’m from Chicago, like you, so it’s Tommy.” Considering the adaptation has no interest in its Chicago setting, this sudden introduction of a character’s supposed Chicago bonafides is weird. Sweaty, even. “Presumed Sweaty” might have been a more accurate title for the series overall.

“Presumed Innocent” — 1.5 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Apple TV+

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.

The figures are the latest evidence of the surging popularity of the WNBA since it added prominent rookies including the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink, all of whom drew big audiences playing in college.

Across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, ION and NBA TV, WNBA games are averaging 1.32 million viewers, nearly tripling last season’s average of 462,000, the league said on Tuesday.

“What’s happening now in women’s basketball is confirmation of what we’ve always known: The demand is there, and women’s sports is a valuable investment,” said Colie Edison, the WNBA’s chief growth officer. “We’re encouraged by growing engagement across all our verticals, especially as we welcome new and diverse audiences into our fandom. The WNBA continues to experience sustained growth as our league embraces this heightened momentum.”

The WNBA finished May having sold out more than half its games, more than double the number of sellouts last year. Approximately 400,000 fans have attended games, the most through the first month in 26 years.

Arenas have been filled to 94% capacity, a 17% rise from last year, the league said. Some games have been moved to bigger arenas to accommodate increased fan interest, such as Clark and the Fever playing at the Washington Wizards’ downtown arena in front of 20,333 fans last Friday night instead of the Mystics’ usual venue, which seats 4,200.

On the television side, the WNBA said it saw a 96% increase in Hispanic viewers and a 67% increase in Black viewers.

Merchandise sales rose 236% from the same period last year, with Clark, Reese and Brink ranking in the top five for jersey sales during the first week of the season.

LOS ANGELES — After 41 years and over 8,000 episodes, Pat Sajak made his final turn as the renowned host of “Wheel of Fortune” on Friday.

The season 41 finale, dubbed the “Thanks for the memories” show, opened on Friday with a clip from Sajak’s first episode as the host of “Wheel of Fortune” in 1981 and closed with Sajak’s warm message of gratitude.

In his farewell message, Sajak thanked the viewers of the beloved game show for granting him the “incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes, night after night, year after year, decade after decade.”

Sajak, 77, also gave a heartfelt thanks to his “professional other half,” Vanna White, who has co-hosted with him for over 40 years and delivered her emotional tribute to Sajak a day earlier.

“We’ve seen a lot of changes in each other’s lives over the years, but we’ve always been there for each other,” he said. “I will miss our nightly closes and her laughter and her good nature. She’s a very special woman.”

Among the many thanks and shoutouts Sajak offered during the final episode before his retirement, he said the crew and staff, some of whom have been working on the show as long as he has, were a “joy” to work with. “Your skills and dedication and good humor made this a place I always wanted to be,” he added.

Sajak thanked one staff member by name: his daughter Maggie. She began working as the show’s social correspondent in 2021 and he said their collaboration has been the “best part of the last couple of years.” Sajak also mentioned his son, Patrick, and his wife, Lesly, and said that he is “blessed” to have his family.

The famed host also said that the “real stars of the show” have been the contestants who competed for cash and luxury prizes throughout the decades of the show’s run. He called them “kind and considerate,” noting that they always “took great pride in talking about their family, their hometown, their friends, their schools, their jobs, even their pets.”

Reflecting on the show’s massive reach, Sajak noted that he always found it important to keep the daily half-hour show a “safe place for family fun,” excluding any social issues or political topics from the banter he shared with contestants and White. He said he wanted to keep the show “just a game,” before noting that to many, it became a part of their daily lives.

“Gradually, it became more than that,” Sajak continued. “A place where kids learned their letters, where people from other countries honed their English skills, where families came together along with friends and neighbors and entire generations. What an honor to have played even a small part in all that.”

