Frank Caliendo joins Sunday NFL Countdown
Frank Caliendo left Fox NFL Sunday after almost a decade of doing skits and game picks but is making a return to the NFL by joining a new pregame show - ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. Who else but Adam Schefter relayed the news via Twitter Thursday morning:
A warm welcome to Frank Caliendo, who is joining ESPN's Sunday Countdown as a contributor (want to see his Chris Berman imitation).
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 11, 2012
All you fans of Frank TV... what are there, eight of you... will surely rejoice at the news. Although the whole pregame comedy routine is passe at this point, Caliendo's act didn't bother me as much as it did others. Some of his impressions are legitimately funny, but there's only so long he could make fun of Terry Bradshaw and have it stay amusing and relevant. Hopefully by joining Countdown, Caliendo will have a chance to freshen up his act, although he'll appear once again in taped comedy segments. Whatever the case, you can't say this is an innovative hire by ESPN in recycling what Fox has done for many years.
If there is a positive in all of this, there's now ample opportunities to mock Chris Berman... or replace Chris Berman. Either one is fine by us.
@awfulannouncing Oh gosh no! No Berman impersonations. Haven't we been punished enough? I'm rooting against the A
@awfulannouncing Please be as a replacement to Chris Berman please be as a replacement to Chris Berman pleeeeeeeeeeease
@awfulannouncing Goodness he is painful. Nick Bakay may have been harder to tolerate, though.
@awfulannouncing No freakout here . I don't start watching until kickoff. Then it is RedZone all the way.
@awfulannouncing why does espn hate us? There is no other plausible explanation for their decisions than malice.
ESPN lowering the bar even farther. will James Cameron be able to salvage it this time
@awfulannouncing good cause he is one of the best ! Fox ruined it when they #Gotrid of him.
@awfulannouncing @jodibaconbits can't get enough John madden impersonations.........kill me now
I think I understand a lot of the contempt towards Berman. It is not because he's blatantly biased. Virtually every major broadcaster demonstrates blatant favoritism towards certain teams. It is part of what is expected. The contempt is because Berman is biased towards a team that the rest of the national sports media openly despises. He's not a whore for the big markets like virtually everyone else in his business is. He's a whore for the second-smallest and most ridiculed market in American sports. That's the problem and that is why so many other national media figures hate him. They can't have the small-fry getting uppity. It takes away from their Brady and Tebow worship.
@SFHCommissioner @Shander_NBC Calieno joins ESPN. Yet another reason not to watch ESPN's or any other NFL pregame show.
@awfulannouncing maybe he can do a Rush Limbaugh impression and get fired. #thankgodfornflnetworkpregame
@awfulannouncing With the addition of Caliendo, my decision to remove all ESPN from my sports viewing life just became that much easier.
@awfulannouncing Hooray. Doing the John Madden impression every week will never get old.
Definitely avoiding ESPN on Sunday now. RT @awfulannouncing Frank Caliendo is joining ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown http://t.co/PdUzi6CY
As if that show needed to be more unwatchable MT @awfulannouncing: Frank Caliendo is joining ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown
