When Lewis Black went off at the Emmys a couple of years ago about TV becoming obnoxious with the amount of information splayed on the screen, he hit the nail right on the head. Sad to say, things have not gotten better since that rant. In fact, they're worse. I don't know what's worse, the annoying pop-up ads on the television screen or the annoying pop-up ads on the computer screen. At least in the case of the latter, it's the equivalent of a commercial and -- somewhat -- understandable.
But when you're watching a television show and have to ignore the bug in the corner, then be subjected to a variety of pop-up promotions and reminders for shows you may or may not be interested in watching it's enough to make you turn off the set. I'd say it's enough to make you switch channels, but where can you go to avoid the intrusion? PBS?
Things are not going well for Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis. He's in the midst of a rough season, not likely to make a bowl game, and rumors are rampant that he will be fired after a five-year-term that has not brought the university a national championship. The number one name on the lips of everyone to replace Weis is ESPN analyst, and Super Bowl-winning head coach, Jon Gruden. However, this morning ESPN locked up Gruden with an extension on his current contract which expands his responsibilities as an ESPN talking head.
In addition to sticking with the ESPN Monday Night Football color commentary role -- in which he's pretty much been Mr. Enthusiasm -- Gruden will be working the NFL Draft, the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl week, and on radio the Rose Bowl and the BCS game. Basically, if Gruden is talking football, he's doing it on ESPN air.
We don't usually have open threads about sporting events here at TV Squad, but last night was the big finale of the 2009 World Series of Pokeron ESPN, and I wanted to post this for two reasons. One, to find out what you thought of the exciting battle between logger Darvin Moon and 21 year-old Joe Cada, and two to find out how many people are actually still interested in watching poker on television.
Poker was massive on TV a few years ago, but is it still?
I'm writing you because I read in Dan LeBatard's column today that you've had a horrible week since your slip-up on national television last weekend. You know, that comment about a taco and NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya during the ESPN football broadcast you were calling? It was definitely a bad joke and some people have gone so far as to suggest that you're a racist for having said it.
I don't think you're a racist based on this incident. Neither does LeBatard. I think you're not a very funny person. You were a great quarterback. You've been an excellent analyst of college football. But you're no Shecky Greene when it comes to off-the-cuff guffaws.
During the broadcast of the Minnesota vs. Ohio State college football game last weekend, ESPN analyst Bob Griese put his foot in his mouth. While promoting an upcoming NASCAR event, a graphic was shown listing the drivers.
When Griese's fellow broadcast Chris Spielman questioned why NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya wasn't on the list, Griese replied that he was "out having a taco."
Oops! ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz has announced that Bob Griese has been suspended for a week. Griese has apologized for the ill-attempt at humor. Krulewitz revealed that ESPN had spoken to Griese and "he understands the comment was inappropriate."
I'm starting to wonder if TV and movie stars playing poker is more than just an interesting trend. Maybe it's a requirement.
Jason Alexander recently popped up on my TV, not in a Seinfeld rerun or his recent appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm but in the most recent World Series of Poker. And it didn't look as though he was there playing with his own money. He appeared to have his own sponsor and everything.
Here is ESPN's coverage of Alexander's elimination from the tournament. Watch for the fan at the end who accidentally calls him George. It's cringe-tastic.
Happy Valentine's Day, ESPN! Did you hear the news about one of the smartest guys in Major League Baseball ever? Bobby Valentine is joining ESPN's Baseball Tonight as an analyst. How do I know that Bobby's so smart? He told me so. Me and every other sports fan in the New York metropolitan area when he was there as the New York Mets manager.
Seriously, though, Bobby V. is a very, very savvy baseball man. He was a player, a coach and a manager. He was the Mets manager during their last foray into the World Series. Remember the Subway Series, Yankees vs. Mets?
Today marks 30 years since the premiere of ESPN. Happy birthday, ESPN! Hard to believe there was actually a time when there wasn't a cable channel devoted completely to sports. In fact, the idea of a cable network that just covered sports was considered as ridiculous as one that only reported the news. Don't even get me started on the radical notion of an all-food channel or one that specialized in weather!
Yes, once upon a time, all those concepts were deemed losers. Back in 1979, if you wanted to know the score of a game in progress, you had to hope it was playing on the radio or TV to tune in. Or, more often than not, wait till the local news broadcast at six o'clock for the score. How did we ever get by?
I was really disappointed when it was announced last year that USA Network would no longer be the network for The U.S. Open. ESPN (actually, ESPN2, to be specific) has the rights to the U.S. Open and the other three Grand Slam tournaments. It scared me a little though. Would their coverage be as well done and entertaining as USA's?
As I wrote last year, I'm really disappointed to see that USA Network won't be covering the US Open anymore (I guess tennis players are some of the characters that aren't welcome there).
Last year was their last year and ESPN takes over next Monday (they now have the rights to all four of the Grand Slam tournaments). While ESPN does a fine job with most of the sports they cover, the USA coverage was one of my favorite two weeks of the year, something I really looked forward to every August. I liked the announcers, I liked the direction and the production, and I liked their all-day and all-night schedule.
I have no reason to think that ESPN will ruin the Open, but there is one thing that worries me a little bit.