Sajak’s closed out his message with a crack about how viewers could still see more of him through reruns of the show during its summer break. “The jokes will be the same, but I’d appreciate it if you’d laugh anyway,” he quipped before saying a final goodbye.

To make time for his closing message, Sajak truncated the game by cutting out a round. He said he wanted to ensure the competition was still fair for contestants Tammi, Adrienne and Nino, so Sajak spun the wheel himself and added to their totals. While he initially said he’d add $1,000 to the prize money the wheel landed on, he bumped the bonus up to $5,000 for each person after noting that it wasn’t his money he was allocating. “Little Jimmy’s surgery can wait,” he joked.

During her tribute on Thursday, White called Sajak “like a brother” and a “true lifelong friend.” In the pre-recorded video that featured clips and photos of their decades as co-workers, she added that their personal friendship has meant even more than their professional collaboration.

Sajak announced in June 2023 that he would retire from his hosting duties at the end of the show’s 41st season, with Ryan Seacrest set to succeed him. White will stay on as Seacrest’s co-host through the 2025-2026 season, based on a contract extension she signed in September.

The actor was honored Friday night as guest performer in a daytime drama series for his part as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives,” making him the oldest Daytime Emmy winner.

“I don’t believe this. I feel like a spy from nighttime television,” he said. “I’m 98 years old. Can you believe it? This really tops off a lifetime of 80 years in the business. If I had known I would have lived this long I would’ve taken better care of myself.”

“General Hospital” won four trophies, including its fourth consecutive honor as best daytime drama. It’s the second time in the ABC show’s 61-year history that it won four daytime drama trophies in a row.

Robert Gossett of “General Hospital” won supporting actor honors. The first cousin to the late Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. was honored for the second straight year for his role as Marshall Ashford.

“General Hospital” also won the directing and writing categories.

Thorsten Kaye of “The Bold and the Beautiful” earned his second straight lead actor win for playing Ridge Forrester.

“I got to be very honest. I don’t like award shows. I didn’t like award shows until tonight,” he said. “The other thing that doesn’t make sense is that anyone can do this alone. You need a great boss who sees you and hears you. You need a cast that tolerates you. You need a whole village of people that have agreed that they’re not going to let you drown. I’ve have all of that.”

A clearly stunned Michelle Stafford of “The Young and the Restless” won best actress as Phyllis Summers, a trophy she first earned in 2004.

“I am honored to be an actor. It is the greatest gig. It is a privilege,” she said. “I’m honored to entertain people.”

Van Dyke received a standing ovation as he used a cane to make his way to the stage, accompanied by his wife, Arlene, who held the trophy.

“I brought this lady up because she was also on the show,” he said. “She played the cop who arrested me.”

Producer Norman Lear was 100 when he received his final Primetime Emmy nomination in 2022 and died the next year.

Van Dyke has won four Primetime Emmys, including three in the 1960s for his classic comedy series “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

Van Dyke beat out last year’s winner Alley Mills of “General Hospital,” Australian actor Guy Pearce of Amazon Freevee’s “Neighbours,” Linden Ashby of “The Young and the Restless,” and Ashley Jones of “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” continued its domination of the daytime show category with a fourth consecutive victory. The singer, who moved her show from Los Angeles to New York last year, was on hand to collect the trophy.

“The move has been so great, not just for me and my family but for our whole show,” she said, singling out NBC. “Thank you for thinking of mental health and not just a product.”

Courtney Hope, who plays Sally Spectra on “The Young and the Restless,” earned supporting actress honors. She originated the role on “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 2017 before moving to “Y&R” in 2020.

Melody Thomas Scott, who has played Nikki Newman on “The Young and the Restless” for 45 years, and her producer-husband, Edward Scott, were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Scott worked on “Y&R” for years before moving to his current job on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“I can’t tell you how encouraging a thing like this is,” joked Thomas Scott, who made her acting debut at age 8 in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Marnie.”

Her husband told the crowd, “I promise to do my very best to try to continue to amaze you.”

