Arli$$

Arliss (rendered in its logo as Arli$$) is an American cult-classic dark comedy series, created by and starring Robert Wuhl (who was also the series' showrunner), about the glitzy, big-money world of professional sports, with Wuhl playing the eternally optimistic and endlessly resourceful L.A. sports agent Arliss Michaels, whose Achilles' heel is his inability to say "no" to clients and employees. Arli$$ ran for seven seasons and 80 episodes on HBO, from August 10, 1996 to September 8, 2002. After almost two decades of being off-air, the entire catalog of Arli$$ episodes returned to HBO Max in a streaming format in September 2018.

The New York Times called the show "One of the freshest shows to come along in a while."[1] It was well-known for taking on very controversial (at the time) topics, including domestic abuse, steroid use, Alzheimer’s disease, gay and transgender athletes, alcoholism, and unwanted athlete pregnancies.

The idea behind Arli$$ was to show the hype, greed, and hypocrisy of powerful sports agents like Arliss Michaels, and what really happens "behind the scenes" in professional sports. Wuhl has claimed the idea for Arli$$ was based on the book The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump and journalist Tony Schwartz.

During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Wuhl said "I had read The Art of the Deal and I thought, 'This is total, 100 percent bullshit. He's saying stuff that I don't believe a fuckin' word of it. He's telling you what happened, but I want to see what really happened.' We can use this, as Arliss the sports agent, telling you what happens and then prove he's full of shit and show what really happened..."[2]

Arli$$ is known for showcasing a dizzying array of professional sports, ranging from football to figure skating to even chess, with an insider’s satirical eye, and for its over 400 celebrity cameo appearances, including Al Michaels, John Elway, Derek Jeter, Dan Marino, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Bob Costas, Jimmy Johnson, Picabo Street, Katarina Witt, Barry Bonds, and many more.