I have to admit that, when the Yankees are in the playoffs, most of my regular TV watching gets obliterated. Thankfully, DVRs and online TV sites (and, in the mid-'90s, VCRs) help me catch up. For instance, even though I have to review Cougar Town, I'll likely won't watch it until tomorrow morning, on either ABC.com or Hulu. Why? World Series game one, of course. Nothing, not even the Yankees being behind 22-0, is going to tear me away from FOX at 9:30, when I should be watching Cougar Town on ABC.
Which leads me to something that I've been wondering lately: Didn't networks used to program more reruns against the World Series? Tonight, NBC has a lineup of new episodes, as does ABC (except for Charlie Brown in Hank's slot, for understandable reasons). Tomorrow, all three of FOX's competitors have new episodes.
I thought it was a rule that TV stations covering sporting events (at least in baseball) didn't show drunks, streakers, and other morons who jump on the playing field in the middle of a game? Last night FOX happily showed a guy at the Yankees/Angels game who somehow got into the waterfall area of the outfield and went for a swim. Well, he laid down in the water.
I think we can assume the guy got at least one beer from the concession stand.
No, this is not going to be another post about the shoddy umpiring or spittle analysis or any of the other on-field matters that have been going on in baseball since the playoffs began. No, we're on a TV blog, so I'm going to just talk about the things that have annoyed me about FOX's and TBS's coverage of the ALCS and the NLCS. In no particular order:
1. The Fidelity-sponsored Fox Trak. The pitching tracker, which shows if a pitch actually hit the strike zone or not, has been around for years. But, the flight of the ball has been to this point represented by a red streak and a dot. Now that Fidelity Investments is sponsoring the tracker, the red streak/dot combo has been replaced by a green streak/green arrow combo that mimics Fidelity's "stay on the line" series of ads. What financial guidance has to do with balls and strikes, I'll never know.
Yes, it's true. The Jews do control the media. Okay, maybe not in the purest sense of the word, but they exhibit enough influence on the medium to move the time of the Yankees versus Red Sox game from 8 PM to 1 in the afternoon on September 27. This was done to accommodate the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Considering that Rep. Anthony Weiner, the man who wrote the letter to the Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, is a Congressman from New York, I can see an ulterior motive in his suggestion of the move. Undoubtedly the Congressman didn't want to miss a second of his favorite team against their arch rivals (and I doubt he's a Red Sox fan).
A serious bullet has been dodged. This conflict could have led to potential civil war within many Jewish households on the East Coast. Thank you for your consideration Congressman, and thank you MLB.
I'm not sure who will rejoice at this news more: Yankees or Mets fans. Long-time Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been sued by a former colleague for breach of agreement regarding the YES Network. This is another in a long line of broken and burned bodies left in Steinbrenner's wake.
Accusing Steinbrenner of lying is a bit like accusing the the Pope of being Catholic. Just ask Billy Martin, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, etc., etc., etc. I'd be more surprised if he told the truth. Simply on the basis of who George Steinbrenner is and how he behaves, I'm pretty sure that Robert Gutkowski is justified in his claim.
Mind you, Steinbrenner is pushing 80. He's not quite the powerhouse he used to be. If you want to sue him, now's the time (as opposed to even 10 years ago). Perhaps they should get Larry David (who did the Steinbrenner impression back on Seinfeld) to fill in for him at the trial.
Today's a sad day for any Yankee fan over the age of 30 or so, as Phil Rizzuto, a Hall of Fame shortstop for the team during the '40s and '50s, died today at 89. Of course, most Yankee fans remember "The Scooter" as a broadcaster; he did play-by-play on TV and radio from 1956 to 1996.
During that time, fans can fondly tell you chapter and and verse about how unconventional he was; he'd send out birthday wishes in the hopes that the Yanks would get a hit, he often talked about the great Italian meal he ate the night before with his wife Cora, and he'd joke around with his various broadcast partners, usually laughing and saying "you huckleberry!"
I think I'm the last Squadder to put out one of these lists, and there's a good reason for that. After the crush of the season finales and upfronts in May, I was happy to not be a regular watcher of anything in particular, except for Yankee games, so there seemed to be nothing for me to write about.