The wife-and-husband team of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos won daytime talk series host for their “Live with Kelly and Mark.” Ina Garten won best culinary series for “Be My Guest” on Food Network.

The ceremony honoring soap operas, talk and game shows aired live on CBS from The Westin Bonaventure hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The 51st annual Daytime Emmys returned to their usual place on the calendar, just six months after the show’s 50th edition aired in December after being pushed back because of last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strikes.

When does Sajak’s final episode air?

The “Wheel of Fortune” Season 41 finale, titled “Thanks for the Memories,” airs at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday on ABC. Thursday’s penultimate episode included a farewell message from Sajak’s longtime co-host, Vanna White.

How long has Sajak hosted?

Sajak has hosted the Hangman-style game show for more than 40 years, stepping in for original host Chuck Woolery during the second season in 1982, when “America’s Game” still aired on daytime television.

“Wheel of Fortune” debuted in 1975 with Woolery and Susan Stafford leading the show before the “Love Connection” host departed over a salary dispute with NBC. Legendary producer Merv Griffin hired Sajak and famous letter-turner White in 1982, and the two have become fixtures of the series. In 2019, Sajak scored the Guinness Book of World Records title for longest career as a game show host on the same show. He will retire with almost 8,000 episodes to his name.

He earned three Daytime Emmy Awards as game show host during his run and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He also has a People’s Choice Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame credited to his “Wheel” run.

In 2021, “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” premiered in prime time on ABC with Sajak usually serving as host.

Why is Sajak stepping down?

The 77-year-old announced his retirement a year ago, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that the current season would be his last. In an interview with his daughter, “Wheel” social correspondent Maggie Sajak, the host said that he could continue hosting the show if he wanted to but felt he needed to exit on his own terms.

“I’d rather leave a couple years too early than a couple years too late,” he said, adding, “I’m looking forward to whatever’s ahead.”

Who’s taking over ‘Wheel of Fortune’? And when?

Less than a month after Sajak revealed his retirement, “American Idol” and “On Air” host Ryan Seacrest announced that he would step into the emcee’s shoes. At the time, Seacrest lauded his predecessor for the way Sajak “always celebrated the contestants and made viewers feel at home.”

Seacrest, who signed a multiyear deal with Sony Pictures Television last June, will begin the new gig in September.

White is set to remain on “Wheel of Fortune” for the next two years. She has previously filled in for Sajak as host on a few occasions and, before the brief search for Sajak’s successor came to an end, fans campaigned for White to replace her longtime colleague.

What did Sajak do before ‘Wheel’?

It’s hard to think about Sajak doing anything other than soliciting consonants and vowels or declaring a player “bankrupt,” but his storied career began long before “Wheel of Fortune.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Sajak got his broadcasting start as a newscaster and announcer at a small radio station, looking to broadcast legends Arthur Godfrey, Dave Garroway, Steve Allen and Jack Paar for inspiration to shape his TV personality. He served in the U.S. Army in the late 1960s and was sent to Vietnam, where he hosted a daily show for Armed Forces Radio in Saigon shouting “Good morning, Vietnam!” each day.

After being discharged, he worked at small radio stations in Kentucky and Tennessee, spending several years as a staff announcer, talk show host and weatherman at WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. A talent scout for NBC-TV in Los Angeles spotted him and brought him onboard in 1977 to serve as the local NBC station’s primary weatherman. In 1981, Griffin asked him to assume hosting duties on “Wheel” when it still aired during the day on NBC, well before the syndicated version premiered in 1983.

“The nice thing about working in local TV in L.A.,” Sajak has said, “is that decision makers are watching you every night.”

What else is on Sajak’s resume?

