ESPN Cancels Barstool Show

[Inky_Wretch]

Embassy Row was involved in that show? I didn't realize the Men in Blazers were involved with it.

 

[CD Boogie]

Again, that's not the point. The question is, are these guys and their show at one a.m. financially worth our risking an open rebellion by our women employees, especially on-air talent? I'd posit ESPN doesn't have a single in-house production worth that risk, let alone this one.

Is Sam Ponder not gonna cover or speak about the Cowboys bc of Zeke Elliott's situation? Or does her disgust only extend to when people are directly attacking her three years ago?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Does ESPN employ Zeke Elliott now?

You're off it here, man.

 

[JCT89]

ESPN bungled this one all the way around. You take a hit for signing up with Barstool in the first place, and then **** off a dedicated albeit problematic "Stoolies" group that was probably the whole point of aligning with them in the first place. I know Deadspin reported last week that Barstool insisted its name be in the show title and that ESPN relented. If this show is called "Pardon My Take," as the podcast is called, does it generate the same level of negative coverage? I think once Ponder went public it doomed the show, but have to think having Barstool in the name certainly didn't help.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Heard the guys from the show making the ESPN radio rounds last week. Literally the worst thing I've ever heard on the radio.

They did an entire segment making and planning prank calls. They called the Cavs and asked to talk to LeBron James. The receptionist said the team is in Milwaukee, and they asked to be transferred there. Called and got Darren Rovelle's voicemail, and talked about calling the office of the host they were on there.

It was the kind of stuff you'd expect a high school radio station to be way above.

 

[DanOregon]

If you're Skipper, now that ESPN is the main drag on the stock, you really don't want to get a call from Burbank.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Stupid move to from the start? What the hell did they think they were getting?

I actually watched some of that show (don't ask me why, I had my reasons).

Perhaps it's a generational thing (get off my lawn), but it was such a steaming pile of awful ****. At one point the morons were just barking. Literally. Just barking. For a few minutes.

This is appealing to... what audience?

The barking, I assume, was the part where they went into the studio where Primetime was and sort of paid homage (lightly mocked) to the show and Berman's old sound effects. it was a bit entertaining, though that little section probably dragged.

ESPN these days.

Carsenio: Now, some of you may have heard rumors that I was sort of on my out. Well, I had a talk with the network, and let's just say that this homeboy intends to be around for a while!
Ed McMahon: Not going anywhere, no sir!
[ studio audience "Whoop, whoop, whoops" ]
Carsenio: Alright, alright.. Now, we made a few changes, a few little tweaks here and there.. [ holds up his index finger ] I had this finger elongated. When you're around 29 years, you shouldn't be afraid to make a few little adjustments, you know, for the young people..
Ed McMahon: Young America, yes sir!
Carsenio: Ed? Ed, have you noticed? Look who's hanging out in the doghouse tonight - my man, Tom Kite! He is kicking butt on the PGA tour! Alright, alright.. we've got some critical guests tonight. Doc? You wanna give me a bass groove over there? [ music plays, as Carsenio starts to groove ] Nice! That is sweet! Sweet stuff! Oh, that's nice! Buddy Hackett is in my house! Right here! Joan Embery is in my house! Alright, we've got a hot one, so let's get down to business!

This reminds me: The Hulu documentary Too Funny to Fail...highly recommend. About the failure of The Dana Carvey show, despite being the place Colbert, Carell, Louis C.K. got their start as writers, along with having Robert Smigel, Carvey, Charlie Kaufman, 30 Rock showrunner and many more awesome talents on staff.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Damn ESPN Hollywood had a run equivalent to Law & Order compared to Barstool...

 

[TigerVols]

Damn ESPN Hollywood had a run equivalent to Law & Order compared to Barstool...

...and when John Skipper and Walsh both flew out to personally cancel us, he said at the time he'd never do anything like our show again. Guess "never" was relative.

I won't be mourning when he gets ****canned; he knew what he signed up for.

