Fox’s baseball telecasts have been uninspiring for several years now.  Many fans have made it clear that the pairing of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver just doesn’t cut it anymore.  Perhaps some of that disinterest and dissatisfaction is showing in the TV ratings, where Fox finished last amongst its Big 4 network brethren in Saturday primetime in spite of the YANKS and the SAWX!!  And, as it turns out, in spite of Sarah Silverman…

When will network sports execs realize that celebrity interviews during the game are a terrible idea?!  It tells the viewer that the game isn’t good enough to keep our attention.  Traditionally, celebrity interviews are nothing more than cheap advertisement for a new show on the network, or a misguided attempt at entertainment.  I think we lost an entire season of Monday Night Football to in-game celebrity interviews.  The only one that was memorable of course, was one that caused Jimmy Kimmel to be banned from ESPN.  If we wanted to see celebrity interviews or meltdowns, we would be watching E!, or at least Meatloaf on Celebrity Apprentice.  (Just imagine if someone told him his tag was sticking out of his shirt, sheesh.)  Celebrity interviews during games are usually nothing but a tedious, boring, unnecessary distraction and when they do make news, it’s for creating awkward train wreck television.

So why Fox thought that comedian and Red Sox fan Sarah Silverman was necessary to add to the Saturday night YANKS/SAWX telecast is beyond me.  Maybe they were trying to reach that portion of the audience that was thirsting for a C level comedian to analyze their team.  Maybe Fox wanted us to long for Artie Lange and the days of Joe Buck Live, who knows.  I’m not a fan of her comedy, but listening to her try to escape Fox censors with “Massholes” and argue for the benefits of pitchers on LSD was great train wreck TV.  It was the most entertainment Fox MLB coverage has seen in a long time (that’s not a good thing by the way).  You can only imagine Joe Buck reliving the horror of Artie Lange over and over again in his mind.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Buck’s vocal cords have been hit by a virus, not by depression for having to work with McCarver for another year.  The morbid tone of Joe’s voice only makes this in-game interview more horrendous.  The whole thing lasts six minutes and is worth a listen for a good laugh… or if you are an aspiring sports TV producer and want to find out the exact opposite thing of what to do with your telecast…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=esIZ04A3et8?hd=1

My favorite part of the interview is Buck saying that Silverman is on the telecast because a Fox executive saw Silverman on a flight wearing a Red Sox hat.  GENIUS!  Let’s have her back for the World Series.  Maybe she should just replace Timmy and Silverman & Buck can tour the country with their stand-up baseball routine.  Sometimes I wonder what goes through these people’s heads sometimes…

Thanks to our friends at Cosby Sweaters for the video! 
 

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