During his tenure, Sajak has entertained generations of fans, inspired “Saturday Night Live” and “South Park” jokes and generated numerous headlines about his behavior with contestants. He also briefly hosted the short-lived late-night talk show “The Pat Sajak Show” in the late 1980s and played himself in a number of films and TV shows, including “The A-Team,” “227,” “Airplane II: The Sequel,” “Santa Barbara,” “The King of Queens,” “Just Shoot Me!” and “Fresh Off the Boat.”

“We became part of the popular culture … more importantly became part of people’s lives,” he said in a recent interview with his daughter, who made her “Wheel” debut as a 1-year-old when she joined her dad onstage. The Princeton and Columbia University grad has been the show’s social correspondent since 2021.

Sajak’s awkward dad jokes have raised eyebrows in recent years, with the stalwart host fully committing to an odd voyeurism quip while bantering with White during a 2023 episode. He also has landed in hot water for asking her if she liked watching opera in the buff and repeatedly raised social media hackles when he mocked and pranked a contestant over her fear of fish, poked fun at a man and his long beard by referring to him as one of Santa’s helpers, and put a winning contestant in a chokehold.

What’s next for Sajak?

Sajak said he’s looking forward to time to “with my crossword puzzles” and family. He will continue his duties as chairman of the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees, a position he took up in 2019.

However, it will be one of the announcers who helped pave the way for Burke to eventually become the first woman to serve as a game analyst on TV for a championship final in one of the four major professional U.S. sports leagues who will be watching with pride Thursday night.

Before calling Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, Burke said Robin Roberts was one of her biggest influences when she was starting out as an analyst calling women’s college basketball games.

Roberts, the co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said Burke’s acknowledgement of those who came before her has been among her best qualities.

“What I really appreciate about Doris is that she is respectful and acknowledging those who came before her and who helped pave the way. She knows how her being there is going to make a difference, as I and others have made a difference, for her to be where she is,” Roberts said.

Burke, who joined ESPN in 1990, has covered the finals since 2009. She was a sideline reporter for ABC’s coverage from 2009-19 before serving as an analyst on ESPN Radio for the past four finals.

Burke knows this year’s assignment is different.

“My focus is in preparing for the games in front of me. … But I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I am sort of mindful that there is something meaningful here, right,” she said. “And the meaning for me would be if, in some way, this assignment makes life for women in sports easier or somehow aids in their process, then nothing could be more meaningful.

“Anybody calling their first NBA Finals game would probably be nervous, and I think if I allow my mind to drift too much into that space, it will make that nervousness a little bit worse.”

Ann Meyers Drysdale, the first woman to work an NBA game for one of the broadcast networks in 1997 for NBC, said Burke has deserved this opportunity.

“She’s worked hard. Somebody has given her an opportunity, she’s taken it and been productive,” Meyers said.

Burke has also acknowledged she feels “fortunate to be operating at the point in history within which I’m operating.” Quite simply, she saw the experiences Roberts and Meyers went through breaking barriers while also forging their own path. But Burke is also in a position to mentor analysts and announcers who are coming up.

“I say it every time I see her and Ann Meyers Drysdale. I wouldn’t have the role and the position that I have without them not only having done the job, but doing it with so much competence and diligence,” said Sarah Kustok, an analyst for Brooklyn Nets games on YES Network. “How she has thrived in that role has set the table for so many of us.”

Burke’s influence goes beyond basketball. Jessica Mendoza said she pushed management at ESPN to start doing baseball after seeing Burke call a game. Mendoza started doing MLB games in 2015, was part of “Sunday Night Baseball” from 2016 to ’19, and has done the World Series on ESPN Radio since 2020.

“When I heard Doris on an NBA game as an analyst, not a reporter, it just completely changed my thoughts about my own position but also women in general that have played the sport,” Mendoza said. “She has helped me out with advice and how to approach things like she experienced her first few years. You know, all the questions that I can only ask a handful of women in the world.”

During a conference call this week, Burke did not get emotional discussing her milestone, but in praising her teammates — announcer Mike Breen and analyst JJ Reddick.