 

[Pete]

This reminds me: The Hulu documentary Too Funny to Fail...highly recommend. About the failure of The Dana Carvey show, despite being the place Colbert, Carell, Louis C.K. got their start as writers, along with having Robert Smigel, Carvey, Charlie Kaufman, 30 Rock showrunner and many more awesome talents on staff.

A big second on this. I watched that over the weekend and really, really enjoyed it. Lots of great clips (Carell and Colbert were two of the main on-air performers as well as writers) and current-day interviews. Definitely worth a watch if you're a comedy fan.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

As far as short lived sketch shows went, I loved both the Dana Carvey Show and the Ben Stiller Show. I think the Carvey show aged better.

 

[outofplace]

Trump makes mistake, and then doubles down: @CD Boogie would call him an idiot for doubling down, and not simply admitting his mistake.

ESPN makes mistake, admits it, and cuts its losses: @CD Boogie calls them chicken ****s.

Please restrict your whining about the world being mean to President Trump to the politics thread. Thank you.

 

[Double Down]

What’s wrong with a little misogyny at 1:00 AM?

Certainly going to regret weighing on here, but I will say as a regular listener to Pardon My Take, there isn't any misogyny in PFT and Big Cat's podcast. They're very smart and funny, and PFT might be the smartest person doing satire right now.

If it's possible to be employed by Barstool but not subscribe to Barstool's ethos, they do it. Now, the brand is still the brand, and Portnoy is awful, but there wasn't going to be misogyny on that show. I predict eventually Katz and PFT will outgrow the Barstool brand, and leave.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Certainly going to regret weighing on here, but I will say as a regular listener to Pardon My Take, there isn't any misogyny in PFT and Big Cat's podcast. They're very smart and funny, and PFT might be the smartest person doing satire right now.

If it's possible to be employed by Barstool but not subscribe to Barstool's ethos, they do it. Now, the brand is still the brand, and Portnoy is awful, but there wasn't going to be misogyny on that show. I predict eventually Katz and PFT will outgrow the Barstool brand, and leave.

Agreed. They need to jump ship ASAP.

Of course, I didn’t know PFT was with Barstool (or had forgotten it) until all this happened.

 

[Gator]

Certainly going to regret weighing on here, but I will say as a regular listener to Pardon My Take, there isn't any misogyny in PFT and Big Cat's podcast. They're very smart and funny, and PFT might be the smartest person doing satire right now.

If it's possible to be employed by Barstool but not subscribe to Barstool's ethos, they do it. Now, the brand is still the brand, and Portnoy is awful, but there wasn't going to be misogyny on that show. I predict eventually Katz and PFT will outgrow the Barstool brand, and leave.

“They’re coming to The Athletic. That’s what we do: Gather talent.” — Alex Mather (probably)

 

[heyabbott]

The numbers from the first week were very good, especially from that time slot. It's a 1 a.m. show, so who is watching? Drunk bros, mostly. They buckled because the climate right now is oh, don't offend any women -- especially with a comment Portnoy made three years ago. It's just chicken****, knee-jerk pandering, which is basically what ESPN does best.

So who is the target audience for Mike and Jemelle at6pm?

 

[CD Boogie]

So who is the target audience for Mike and Jemelle at6pm?

Rob King

 

[CD Boogie]

Does ESPN employ Zeke Elliott now?

You're off it here, man.

Fair enough

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Certainly going to regret weighing on here, but I will say as a regular listener to Pardon My Take, there isn't any misogyny in PFT and Big Cat's podcast. They're very smart and funny, and PFT might be the smartest person doing satire right now.

If it's possible to be employed by Barstool but not subscribe to Barstool's ethos, they do it. Now, the brand is still the brand, and Portnoy is awful, but there wasn't going to be misogyny on that show. I predict eventually Katz and PFT will outgrow the Barstool brand, and leave.

Apparently, there is a lot of discussion about this. I don't know enough of Barstool's internal politics, but it was not an accident Skipper wrote his memo that way. There is a theory that ESPN may specifically offer those two a job.

 

[The Big Ragu]

If you enter into a strategic partnership with someone, then cancel it and then hire away the former partner's talent. ... what are the ethical and/or legal issues?