You don't usually see Stephen Colbert talking about sports. He even addresses that a little bit in this clip from last night's show, where he talks about the winner of the New York City marathon and Olympic speedskating.
This show remains one of the funniest shows on television.
[Watch clips and episodes of The Colbert Report and other shows at SlashControl.]
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What You Missed Last Night: Stephen Colbert does ... the sports?
ESPN's Bob Griese suspended for faux pas
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."
Continue reading ESPN's Bob Griese suspended for faux pas
The League -- An early look
Fantasy football is a tricky thing. You either love it or you hate it and that largely depends on whether you're good or bad at it. For the most part, the same can be said about FX's newest comedy The League. When it's good, it is good, but when it's bad... well, you get the picture.
The show, which premieres tomorrow night, Thursday 10/29, at 10:30 p.m. after It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is FX's first solid attempt to produce a lasting companion piece to Sunny and, given some of its predecessors (like Starved or Testees), it'd be easy to write The League off. But, like a two-minute drill that gradually picks up steam, The League might actually go... all... the... way.
OK -- no more football metaphors.
Continue reading The League -- An early look
Was the idea for Shaq Vs. stolen?
Tonight is the series premiere of ABC's new celebrity reality competition whatever show, Shaq Vs. But if one guy gets his way, you won't see it.Author Todd Gallagher says the idea for the show was stolen from his book Andy Roddick Beat Me With A Frying Pan. That's not an accusation of assault against the tennis star, the book was about Gallagher challenging people to sporting competitions if they gave him an advantage in some way. Roddick used a frying pan. I haven't read the book but I would love to see him play golf against Tiger Woods, with Woods having to use a giant ladle.
He says that William Morris Endeavor wanted to turn his book into a TV series last year but then went ahead and did it anyway, changing the name to Shaq Vs. Since the show airs in 30 minutes, I'd say he won't be able to stop it, at least this week.
Dan Patrick taking his radio show to DIRECTV
Dan Patrick is taking his radio talk show to TV. Unlike his former ESPN comrade Keith Olbermann, Patrick will thankfully be sticking to sports.Beginning Monday, August 3rd, The Dan Patrick Show will air weekday mornings from 9 AM to noon ET/PT on DIRECTV's 101 Network.
According to the network, the show will boast "an unpredictable, anything-can-happen format that will use Patrick's trademark humor and interaction with his production staff to create a unique blend of situational comedy and sports radio commentary."
In other words, he's just going to stick a camera in front of his radio show. And, considering that show is nationally syndicated across the U.S. and Canada -- including Sirius and XM satellite radio -- you can't blame him for staying with what works.
Continue reading Dan Patrick taking his radio show to DIRECTV
Anderson Cooper knows nothing about sports
This is not a political post. Let me repeat that: this is not a political post. I just thought that Anderson Cooper was pretty funny in this clip from his show, trying to get information from Sarah Palin's spokesperson. She's a bit confusing and spokesperson-ish though, and at one point Cooper really does scratch his head.
Why did I waste an hour watching The Superstars last night? - open thread
It could have been worse. It was a 90-minute premiere.There was a time when I would have watched a show like this, in the 70s or maybe the 80s, when real celebrities would be involved instead of reality show stars. They were fun shows. I watched the first 60 minutes of The Superstars and then sort of snapped out of it, thinking, why am I watching this? Nothing really happened, and I decided I wouldn't care at all if anything did happen. Who cares if Jennifer Capriati loses a bike race?
Wipeout is mindless entertainment. The Superstars is stupid entertainment.
Here's a preview of tonight's premiere of The Superstars
ABC had an earlier version of The Superstars, many years ago, and if I remember correctly the celebrities they had were actually stars. Tonight's celeb list includes David Charvet, Estella Warren, Dan Cortese, and Julio Iglesias (Junior). But at least the athletes are pretty well known. Skier Bode Miller and tennis player Jennifer Capriati should be interesting to watch, and Terrell Owens is there for some reality competition show drama.
Will ESPN enter the late night talk show game?
This is an interesting notion -- ESPN is looking to launch a late night TV show. The sports network has reportedly approached three prominent sports journalists to anchor the show, but not one of them has shown any interest. The names are Dan LeBatard, Miami Herald columnist and local sports radio host; Colin Cowherd, ESPN national radio voice; and Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star sports writer. While I believe that ESPN has real interest in a late night sports show -- maybe a talk format about sports and entertainment -- I have real questions about the validity of the names floated in this report, especially with regard to Whitlock.