Breen will be calling his 19th finals, but his first since 2006 where Jeff Van Gundy hasn’t been an analyst. Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were laid off last July as part of job cuts by the network. Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson called 15 finals together.

Last August, Breen, Burke and Doc Rivers were announced as ESPN’s main NBA team. Those plans changed in late January when Rivers left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks.

“He’s never said it’s been difficult, but knowing Mike and the position he’s been put in, you know, this probably has not been easy, necessarily, throughout the course of the year,” Burke said. “There’s points at which Mike has navigated us through spaces, and I am incredibly appreciative. JJ has been as good a teammate on the air and off as I could possibly hope for.”

A real-life, downmarket version of “Succession,” it offers a claustrophobic portrait of the festival’s eccentric and off-putting founder George Coulam and the three subordinates — two men and a woman, tidily echoing “Succession’s” Kendall, Roman and Shiv — whose sweaty hopes and dreams of Ren faire domination are dependent on Coulam’s mercurial moods. Who will wrest control from the old man, if anyone?

Director Lance Oppenheim (whose credits include the recent Hulu documentary “Spermworld”) takes a stylized approach, giving the documentary an untrustworthy and manipulated feel that suggests a number of moments were staged. But it also seems likely that Coulam is too peculiar and stubborn — too lacking in self-awareness — to be anyone other than who he is, whether a camera is there or not.

Founded 50 years ago, tens of thousands of people attend the fest on any given day. Located an hour outside of Houston, it’s a moneymaker. But Coulam is ready to retire and he’s looking to sell the whole shebang for $60 million. Whether that happens is another matter.

Coulam is all business when it comes to the fest, but does he have any emotional investment? Unclear. He doesn’t seem to find any delight or whimsy in this artificial world he’s created.

Not so for general manager Jeff Baldwin, who has a background in theater and a childlike and dreamy outlook. He says things like “George is Willy Wonka,” then later compares his boss to King Lear. Heading up a massive kettle corn operation at the fest is Louie Migliaccio, a fast-talking shark who chugs Red Bull as if his life depends on it. His family has money and he’s hoping they will buy the fest. Then there’s Darla Smith, who once ran an elephant attraction before becoming a vendor coordinator. Her ambitions are never articulated but she seems competent, if uninspiring. They each battle for Coulam’s favor and are subject to his rebukes, depending upon who is in his line of fire. Everyone is stressed. Everyone is paranoid. Everyone drives a truck or an SUV.

Though Coulam modeled himself on Walt Disney, apparently he’s done with all that. Now in his mid-80s, “I want to do art and chase ladies.” Seemingly unprompted, he tells director Oppenheim about his medical regimen: “I have to take Viagra and Cialis and I have to have a shot of testosterone once a week” — he pronounces it testoserahn. An assistant nearby nods expressionless. “If you get a shot every week, you can have an erection until you die. And that’s my goal.” He’s also hired someone to help him navigate “sugar daddy sites” and says he’s looking for “a nice, thin lady between 30 and 50 years old.” But the women he matches with are in their 20s. The first thing he asks is if their breasts are natural. “I want someone to love me and take care of me,” he says, with no concept that this imaginary woman might want things out of a relationship as well. He’s too controlling and too rigid to consider that.

But his taste is questionable across the board. “Ugly art is not art,” he says. His home — with its garish, maximalist interiors —  is an ironic testament to this. He’s intense and self-absorbed, so it doesn’t stretch the imagination that he agreed to do this documentary. Why anyone else did remains a mystery.

“Ren Faire” — 2.5 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Episodes 2 and 3 air back-to-back at 8 p.m. Sunday (all three parts streaming on Max)

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.

The CFP announced its entire schedule Wednesday. The four first-round games will be on Dec. 20 and 21. ABC and ESPN will televise games on Friday and Saturday night with 7 p.m. CST kickoffs, while TNT will have the Dec. 21 day games at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The day games will go up against two NFL games: Houston-Kansas City at noon and Baltimore-Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m.

