During the past 27 years, niche shows have come and gone at ESPN more frequently than Alyssa Milano’s boyfriends.
Unscripted with Chris Connelly, ESPN Hollywood, Classic Now, anything hosted by Kenny Mayne — to name a few.
And so when the net debuted a show in the fall of 2001 featuring two newspaper columnists arguing about a bunch of sports topics while trying to be hip, expectations were tempered.
“It was daunting at first,” said Michael Wilbon, co-host of Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser. “We didn’t know if we would work in those roles.”
But work it has. PTI was an instant hit when is debuted Oct. 22, 2001 — must-see TV for fans needing their daily fix of sports and pop culture news. Five years later, the show is one of the net’s most popular, having spawned other columnist gabfests such as Around the Horn.
“It’s frightening. It’s gratifying,” the Washington Post columnist said. “I mean, who knew? Two sportswriters. Neither one of us ever aspired to do television.”
PTI was the brainchild of former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro. Wilbon said Shapiro approached him in 1998 with the idea, but the project sat on the shelves until the summer of 2001, when Shapiro was promoted to head of programming.
While no one knew whether a Crossfire-style show would work in a sports format, Wilbon was sure that he and Kornheiser had the right chemistry to pull it off. The pair had worked together at the Post for 21 years. Both had some television experience, including being regulars on ESPN’s Sports Reporters.
“We really didn’t need any practice because working together at the paper was arguing together, every day,” said Wilbon.
The Chicago native said selecting daily topics is a group effort among himself, Kornheiser and producers Erik Rydholm and Matt Kelliher. The goal always has been to produce a lively, spontaneous show about sports and pop culture. The topics and opening lines are the only elements of the show that are scripted.
“It’s really about four guys doing what guys do: talking about sports and pop culture,” Wilbon, 47, said. “There are no formal meetings or conference calls. We just put real, live conversations on the air. It’s like being at the barber shop, or a sports bar, or in someone’s basement — wherever people sit around doing this.”
And now you can add watching PTI to the list.
CHANNEL SURFING
We’re not sure what his future plans are, but Texas center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. did a fine job as an analyst during division series coverage for ESPN. He’s well-spoken and made some nice observations.
Lou Piniella will not be in pinstripes in ’07 after all. That’s good news for New York Yankees boosters, but bad news for baseball fans whom will have to continue to sit through his game analysis on Fox.
CBS has lured two golf analysts away from ABC. Ian Baker-Finch has agreed to a four-year deal and will join CBS beginning with the Buick Invitational in January. He follows Nick Faldo, who is replacing Lanny Wadkins.
Meantime, ESPN announced that Jerry Punch will serve as its play-by-play announcer when NASCAR returns to the network next year. He’ll be joined in the booth by analysts Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree. Brent Musburger will serve as studio host.
Jillian Barberie and her belly-button return to the Fox pregame show this weekend. We hate to be cynical here, so we won’t say this is a cheap, desperate attempt to boost the net’s pregame ratings.
The Boston Herald reported that HBO is in the early stages of producing an eight-part miniseries based on the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 championship season. Beware: if you cried during Fever Pitch, this could be another tear-jerker for Sox fans.
Sun Sports will air a half-hour preseason special on the Orlando Magic on Monday at 8 p.m.
Finally, a fond farewell to 740 The Team’s Marc Daniels, who has been released by Clear Channel Communications. As host of the station’s weekday afternoon Coach & Co. show, Daniels was well-informed and entertaining — a voice of reason. He’s been the voice of all-things UCF for years, and we only can hope this is not the first step in a move to eliminate local programming at WQTM.
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TODAY
MLB: Athletics at Tigers, ALCS, Game 3 (Fox, WOFL-Ch. 35, 4:30 p.m.). The last time these teams met in the postseason, things got pretty nasty when Oakland shortstop Bert Campaneris threw his bat at Detroit pitcher Lerrin LaGrow after being hit by a pitch in the 1972 ALCS. The A’s will need to rekindle some of that fire if they are going to compete in this series.
SATURDAY
NASCAR: Bank of America 500 (NBC, WESH-Ch. 2, 7 p.m.). Jimmie Johnson has won five of the past seven races at what amounts to his home track, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and needs a victory to stay in the championship hunt.
SATURDAY
CFB: Florida at Auburn (ESPN, 7:45 p.m.). This contest lost some of its luster when Auburn was upset by Arkansas last week, but it still might be Florida’s toughest game. ESPN will give the game its “Full Circle” treatment, meaning every entity from the main channel to ESPNU will have some hand in the presentation. For those of you who recall the 10-headed monster that was Florida State-Miami on ESPN2, the network will limit the number of screens to five this time.
SUNDAY
NFL: Giants at Falcons (Fox, WOFL-Ch. 35, 1 p.m.). In a weekend TV schedule otherwise filled with dogs, this game should be exciting. Having said that, it would be just like the unpredictable NFL to give us the most exciting weekend of the season.
