Showtime’s ‘McEnroe’ Doc Is an Intimate, Candid Exploration of the Tennis Legend
Fall Preview
You cannot be serious! Legendary tennis player John McEnroe, known for his emotional volatility as much as for his staggering on-court greatness, is stepping into the spotlight once again.
This Showtime documentary from director Barney Douglas is an intimate, candid exploration of McEnroe as revealed by the man himself as he walks the New York City streets at night. Featuring home videos and previously unseen footage from his epic matches at the US Open and Wimbledon, McEnroe is a journey into the heart and soul of an athlete whose quest for perfection took him to some very dark places.
“Thirty-seven psychologists and psychiatrists didn’t help,” McEnroe notes at one point in the doc, which sees him examine his memory to explore why a need for connection both drove him and nearly broke him. It also features contributions from his children and wife Patty Smyth, to take it beyond a sports biopic and instead into the realms of something deeply confessional, as well as icons such as Billie Jean King, Bjorn Borg, and Keith Richards.
“I was on such an unbelievable high,” McEnroe recalls of his time as the No. 1 player in the world. “Why does it not feel that amazing?”
McEnroe, Documentary Premiere, Sunday, September 4, 8/7c, Showtime
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s 2022 Fall Preview issue. For more first looks at fall’s new shows, pick up the issue, on newsstands now.
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