Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker

ESPN doesn't have a whole lot of great programming. SportsCenter is great, but it's just a news show. This show is going to be classic. The Sklar brothers are hilarious, you may have seen their comedy specials.

This show is very much like Mystery Science Fiction Theater, but instead of two robots and a guy watching bad movies it is two comedians watching classic old sporting events and make fun of them. The funniest I've seen was an episode which they were ripping on a 1980 wresting match between the Iron Sheik and Kerry von Erik. The show is very funny, tune into ESPN sometime and check it out.

In a day where everyone is focused on special effects and cashing in on following popular trends, it is nice to see a comedy that focuses on one thing—being funny. Randy and Jason Sklar bring their form of off-brand humor and satirical comedy to a show that they were destined to be a part of.

Randy and Jason took the format made popular by Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to make fun of something we love even more than bad science fiction movies, and that's gimmick sporting events. The guys sit back in the "cheap seats" and rag on everything from the rodeos to bowling, poker to putt-putt golf, and they do it in a way that keeps us laughing with their slick wit and obscure references. I mean, where else can you expect to hear about Hannibal Lecter at a Spelling Bee or Rick Fox at a Cheerleading Competition?

The only thing holding this show back is its limited exposure. Being on ESPN Classic (which is usually only available by satellite or digital cable) certainly shrinks what would be a huge audience for such an enjoyable show like this one. However, Randy and Jason continue to be original and showcase their tremendous talents on such a great show that some would call vintage, Pam Minnick.

I don't know exactly what happened to this show, but if ESPN was stupid enough to cancel it, then they better damn well have the decency to release the show on DVD!!! This show is one of the funniest shows that I have seen since Mystery Science Theater 3000!! It was extremely simple but that was the beauty of it. I can't think that they actually ran out of events to put on the show, so I guess they decided that is wasn't that popular. Well I am here to tell you that I would Tivo this show religiously and watch it almost immediately when I got home. In fact now a days, if I see a re-run being shown on ESPN Classic, I will automatically record it and, I still laugh my butt off when watching this show!!! Not a whole lot of shows can stand up to repeated viewing, but this show definitely can! I think partly why the show works is because of the Sklaar Brothers, because they are hilarious! So please bring back the show, or Please for the love of god, release it on DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Sklaar brothers, Randy and Jason, do an excellent job bringing MST3k to ESPN Classic. There is a lot of random, useless stuff that's been shown on ESPN, and it's great to see them put on a show like this, which is what I always think of when I see things like "American Jump-Rope Championship." I find the Sklaar brothers to be quite humorous. I've seen some of their stand-up, which was also funny. They are geeky, but lovable geeks. They give the show a guys-in-their-basement-on-cable-access feel to the show that works well with their sense of humor and the format of the show. Here's hoping there's more seasons.

It's like "Beavis and Butthead" or MST3K, but with sports: Two geeks watch some old game while making snide jokes about it. It could be great, but the writing seriously sucks and the twin co-hosts are not at all likeable.

Take the infamous final moments of the 1982 Cal/Stanford football game. The hosts fixate on a guy in the crowd leaving before the big upset. Some fine mocking could have been had, but what do the hosts do? They bring in that fan (not really him) for a studio interview to ask him why he left before the end. His response? He wanted to beat traffic. Wow, guys, that's brilliant - I peed my pants, it was so funny. Since that probably was the real reason the fan left early, why not concoct some elaborate lie for him to tell before he succumbed to the humiliation and buried his face in his hands, weeping?

The other show I caught part of was a wrestling clip from 1980. One wrestler was playing an Iranian Sheik, so one of the hosts dressed liked him in front of a blue screen while blabbering in the same dodgy Arab accent. FYI, guys: Acting funny is not funny.

After the clip the writers thought it'd be funny to see this Sheik wrestler's resumé, which showed to include a stint as a playground bully. Hardee har har. Is there anything deadlier than comedy that isn't funny?

But the mediocrity of "Cheap Seats" can't be solely pinned on the writers. Jason and Randy may be superficially attractive, but neither show any ability in comedy, and their combined lack of screen presence makes the show that much unbearable. Earlier this week I saw them on an episode of "Action," where they were almost but not quite as annoying. (It didn't really bother me then since a) they were in only one scene, and b) that show had kickass writing.) They lack the timing and delivery necessary to make a joke work even if it were funny. They're not as cretinous as B&B or as erudite at Joel/Mike and the 'bots; they fall somewhere in between, which, as seen here, is deathly boring.

Shame, since the show has potential. It's got a good premise, and, being on ESPN Classic, a bottomless archive of sports clips. I'd love to see what could be done with, say, the '62 Mets or a shot of Pete Rose on the dugout phone. Get better writers and truly funny sports geeks/pop-culture savants to host (how about Bill Simmons? His column on ESPN.com's Page 2 is always good for a laugh), and I'll give "Cheap Seats" another shot.