Fictional baseball teams don't seem to succeed on television for some reason.
For example, Paramount took a chance on turning the original "Bad News Bears" into a sitcom for CBS in 1979. They were better served mounting this as a children's show. Four years later, NBC tried a drama, Bay City Blues, from the producers of Hill Street Blues. Lasted a month.
In 1994, during the baseball strike, Fox tried Hardball, which was clearly a case of trying to pick up the audience that had seen the "Major League" movies. Hardball marked the return to primetime of sitcom legend Rose Marie (ex-The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Doris Day Show, Hollywood Squares), leading an ensemble of players, some of whom would find greater success, including:
Dann Florek (later of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).
Phill Lewis (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody).
Joe Rogan (NewsRadio, Fear Factor), now a podcaster and UFC commentator, better known now for his warped political views.
Bruce Greenwood (ex-St. Elsewhere, later of Nowhere Man).
Check the opener, introduced by Terry Bradshaw & Howie Long.
The lineup of baseball-themed comedies and dramas reads more like a lineup of benchwarmers. Don't forget the Steven Bochco drama Bay City Blues (lasted three weeks if it lasted a month), or the TWO attempts to turn A League of Our Own into a TV series. Or the attempt to take Jim Bouton's book Ball Four and make it a comedy. Or the Fox series Pitch, about a female pitcher in the major leagues, that barely limped along for a season before ending on the permanent DL. Or the kid-friendly drama Clubhouse, about a kid who works as a ballboy for a New York baseball team. Or ... Jeez, that's a lot right off the top.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I did mention Bay City Blues, but left out Ball Four (which I'd reviewed a while ago) and the others you mentioned. BCB lasted 4 weeks.
ReplyDeleteFunny how baseball-themed programs don't work, and yet, White Shadow, about a basketball team, had a healthy run......