Dustin Hoffman to star in HBO pilot 'Luck'

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... de0993a9f7

[fletch621]

Well, from reading that article it's obvious to me that anyone involved with horse racing that isn't already stereotyped as a criminal surely will be after people watch this show.

[tinners way]

There certainly could be some negatives, but as the old saying goes, publicity, good or bad, is still publicity. It just may encourage people to get off their butts and head to the track.

[Dave C]

The problem isn't that there aren't alot of criminals around the racetrack. For anyone who pay attention, one quickly realizes that a great many of the very wealthy horse owners around the track got that way through less than legal means, but we're talking 'white collar' criminals not the petty thugs and small time con artists that this show is portraying.

[zinn21]

The Press Release sound more like they are making a fantasy instead of a drama. Hoffman's character just released from prison and teams up with an ex chauffeur to "craft a complex plan involving the track."

Give me a break. I have never met any clever racetrack gamblers only destitute degenerate racetrack gamblers..

[tbrace]

Great. More bad images for racing. We should all be thrilled.

[AscotStud]

People in baseball didn't get into a rage about "Major League" " Bull Durham" "Angels in the Outfield" or that stupid movie about the kid who could throw a heaters after he broke his arm. Football wasn;t ruined by "The Last Boy Scout" " The Program" or "The Replacements". 99% of the people watching understand IT IS FICTION!!! And horse racing people should be happy that someone still cares enough about the sport to think an HBO show based around it is worthwhile. It can't be any worse than the crap fantasy that Animal Planet tried to put out with Jockeys, I would rather watch a show I know is fictional than trying to suspend my dispelief watching a supposed "reality" show with the storylines that Jockeys tried to build. BTW the writer of "Luck" is a pretty prominant owner.

[ireneinwa]

I bet it'll be a good show. Im sure I can catch it on the web since I dont have cable/sat.

Won't be any diffrent than shows about dirty cops, judges, or CEO's. Don't see problem w/ it affecting sport of racing.

[tbrace]

Ascot,
The reason your analogy doesn't work is that football and baseball don't live with the negative stereotypes that horse racing does.

So, when people see a show that suggests racing is run by crooks, or mistreats horses, or that betting is fixed, etc., it confirms for them what they have already "heard" about racing.

I hope the show is fun and it probably will be. I just hope it doesn't tell potential new fans that horse racing is a tainted, and that regular people can't participate and have a fair and enjoyable time doing it.