Lakers News: Jeanie Buss Talks Upcoming Netflix Series, Women's Wrestling League
Los Angeles Lakers team owner Jeanie Buss's very quotable press tour continues apace! She has a lot of new projects to boost, including her new Hulu docuseries with Antoine Fuqua that details the 11 titles L.A. has won under the stewardship of the Buss family, “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers.” The show's fifth episode will premiere this Monday on the streaming platform. But that's not all.
She sat down for a fresh conversation with Andrew Wallenstein on Variety's Strictly Business podcast.
Check out Buss's thoughts on the show "Legacy" and the, uh, legacy of her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, who bought the club in 1979 and instantly won a title:
“It was important to me to tell my dad’s story to a generation now that many have heard his name, but didn’t really know what he did that made it so special."
She has is developing a new scripted Netflix comedy series with Mindy Kaling that Wallenstein describes as a "thinly veiled fictional version of her life as a team owner," which sounds... sort of like a next-generation version of "Winning Time," the hit HBO show about her dad's tenure with the Lakers that, as we all know, is certainly a bit fictionalized. Addressing the development process for the sitcom, Buss seems to be pulling no punches (or so she says):
“I’ve shared a lot of information with her, things that have happened that a writer couldn’t dream up.”
In addition, thanks to a new deal with Paramount, Buss is set to premiere a syndicated all-female wrestling league, "WOW: Women of Wrestling". Originally founded in 2000, Buss brought the league in 2011. This latest incarnation should be the most visible yet. One wonders if the success of Netflix's critically-acclaimed series "GLOW," a fictionalized dramedy about the 1980s women's wrestling league Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, played a part in Buss's interest to push the project forward now.
“Now we finally have the right partner, that will give us the exposure that we so desperately needed to show that women can draw ratings, that women can be the center stage.”
Though of course we at All Lakers have been screening the "Legacy" series religiously, we must concede that we're almost as intrigued by the prospect of this new wrestling league. It could be a great opportunity for Buss to expand her empire, and shine a spotlight on some fun female-centric sports-adjacent narratives. "WOW" premieres on September 17th.
