This was completely unsolicitated from my son, Matt.

One of our traditions in August is watching Hard Knocks on HBO. Now that Matt is back from a summer at camp, I asked if he had caught up with last week’s first episode and was looking forward to tonight’s show.

“Yeah, I watched it,” he said. “I’m not really into it. Didn’t we just see them? Why couldn’t they get someone like the 49ers?”

Matt actually saw them in 2009. Since the lockout knocked out Hard Knocks in 2011, it marks the second time Cincinnati has been featured in the last four runs for the series.

I wonder if more viewers feel like Matt.

Do we need to spend another summer up close and personal with Marvin Lewis? Does Cincinnati have any players you want to get to know better? Hey, who knew Andy Dalton is into Pilates?

As mentioned earlier, I can’t imagine the Bengals were NFL Films’ first choice to do an encore performance. And my concern is: Were they the league’s only choice?

In a story at MMQB.com, Richard Deitsch went behind the scenes on the massive undertaking that is Hard Knocks. Even though the crew tries to remain invisible, it is an impossible task. Just too many people and cameras.

It’s little wonder why NFL teams pass.

Deitsch had this telling passage:

HBO executives expect the show to continue for some time—they privately crow that they own the NFL’s best program—and teams have said publicly they believe it can help the business of their franchises. NFL Films recently signed a multiyear contract extension with HBO to continue making the series.

“It would depend on the state of my franchise and where we are,” Tomlinson says of whether participating is a good idea for a team. “It certainly can help you build a fanbase and sell tickets, because people get drawn into it and get interested in the storylines. If I owned a team that needed star power and needed to sell tickets, I would absolutely do it. But a franchise like, say, the New England Patriots? They don’t need Hard Knocks.”

Hard Knocks, though, needs teams like the Patriots to sign on. It needs some star power.

No offense to the Bengals, but I have to admit I wasn’t excited going into last week’s opening episode. I did have a sense of been-there, done-that.

As usual, I got sucked in by the behind-the-scenes nature of the show. The end was dramatic with that rookie getting hurt.

I’ll watch tonight and through the end of this year’s series. Hard Knocks is a superb production.

But I’m not as optimistic about the future of the Hard Knocks franchise. I imagine there will be some serious arm-twisting of owners and coaches when it comes time to select a team for Hard Knocks in 2014.

The Bengals won’t be an option.