OT: How is "The Six" on ESPN an actual tv show?

Submitted by wolverine1987 on

It's an old story now how everything not College Football on ESPN is bad (which as a guy that once really liked SportsCenter and other programs, makes me sad) but watching Jemele Hill and Michael Smith impersonate talented TV people is excruciating. In what world did an ESPN exec say "hey, let's appeal to the kids, get me Jemele Hill and Michael Smith!" ???

DrMantisToboggan

August 25th, 2017 at 6:13 PM ^

Jemele Hill is insufferable. She's so damn bad at what she does for a living, it makes no sense that she is still employed (by anybody). She gives every person with no talent and a low IQ hope that they too can be a fixture on national television. 

Goggles Paisano

August 25th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^

Is that shit still on?  Everytime I would hear them on Mike & Mike I had to immediately turn the station.  I knew their TV show would suck out loud.  Will Kane is now my go to for as soon as I hear his voice I have to turn the station.  He is the tooliest of tool bags.  

I am listening to Mark Packer right now on Sirius (College Sports Nation).  If you love college football, like most of us on this blog do, he is fantastic and makes the price for the service so worth it.  

BursleyBaitsBus

August 25th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^

Will Cain? Are you serious? That dude is a Skip Bayless wannabe loser. 

 

After Stuart passed, LeBatard, Bucci, SVP and Bomani are the only ones worth listening to on there. 

 

I would say Max Kellerman, but First Take ruined him. 

oriental andrew

August 25th, 2017 at 6:22 PM ^

Make ESPN cool again, appealing to the urban-oriented millenials and youth by having colorful, urban-ethnic personalities with strong personalities and viewpoints who reflect the millenial/urban mindset. 

Or something, but I'd bet a cookie that the actual strategic vision is something like that. 

EDIT: I don't actually know what "The Six" is and have never even heard of it. The only times I watch ESPN these days is weekday mornings at the gym when sportscenter is on and when a sporting even I want to watch is airing. Otherwise, it's rare that I just have ESPN on in the background. Although I used to a decade ago. 

MIGHTYMOJO91

August 25th, 2017 at 6:24 PM ^

There is NO REASONABLE excuse/argument for watching anything on that network. To call anything " a show " on espn is being kind. It is more like watching  a cat with a 9 foot tail in a room full of rocking chairs, albeit I would prefer the actual entertainment of the cat!

Maynard

August 25th, 2017 at 6:47 PM ^

I know. I used to be afraid to not have ESPN as I would miss out on so much. Now, there are some college football games that I will miss but otherwise I haven't missed it one bit in six or seven months. Garbage channel now.

UMGoRoss

August 25th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^

30 for 30s and their other long form reporting are usually great. Watched the story of the Dallas Carter High School team from 1988 the other day and it was exceptional.

Their big problem otherwise is no one tunes in for highlights now, so shows like Sportscenter are stale. He SVP revamp is good. Some others less so, but people rag on ESPN because they think it's the cool thing to do.

Maynard

August 25th, 2017 at 7:42 PM ^

Meh. 30 for 30s are good but a lot of their long form reporting comes in the same old mode. Especially annoying to me is the use of the same format for every event i.e. Tom Rinaldi narrating some against the odds story or making some kid's wish come true. I get it. I'm a horrible person I guess. There just isn't any creativity there anymore IMO.

I don't rag on ESPN because it's cool to do. It's just that some of us remember when it was groundbreaking sports journalism and entertainment where risks were taken. Now it is so cookie cutter and safe that many find it boring and have become indifferent. That is a bad place to be for the type of platform they have.

And SVP? Please. The guy is a total douche in person, on par with Steve Harvey for who can be a bigger dick behind closed doors. Any guy who actually plays the "I'm rich and you're not" card is not deserving of any respect.

Michifornia

August 25th, 2017 at 6:26 PM ^

That fact that this clown is still employed after some of the people they let go is truly shocking.  Someone had to have lost a bet!!  She's the absolute worst.

OwenGoBlue

August 25th, 2017 at 6:37 PM ^

Add this to the long list of failed "hip and cool" entertainment premises. 

I've never minded Michael Smith. The current format makes him look like he's trying too hard to be cool because the show tries too hard to be cool.

I don't enjoy Jemele Hill but you don't get to anchor Sportscenter without doing ok with audiences. Sparty hijinks aside I think she gets too much shit here; in no way is she uniquely bad or unqualified in a field full of dunce ex-jocks, whistling assoles, and ne'er-do-wells. 

BornInAA

August 25th, 2017 at 6:42 PM ^

They need to go back to playing sports and highlights of sports.

Like MTV needs to go back to videos.

They are losing their fanbases as gen-x that grew up with them and the new generations don't watch TV.

Joseph_P_Freshwater

August 25th, 2017 at 6:44 PM ^

that took an Asian man named Robert Lee off the air so not to offend people. Keep that thought in mind and and everything they do makes sense.

UMGoRoss

August 25th, 2017 at 6:56 PM ^

ESPN had a broadcaster scheduled for an event where here would have been memes, screenshots, etc poking fun of the reporter in the light of re.
They reach out to him and mutually agreed to reassign him to avoid ridicule for him. They certainly didn't make a big deal out of the switch.
Idiots like Clay Travis got a hold of it and used it as platform to go after ESPN because, he wanted to push his agenda and his brand.

ESPN didn't make a big deal out of it: people who are outraged who a) weren't watching that game anyway and b) never heard of that reporter until last week are the ones making it an issue.

TomJ

August 26th, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^

They had the foresight to avoid all those Internet memes about a guy named Robert (not E) Lee, but somehow failed to predict that this action would create even more damaging Internet memes of its own. 

Good thinking ESPN.

BlueAggie

August 25th, 2017 at 6:59 PM ^

When I was in high school, I took all my math classes on Thursday afternoons at MSU. There was this State News columnist that would reliably write the dumbest stuff imaginable. We'd seek out copies every week to see what insanity this week held. Imagine my shock when she surfaced on ESPN a few years later.

Guy Fawkes

August 25th, 2017 at 7:00 PM ^

Show is garbage, I just turned my tv on and it was on ESPN from last night. I immediately changed the channel to Lakefront Bargain Hunt. That's how bad it is. Haven't heard Jemelle toot that Spartan horn lately either...

SysMark

August 25th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^

Aside from an actual game or trying to catch a score I don't think I've actually watched any ESPN show in at least 5 years.  No big concious decision, just a complete lack of interest.