The BEST episodes of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

#1 - The Lords of the Rings

Season 22 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/26/2016

A special 90-minute episode dedicated to investigating the International Olympic Committee on the eve of the 2016 Rio Summer Games.

#2 - The Guru / The Third Man / Coming to America

Season 22 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/25/2016

A chat with Bikram Yoga creator Bikram Choudhury. A report on former Australian runner Peter Norman, who appeared in the black power salute photo from the 1968 Olympics. And a report on African refugees playing high-school soccer in Lewiston, Maine.

#3 - Episode 1

Season 24 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/30/2018

Segments include a visit with the St. Brown family, a football version of basketball's Ball family; an interview with former tennis star Margaret Court; and a look at the economic woes of athletes in low profile sports in the Olympics.

#4 - Episode 3

Season 24 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/27/2018

Segments include an interview with Shaquille O'Neal and his second career as a businessman; a meeting with Amy Van Dyken, a former swimmer paralyzed from the waist down following an ATV accident; a chat with drag racer John Force; and revisiting a report on foul-ball injuries in baseball.

#5 - Episode 4

Season 24 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/24/2018

Former All-Star Derek Jeter opens up about his second act as Miami Marlins CEO. Plus, John Frankel looks at the shocking rates of student-athlete abuse by NCAA coaches, and Mary Carillo meets Nebraska's top-ranked women’s bowling team.

#6 - Episode 5

Season 24 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/22/2018

#7 - Episode 6

Season 24 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/19/2018

#8 - Episode 7

Season 24 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/24/2018

#9 - Episode 8

Season 24 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/21/2018

#10 - Episode 9

Season 24 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/25/2018

Retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. begins his second act as an analyst for NBC; one-armed golfer Tommy Morrissey dominates the youth circuit; the rise and influence of strength and conditioning coaches in college football.

#11 - Episode 10

Season 24 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/23/2018

The police shooting of a teen football player; a philanthropist's mission to restore the U.S. to chess glory; an update on former NFL player Jon Dorenbos.

#12 - Episode 11

Season 24 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/2018

The International Army Games pits nations against each other in high-tech combat munitions and maneuvering; the declining participation rates for youth sports in the United States; Golden State Warriors President and COO Rick Welts.

#13 - Episode 4

Season 25 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/23/2019

Examining the deal Michigan officials made to help build Detroit's new arena despite facing an $18 billion bankruptcy; extreme sports cameramen; Cambridge vs. Oxford wine-tasting challenge; AR-15 rifle update.

#14 - Episode 6

Season 25 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/25/2019

Real Sports explores the fast growing and controversial sports media brand Barstool Sports, profiles basketball Hall-of-famer Don Nelson, and tells the remarkable story of a surfer who survived a shark attack and returned to the sport.

#15 - November 2021

Season 27 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/2021

More than a thousand athletes at the Univ. of Michigan have accused a former doctor of decades of sexual assault; Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire now leads a devout Jewish life; Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has built over two dozen skateparks to battle Montana’s high suicide rate; Wrongfully imprisoned Rams coach Marcus Dixon almost never found his NFL dream.

#16 - Episode 2

Season 24 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/28/2018

An updated look at the program's award-winning 2004 expose on the enslavement of trafficked children as jockeys in the Middle Eastern sport of camel racing. Also: a report on concussions in pro hockey; and an interview with NBA analyst Doris Burke.

#17 - Episode 1

Season 25 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/29/2019

Bernard Goldberg explores football’s shifting demographics in towns across America, Jon Frankel profiles ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, and Soledad O’Brien speaks with the creator of some of the world’s most advanced prosthetics.

#18 - Episode 12

Season 24 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/18/2018

A look at the most significant stories from 2018; the Sherpas of Mount Everest; the NHL concussion crisis; college football conditioning coaches; profiles of Doris Burke, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Margaret Court.

#19 - One Last Shot/March Myth/Curveball

Season 23 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/21/2017

Texas Rangers reliever Matt Bush opens up about what it's like to be called MLB's biggest draft bust. Plus, Real Sports sits down with Juan Dixon, the star of Maryland's 2002 NCAA basketball title team, to learn that Dixon's storybook tale of overcoming daunting odds wasn't what it seemed.

#20 - Death on Everest / Hooked / Wonder Woman

Season 21 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/24/2015

Segments include a look at the natural and man-made dangers of climbing Mount Everest; and a report on former athletes addicted to heroin as an alternative to pain medication; a profile of Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy.

#21 - Captain Comeback / Man in the Middle / Big League Chew

Season 21 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/21/2015

Segments include profiles of quarterback Russell Wilson and football coach Jim Harbaugh and revisiting the topic of chewing tobacco in Major League Baseball.

#22 - The Game He Loved / Mind Games / The Hooper's Pass

Season 23 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/24/2017

Correspondent Jon Frankel revisits the story of Kevin Turner, a former NFL player who died in 2016 from ALS and whose brain is being studied for CTE. Plus, Bryant Gumbel explores why young star athletes in Chicago are no longer protected from the city's gun violence.

#23 - Man vs. Beast/Unbreakable/American Dream

Season 23 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/20/2017

Profile of American tennis prodigy Frances Tiafoe; the world of Spanish bullfighting; after losing his right leg in a farming accident, Jeff Glasbrenner continues to compete in sports; revisiting a teenager's campaign to resdiscover the Negro League.

#24 - 10-Year Agreement/Youth Sports Inc./Ball Hawk

Season 23 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/22/2017

Examining the NFL Players' Association and its leader, DeMaurice Smith; the new industry of travel sports tourism; profile of notorious sports fan Zack Hample, the infamous "ball hawk"; the Isle of Man hosts a dangerous sporting event.

#25 - Gurantee Games/Lewis Hamilton/McDonough Family

Season 23 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/26/2017

A profile of three-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton; exploring the consequences surrounding "guarantee games" in college sports; a profile of the McDonough family, which is rooted in the sports industry; revisiting obsessive runners.