Mike Mulvihill, Fox president for insights and analytics, thinks there will be room to accommodate both audiences. Fox has the Ravens-Steelers game as it goes up against a CFP late afternoon matchup.

“I think it will be fine for the NFL and college football to coexist on that date. I think both events will rate just fine,” he said.

The four first-round matchups, which will be played on college campuses, will be announced on Dec. 8. TNT has two games through a sublicense with ESPN.

ESPN’s $7.8 billion deal with the CFP, which was announced in March, allowed it to sublicense games to other networks. Financial terms of the sublicense were not announced.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will air on ESPN.

The top four conference champions will receive first-round byes. The quarterfinals will begin on Dec. 31 with the Fiesta Bowl at 6:30 p.m. CST. New Year’s Day will kick off with the Peach Bowl at noon, followed by the Rose Bowl in its traditional 4 p.m. spot and the Sugar Bowl at 7:45 p.m.

The semifinals are the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 and Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. Both have 6:30 p.m. CST start times before the championship game takes place on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

ESPN will announce its schedule for most of the bowl games Thursday.

Sterling never had much of a national profile in pop culture but his downfall changed all that. His assistant and maybe-mistress V. Stiviano was in the habit of recording their conversations — with his knowledge — which included a rant berating her for being photographed with Black people. That snippet would ultimately find its way to TMZ, which resulted in Sterling being banned from the NBA and forced to sell his stake in the team. Throughout it all, Stiviano had a strange push-pull response to the ensuing media interest.

That’s the recap, which suggests the story doesn’t warrant more than a movie-length treatment. But FX is in the TV business and the six-episode series (streaming on Hulu) does some things I found intriguing.

Ed O’Neill has said he wasn’t interested in playing Sterling at first and I get the reluctance; he’s not only repellent, he’s boring. As a real estate mogul, Sterling was previously the subject of housing discrimination lawsuits as well as sexual harassment lawsuits. Those in business with him overlooked this history and that kind of choice is neither new nor shocking, but it does put everyone in his orbit on a morally compromised path.

Adapted from a “30 for 30” podcast, the series is from creator Gina Welch (whose credits include the thematically adjacent “Feud” and “Ray Donovan”) and it’s a study in that old axiom: When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. That’s true of everyone who had personal or professional dealings with Sterling, including Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman), his longtime wife Shelly (Jacki Weaver), coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne), as well as the players and front office personnel.

At one point, Sterling loses his temper with Rivers and barks: “I’m your owner.” It’s all so loaded. He’s portrayed as breezily untouchable, which is illustrated in flashbacks. He’s sitting for a deposition and describing in some detail a limo encounter with a prostitute. The anecdote is presented without context, because there’s a punchline coming. When he’s finished, the attorney across the table dryly responds: “Mr. Sterling, the question was, is this your handwriting?” That exchange isn’t an invention by Welch. Just truth being stranger than fiction.

Welch has a lot on her mind but not all of it coheres. The show is strongest when it’s less focused on Stiviano’s grasping desire for fame or recreating her awkward interview with Barbara Walters (in which she clunkily described herself as Sterling’s “right hand arm man”) and more interested in longstanding issues of racism in the NBA and the tense debates Sterling’s bigotry provoked for Rivers and the players.

“The whole season you’re talking about tuning out distractions,” a player tells the coach. “But this tape is everything. Dude is literally saying that I’m a piece of property.” This sparks some meaty and nuanced arguments about whether to boycott or play. Ultimately, they play. But “Clipped” does a decent enough job suggesting all kinds of “and what if they hadn’t?” questions that aren’t addressed on screen.

