🏀 Exclusive First Look At ‘The Syd And TP Show,’ Which Aims To Change Who Gets Tell WNBA Stories 🏀

🏀 Exclusive First Look At ‘The Syd And TP Show,’ Which Aims To Change Who Gets Tell WNBA Stories 🏀
For Sydney Colson, acting has always been a passion, and a planned destination after her playing career, more than a decade long and including a 2022 WNBA championship, comes to a close. Theresa Plaisance, meanwhile, never considered the screen, large or small, and had a healthy fear of the idea.
But the two close friends and teammates on the 2022 Aces have joined forces for “The Syd and TP Show”, an unscripted comedy program set to launch on Monday and in the process, change the paradigm of who gets to tell stories while elevated by their performances in women’s sports.
“It was initially going to be a podcast series just about my life in the WNBA,” Colson said. “Like my trajectory, staying in the league, as long as I have without really being a high-minute player, talking about my passion for comedy and wanting to act after basketball, just like a lot of things, family, stuff like that. And so it was going to be an inside look to my life for listeners who didn't like know my story.
“But when TP and I became teammates, we clicked immediately and it was just like a kindred spirit kind of thing. And we bonded. And I told Gina [Paradiso], my agent, ‘Hey, I think I have a teammate who I might be able to do something with. I think it might be even more fun than my podcast.”
The two longtime basketball players nod to this unlikely pairing in the trailer, with the two of them asking what it will take to make them both the “faces of the league”. The response? Laughter.
Since launch, TOGETHXR has aimed to celebrate, and mandate, inclusion and representation,” Robertson said. “We’re thrilled to be able to tell such a powerful - and funny! - story with the Syd and TP Show. The Syd and TP Show is a first-of-its-kind in most every way. It was incredibly important for us to create this show with a predominantly queer and Black cast and team. Additionally, the Syd and TP Show is another example of the growing attention devoted to women’s sports, the incredible personalities and commercial value, and how TOGETHXR is spotlighting their untold stories.”
It is, in fact, beside the point that these two people play basketball for a living. Colson stressed that those looking for hoops highlights should search elsewhere. Besides, they have such a place to go: Colson and the Las Vegas Aces are actively engaged in defending their 2022 title in the WNBA playoffs, already underway.
“We do some man on the street interviews, some improv, have some cool guests,” Colson said. “That’s pretty much what you see. You’re not going to see us playing basketball, though.”
Plaisance, meanwhile, was unsigned in 2023, and spent the summer not playing in the WNBA, though she plans to return to the domestic winter league, Athletes Unlimited, as does Colson. So this helped fill the time for Plaisance, who has been a vital role player in the WNBA as a 6’5 stretch five for many years.
“She stayed in my ear, it was a constant irritation, almost like just a constant ringing in your ear,” Plaisance said of Colson with her trademark deadpan. “Like: ‘T, you're so funny. We could do a TV show, don't you think? I was like, ‘Oh, no, I don't know if TVs for me’. ‘No, come on. Just think about it, T.’ Then, like the next day: ‘Hey, did you think about the TV show?’ It was just kind of constant. Until the day it actually became a real thing.”
See an exclusive first look at “The Syd and TP Show” right here, which will air tonight at 9:00 pm ET on Maximum Effort Channel, a partnership between Fubo and Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort:
Despite her initial reservations, Plaisance described the experience as “some of the best times of my life”, something both Colson and Plaisance believe is reflected in the show itself.
For a league that so often fights for the spotlight on even its most accomplished players, yet features remarkable human stories, and entertainers, up and down its rosters, this represents an opportunity to showcase just how much fun people can have by experiencing these moments up close, and that there’s an audience for it as well. And if that redirects viewers who don’t know Colson and Plaisance from their basketball success? They won’t mind that, either.