If you like sports talk in the afternoon and get bored with the countless reruns of breaking news on ESPN's myriad channels, here's some good news. Dan Patrick is back on the air. In daytime, that is, and not on the worldwide leader in sports. Dan Patrick's radio show began simulcasting on DirecTV this week, bringing the entire DP team and their studio into view.
Broadcasting a radio show on TV is not new, of course. Don Imus did it for years on MSNBC until he put his foot so far in his mouth that he was kicked off the network. And Mike Francesca has a daily radio talk show airing on the Yes network. The idea of watching someone with a microphone in his face and earphones on is not radical.
It becomes extraordinarily tough to do reports during the cable sessions, mainly because the various networks give you one session after another without much time to breathe. You're also shuttling back and forth between two ballrooms. Finally, if you happen to be lucky enough to get some one-on-one time with a few people (as I did with Joan Rivers and the guys behind the new BBC America show The InBetweeners)... well, it leads to posts that don't go live until nighttime on the East Coast.
Heck, I haven't even written about last night's AMC cocktail party and the comic stylings of Jon Hamm yet. That'll come when I get a chance. The latest info and quips will always be on our Twitter feed if you're curious.
Unless you're a National Football League fan like me, the idea of watching hours and hours of college players being selected one by one to potentially play for a team, is as boring as watching someone in fishing for bass. Well, it turns out there's an audience for both! No seriously, when ESPN began covering the NFL Draft in 1980, the network could have never anticipated that it would grow into a ratings draw.
Now, the draft has been supersized. In 2010, the NFL Draft will be three days long and in mostly in primetime. The 75th annual National Football League Draft will commence on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 - 11 p.m.. That'll just cover round one. Rounds two and three continue on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 - 11 p.m., with the final four rounds dominating daytime on Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to whenever it's over.
I wouldn't say that we here at TV Squad have been purposefully silent about this Erin Andrews peephole mishegas; there's just been more interesting stuff going on. It seemed like a small, albeit creepy, story on the surface: popular sideline reporter and object of the blogosphere's affection gets shot naked in her hotel room through a peephole.
Without a doubt, it's a depressing story, both for Andrews, whose privacy was violated on many levels, and for the sports blogosphere, who have to endure yet another accusation that their frat boy shenanigans helped foster this kind of behavior. But it was still a small story. That was, of course, until The New York Post decided to make the oh-so-classy move of publishing stills of the video in print and on their website.
The thought of having to sit through another cable network awards show makes my Golden Globes shrivel.
It's nothing but a million-dollar idea for getting some useless ink in what's left of the local papers and making a quick buck off the cell texting charges by getting people to vote for awards that mean nothing. It's the television equivalent of the participation medals you got in elementary school for not dying during the mile run.
Thanks to Samuel L. Jackson's work as the host of the recent ESPY Awards, I will sit through whatever awards show he hosts from now on. I don't care if the National Sewage Treatment Board of America hires him to host their annual "Sewey" awards.
When Lewis Black went off at the Emmys a couple of years ago about TV becoming obnoxious with the amount of information splayed on the screen, he hit the nail right on the head. Sad to say, things have not gotten better since that rant. In fact, they're worse. I don't know what's worse, the annoying pop-up ads on the television screen or the annoying pop-up ads on the computer screen. At least in the case of the latter, it's the equivalent of a commercial and -- somewhat -- understandable. 
Things are not going well for Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis. He's in the midst of a rough season, not likely to make a bowl game, and rumors are rampant that he will be fired after a five-year-term that has not brought the university a national championship. The number one name on the lips of everyone to replace Weis is ESPN analyst, and Super Bowl-winning head coach, Jon Gruden. However, this morning 
We don't usually have open threads about sporting events here at TV Squad, but last night was the big finale of the 
Dear Bob,
During the broadcast of the Minnesota vs. Ohio State college football game last weekend, ESPN analyst Bob Griese put his foot in his mouth. While promoting an upcoming NASCAR event, a graphic was shown listing the drivers. 
Happy Valentine's Day, ESPN! Did you hear the news about one of the smartest guys in Major League Baseball ever? 
Today marks 
I was really disappointed when it was announced last year that USA Network would no longer be the network for The U.S. Open. ESPN (actually, ESPN2, to be specific) has the rights to the U.S. Open and the other three Grand Slam tournaments. It scared me a little though. Would their coverage be as well done and entertaining as USA's?
As I wrote last year, I'm really disappointed to see that USA Network won't be covering the 
It becomes extraordinarily tough to do reports during the cable sessions, mainly because the various networks give you one session after another without much time to breathe. You're also shuttling back and forth between two ballrooms. Finally, if you happen to be lucky enough to get some one-on-one time with a few people (as I did with Joan Rivers and the guys behind the new BBC America show The InBetweeners)... well, it leads to posts that don't go live until nighttime on the East Coast. 
Unless you're a National Football League fan like me, the idea of watching hours and hours of college players being selected one by one to potentially play for a team, is as boring as watching someone in fishing for bass. Well, it turns out there's an audience for both! No seriously, when ESPN began covering the NFL Draft in 1980, the network could have never anticipated that it would grow into a ratings draw.
I wouldn't say that we here at TV Squad have been purposefully silent about this 
The thought of having to sit through another cable network awards show makes my Golden Globes shrivel. 
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