Jason was once a regular fill-in on Pardon The Interruption. He is very smart and funny and opinionated. Apparently he was too opinionated for some at the Disney-owned network. When he refused to pull his punches in his criticism, he was dropped by ESPN. Are we to think that now ESPN has asked him to not only come back, but possibly host a show for them?
Continue reading Will ESPN enter the late night talk show game?
Five favorite George Carlin HBO routines - VIDEOS
When I posted about George Carlin's death early Monday morning, I made a couple of mistakes, mainly due to a combination of shock and tiredness:1) I said that Carlin "passed away." Anyone who's listened to Carlin's comedy knows that he hated euphemisms like "he passed away." So, let me correct things right now: George didn't pass away or leave this earth. He died.
2) I really didn't convey how ingenious his comedy was. His observations of even the smallest of human foibles and his examinations of how we use the English language were always among the funniest routines he would do, even funnier than the ones about politics or religion or anything else that happened to chap his ass that year.
I knew about Carlin mostly through his albums, because I didn't have HBO (Occupation: Foole was the first Carlin album I ever heard, and I still think it's the best). But, thanks to HBO and YouTube, I can give you -- in no particular order -- my five favorite Carlin routines ... well, at least the ones that aired on TV:
Continue reading Five favorite George Carlin HBO routines - VIDEOS
Things I Hate About TV: Sunday sports running over into primetime
Let me start this rant by saying that I like sports. No, I love sports. I'm a fan. I get the DirecTV NBA package and the major league baseball games. I can talk to you for hours about stats and players and great games. That said, I hate the way Sunday sports programming drifts over into primetime. This happens primarily on CBS and Fox with the NFL games in the fall and winter, but the other networks have been guilty of staying with the game and then still insisting on showing the primetime schedule after the game is over -- even if that means that an 8 o'clock show begins at 8:45 and your DVR gets all screwed up and you wind up with only 15 minutes of a show you wanted to see!Continue reading Things I Hate About TV: Sunday sports running over into primetime
Study: Women are heavier PVR users than men
According to a new study (PDF link), women are more likely to stream TV shows from network web sites than men, and they're more likely to time-shift their TV viewing with a personal video recorder. While both of these activities may seem like the geeky domain of guys with thick glasses, there's a pretty simple explanation. Men are more likely to watch sports, which is far more time sensitive than most other programs. If you took any group of folks and divided them up into heavy sports viewers and people who watch, well, pretty much anything else, you'd probably find that group B spends more time with the PVR too.The study from Solutions Research Group found that 15% of women watched a streaming network TV program last month, while just 11% of men did. And women time-shift about 56% of their television viewing, compared to 42% for men.
The study also looks at other digital lifestyle activities like video game usage, online shopping, and downloading movies from the internet.
[via CNet]
Joost to offer live streaming March Madness
Personal video recorders are changing the way people watch scripted television shows and movies. But for the most part people like to watch sports and other live events, well live. The odds of taping Lost and then walking down the street the next morning only to have the plot spoiled by a front page newspaper story are fairly slim. But that's exactly what happens if you record last night's basketball game with plans to save it until the weekend.
So while video on demand is absolutely the right business model for most online video, the ability to provide live streams of some content seems crucial. Now let's see how many people actually turn to Joost instead of, you know, a television set for their March Madness coverage.
[via NewTeeVee]
The Alternative With Jay Mohr hits FoxSports site this month
Jay Mohr, comedian and sports fan, will be providing twenty-minute video segments for FoxSports.com this month. The series, called The Alternative With Jay Mohr, will mix remote segments, monologues and comedic sketches. Mohr will also pen a weekly column for the sports site.
Sports fans shouldn't be too surprised to see Mohr in this capacity. The comedian/actor, who currently appears on CBS' Ghost Whisperer, hasn't exactly hidden his love of sports, having appeared as a guest host on Jim Rome's Sirius Satellite Radio program, not to mention frequent appearances on The Best Damn Sports Show Period and NFL Sunday Morning.
Continue reading The Alternative With Jay Mohr hits FoxSports site this month
Ski Channel to launch next year
Yes, for everyone who has been waiting for a network devoted to nothing but skiiing (I'm one to talk; if I had The Tennis Channel I'd watch it 24/7), this is your lucky day. Or, to be more exact, some day in 2008 will be your lucky day.
That's when The Ski Channel launches. It's a new network devoted to, um, skiiing. I can't tell if it's going to be a regular network or something else, because it is described as a "network with distribution on video-on-demand and multimedia platforms." OK.
I was wondering how they'll fill the time with just skiiing, but they have that covered. From the article:
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