O’Neill goes all in. It’s the flashier, in-your-face role. But it’s Weaver and Fishburne who stand out. Weaver’s version of Shelly Sterling is a fascinating enigma and portrait of an enabler. Privately she’s exasperated by the trouble her husband is causing them both, but publicly she insists he was tricked into saying racist things. Whether she believes it or not is irrelevant, because (as portrayed here) she’s not horrified by any of it. Her focus is on maintaining as much of their lifestyle and wealth as possible. And she does it with a sugary disposition, calling Rivers and the players “honey” as they silently and stonily tolerate her presence.

Fishburne is the soiled, hangdog conscience of the series. He’s a class act who is disgusted by Sterling and just wants to do his job — but he also knows that’s a losing bet he made the moment he accepted a position with the team. Even so, the way he giddily bounces in his seat when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announces that Sterling is out is a terrific moment of satisfaction. (Darin Cooper’s Silver is unyielding and unemotional; he’s all business.)

The series also pauses to let one-time general manager Elgin Baylor (Clifton Davis) hold his head high and say his piece about his own deal with the devil. Sterling wasn’t interested in spending for players, which rendered Baylor largely ineffectual. But he was also given extraordinary job security despite the team’s horrendous record. The scene arrives out of nowhere, but the undercurrent of racism once again comes to the fore and that righteous tension is far more intriguing than anything happening in Sterling’s private life.

At one point early in the series, Stiviano spots a celebrity and sighs. “How come famous people glow like that?” A friend splashes cold water on the fantasy: “Usually it’s not happiness.” It might be the show’s most salient point.

“Clipped” — 2 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Hulu

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

The network said in a news release that all three teams’ games will be available through “traditional cable providers, streaming services and free, over-the-air broadcast” and “will reach a widely expanded Midwest footprint, including most of Illinois and parts of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin, pending league approvals.”

The network offered limited details in the wake of the announcement, and its ownership now faces a short runway to get a new media company off the ground in time for the Bulls and Hawks seasons in the fall.

There are plenty of questions to answer before then. What type of auxiliary programming will be offered? What purchases — such as satellite antenna or cable subscription — would fans need to make in order to watch their teams? And who will be on the air as game commentators, pregame and postgame hosts and sideline talent?

Bulls broadcasters Adam Amin and Stacey King are expected to retain their roles for the 2024-25 season, while a source said on-air talent for the Hawks “is not yet confirmed.”

The Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) said it has begun the hiring process for staff and will announce distribution and media agreements as they are finalized throughout the summer.

The network will be produced in partnership with Nashville, Tenn.-based Standard Media. Jason Coyle, formerly president of the Stadium network, was named CHSN president.

“As we set out to design the network, we began and ended every discussion with the simple question: What is best for our fans?” Coyle said in a statement. “What is the best approach to distribution? How can we push the limits of both in-game and studio production? We plan to serve our fans on as many platforms and in as many markets as our rights allow.”

The teams’ contract with NBC Sports Chicago, which has held the rights for all three teams since 2004, is set to expire in October. NBCSCH will continue to air the remainder of the 2024 Sox season.

Launching a regional network is a common trend in professional sports, with more than 30 teams from the New York Yankees to the Portland Trail Blazers starting their own standalone broadcast companies over the past two decades. Some attempts have been more successful than others: The then-Charlotte Bobcats gave up after a year, the Kansas City Royals never debuted their proposed network and the Houston Rockets have floundered through several rocky trials.

The success of a franchise-affiliated regional network fluctuates depending upon market, accessibility and team success. The concept isn’t new in Chicago, where the Cubs serve as the cornerstone of Marquee Sports Network with additional broadcast offerings for the Sky, Red Stars and regional programming such as the Chicago Hounds rugby team and local college and high school games.

CHSN would differ from Marquee in one key feature: over-the-air (OTA) accessibility.

Viewers can access OTA broadcasts via a satellite antenna, eliminating the need for a cable or streaming subscription. A Bulls source confirmed to the Tribune that all games on CHSN, including Hawks and Sox games, would be available for free OTA.

Tribune reporter Phil Thompson contributed.