But when I really thought about it, that's not even close to being true. Despite the fact that it's summer, there's more than enough quality programming that I'm sure I'll get sucked into some weekly habits at some point. So, after the jump, here's what I plan on watching:
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
1. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Pistons (TNT) 2. The Sopranos (HBO) 3. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Pistons (TNT) 4. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Pistons (TNT) 5. The Starter Wife (USA) 6. Yankees/Red Sox (ESPN) 7. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Pistons (TNT) 8. NBA Playoffs - Cavaliers/Pistons (TNT) 9. NBA Playoffs - Spurs/Jazz (ESPN) 10. WWE Monday Night RAW (USA)
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
1. The Sopranos (HBO) 2. Yankees/Red Sox (ESPN) 3. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA) 4. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA) 5. Planet Earth (Discovery) 6. Suite Life of Zack & Cody (Disney) 7. Planet Earth (Discovery) 8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon) 9. Law and Order: SVU (USA) 10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
At 7, ESPN has the Red Sox vs. the Yankees. As if it matters now.
At 8, FOX has a new Nanny 911, followed by a new Celebrity Duets.
ABC repeats the Men In Trees pilot at 8, then there's a new episode.
NBC has a new Dateline at 8.
UPN has a new Friday Night Smackdown at 8.
Kill Bill, Volume 1 airs on TNT at 8.
TLC has two new episodes of Take Home Chef at 8.
Also at 8: HBO has Serenity.
At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Stargate SG-1, followed by Stargate Atlantis.
Funny Friends repeat at 10, the one where Eddie moves in with Chandler. It's on TBS.
At 11, HBO has a new Real Time With Bill Maher, with Pat Buchanan, actor Michael McKean, national security expert Clark Kent Ervin, and Gloria Steinem.
(S03E20) I know this episode was produced over fourteen years ago, but it was still hard for me to recognize Catherine Keener in this episode. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing younger versions of now well-known actors, but even when I watched this episode the other day, I was surprised when the "Notes on Nothing" mentioned that Nina, Jerry's jealous artist girlfriend, was played by Keener. Maybe it was because she was younger, or it could have been her hair or something. Either way, she did a great job in this episode, foreshadowing how she'd do in movies like Being John Malkovich and The 40 Year Old Virgin.
Anyway, if you're a fan of Neil Simon, you probably loved that episode. If not, then it was still pretty damned good.
1. The Closer (TNT) 2. The Fantasia Barrino Story - 9pm (Lifetime) 3. Nextel Cup - Michigan (TNT) 4. NFL Pre-Season - Raiders vs. Vikings (ESPN) 5. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA) 6. Monk (USA) 7. The Fantasia Barrino Story - 8pm (Lifetime) 8. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA) 9. Psych (USA) 10. MLB - Yankees vs. Red Sox (ESPN)
Bobby Abreu (right) is batting for the Yankees, less than two weeks after his July 31 trade from the Phillies. You vaguely know his stats, but are curious to see how they've changed since the trade. So you look up while watching the game and see on the TV screen that Abreu is hitting .378 with one home run and five RBIs.
Whaaa? What happened to all the homers and RBIs he had with the Phillies?
Well, they're still there. But, because Abreu went from the National League to the American League, the channel that you're watching has decided that the stats he compiled in "the other league" don't apply anymore, and just showed his stats since the switch. It's something they've been doing since baseball's been on television, when the two leagues were distinct and the players from each never played each other outside the World Series and the All-Star Game.
No, this is not going to be another post about the 
Yes, it's true. The Jews do control the media. Okay, maybe not in the purest sense of the word, but they exhibit enough influence on the medium to 
I'm not sure who will rejoice at this news more: Yankees or Mets fans. Long-time Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been 
Today's a sad day for any Yankee fan over the age of 30 or so, as Phil Rizzuto, a Hall of Fame shortstop for the team during the '40s and '50s, 
I think I'm the last Squadder to put out one of these lists, and there's a good reason for that. After the crush of the season finales and upfronts in May, I was happy to not be a regular watcher of anything in particular, except for Yankee games, so there seemed to be nothing for me to write about.
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.
At 7, ESPN has the Red Sox vs. the Yankees. As if it matters now. 
(S03E20) I know this episode was produced over fourteen years ago, but it was still hard for me to recognize Catherine Keener in this episode. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing younger versions of now well-known actors, but even when I watched this episode the other day, I was surprised when the "Notes on Nothing" mentioned that Nina, Jerry's jealous artist girlfriend, was played by Keener. Maybe it was because she was younger, or it could have been her hair or something. Either way, she did a great job in this episode, foreshadowing how she'd do in movies like Being John Malkovich and The 40 Year Old Virgin.
1. The Closer (TNT)
Bobby Abreu (right) is batting for the Yankees, less than two weeks after his July 31 trade from the Phillies. You vaguely know his stats, but are curious to see how they've changed since the trade. So you look up while watching the game and see on the TV screen that Abreu is hitting .378 with one home run and five RBIs.
At 7, ESPN has the Red Sox vs. the Yankees.
At 7, ESPN has the Red Sox vs. The Yankees.
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
