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April 22, 1999 Wuhl: Anything goes 
Sports agents may be parasites but parasites can have their value, said Robert Wuhl, producer and star of HBO's Arli$$ comedy series.
In a chat session with ESPN.com users as part of an Outside the Lines series on the changing world of agents, the creator of the popular Sunday night show touched on a range of topics while driving to work, talking on his cell phone, and checking the morning newspaper to see how his rotisserie league players fared the night before.
This man can multi-task, obviously. If you missed the April 22 chat session, here is an edited transcript:
Let's have fun.
Miles Davis: What can we expect in the upcoming season? Any new themes, characters?
Robert Wuhl: There might be a new character added. You'll see themes that deal with child athletes, health issues, the Christian Coalition, Arliss's ego (as usual), how far
owners will go to sign a client, Rita's falling in love with the wrong people, Kirby's
holding on to his ex-athlete celebrity status vis-a-vis his car wash. We're doing a
Marge Schott type of character, a Garth Brooks type of character -- an entertainer who tries out for a team, in other words.
Patchy: Do Jonathan Silverman and Beverly Johnson really play roto, as
they did in an Arli$$ episode?
Robert Wuhl: I don't know what Beverly and Jonathan do. Jonathan happens to be a terrific baseball
player, though -- he's in all these celebrity games. Beverly, I don't know. Beverly looks good in a dress.
Ben in Atlanta: After playing the role of a sports agent, do you have any more or less respect for the profession?
Robert Wuhl: More. You have to. Agents -- I have respect for anyone who does a job well, any
profession. An agent by nature is a parasitic profession because they take a
percentage of what a person makes. However, if he does a good job of selling his client and
deals well with the psyches of young, insecure people, I have great respect for him.
In real life, Michaels is Robert Wuhl, an actor any
self-respecting sports fan knows. Among the movies he
has appeared in are Bull Durham and Cobb. Bull
Durham, in fact, was in his introduction to a broad
audience, as he played a fast-talking assistant coach of the minor league baseball
team.
Arli$$, which returns for its third season on June 6, has been his most intensive role with sports yet. In it, as a producer and actor, he has been able to marry his
considerable knowledge of sports with a sarcastic wit that pokes fun at the
entertainment-driven, ego-obsessed, sport-as-business world of athletics.
D. Blair: How does a relationship start? Does the agent come to the athlete, or does the athlete come to the agent?
Robert Wuhl: I'm a fictional character! But ... I have never met an agent yet who admits he recruits. To hear the agent tell it, the athletes come to them by referrals. You believe that if you will.
Miles Davis: Has there ever been a plot line that the producers cancelled because it was just too risque, or too outlandish? Almost anything goes in the sports world, so I'd imagine it would be hard to come up with something that doesn't have any attachment to reality.
Robert Wuhl: No, there hasn't been. We've dealt with a lot of issues. We're dealing with religion, we're dealing with spousal abuse this year, cancer, too. We've dealt with abortion. That's the great thing about HBO -- I can take unpopular sides of issues.
Mark Adams: You have to hook me up with that fine secretary of yours on the show. Can you do that for me?
Robert Wuhl: Now would be a good time. She just broke up with her boyfriend. Arliss might have hooked you up but Robert cannot.
James: Of all the athletes that you have worked with on the set, who did you like to work with the most and who would you like to work with in the future?
Robert Wuhl: I loved working with Katarina Witt because I was in bed with her ... But Roger Clemens is always great. He's in our first show this year. Barry Bonds was good. Cheryl Miller was terrific. Billie Jean King was OK. Alexi Lalas was great. Picabo Street was good. Al Bernstein and Jim Lampley, too. Oscar de la Hoya. Tonya Harding will be on the first show.
Kenny Mayne is a very funny man. I'd love to have him on.
Arli$$Faithful: Robert, how much fun is it to play a sports agent?
Robert Wuhl: It's a great deal of fun. What's fun is the amount of creative freedom I have. It's not TV -- it's HBO. There are no advertisers, so I can piss off anybody. I don't have to worry about language, nudity, etc. It's like doing an independent film each week. There are very few restrictions.
Chad Langworthy: I know you are a huge baseball fan, as I have seen you at a Twins game in Minnesota. Anyone who is seen at the Metrodome must be a huge fan. Could you tell me who your baseball idols were growing up and what teams you follow now. Also, are there really words to the song "Laurence of Arabia".
Robert Wuhl: There are no words to the song.
Growing up, I was a Yankee fan, and a huge Roger Maris fan. Loved the Orioles and Frank Robinson, who was the most underrated player in history. Loved (Harmon) Killebrew.
Moderator: And the players on your rotisserie team.
Robert Wuhl: Yes. Of course.
Mark in Dallas: What was your favorite episode, and why?
Robert Wuhl: Good question. I have a few favorites. From the first year, there was a Mickey Mantle-esque character who was an alcoholic and an idol of mine. I tried to get him work and sold his sperm on the home shopping channel. I liked the rotisserie episode a lot, too.
From the second year, I liked the one in which Rita had an affair with a golf pro. I
also liked the steroid episode a lot. I liked the affair with the player's wife; I liked
the one when Rita became an agent. I liked the one about the scab ballplayer who comes to have me represent him.
This year, I very much like the first episode a lot. It's called "Cause and Effect" and includes Roger Clemens, Keith Olbermann, George Steinbrenner, Tonya Harding and Cheryl Miller. I don't want to give away too many of the details, though.
Workday: What is your personal opinion on the greed of today's athletes.
Robert Wuhl: It's no different than the greed of anywhere else. It's like two people who are offered two jobs, with the money being vastly different ... they probably would do the same thing. And some athletes don't always take the most money. Ken Caminiti took less money, Maddux took less money to stay in Atlanta. It's not a blanket thing.
Rod: OK, Here goes! Prize fight, Main Event: Arli$$ Vs. Jerry Maguire! Who wins and in what round?
Robert Wuhl: They're two fictional characters. He's gets the girl, I get laughs.
Rod: Robert, you seem to have a natural proclivity for playing sports-oriented roles. Are you a frustrated former athlete, or are you just a sports nut?
Robert Wuhl: I played some ... mostly intramurals. But I like sports, especially baseball. And I enjoy athletes. It's a great skill, a great competitiveness, they have.
For Bull Durham, it was strictly an audition with (director) Ron Shelton. Then he wrote the character for me in Cobb. Arli$$, I've written myself. I guess sports is something I know about.
Workday: Who was the biggest problem getting on your show?
Robert Wuhl: There are certainly people I'd love to have on the show ... Michael Jordan, Martina Navratilova and Muhammad Ali. But it has a lot to do with availability.
Thanks for the questions. Have a good day.
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