Dennis Miller to co-host this years Monday Night Football.

June 23, 2000 6:21 AM

Dennis Miller to co-host this years Monday Night Football. "That's the game and I am outta here."
posted by vitaflo (17 comments total)

Well, thank God. Those few remaining shreds of integrity are gone. They were so unsightly, you know.
posted by solistrato at 6:26 AM on June 23, 2000

"Ooo, The Marines couldn't get out of Lebanon faster than Harmer got out of that tackle, baby!"

I think this is good for football. I may actually watch it now. Sports commentary in the past has been the cliché fused to the pedestrian. Ex-football types have a limited number of ways to say, "they gotta dig down deep inside and give it 110%", so I think the use of entertainers will benefit the program.

The other way of doing things would be to eliminate all announcers and just show the game, but that's never going to happen on network tv, and I think this is the next best thing.
posted by cardboard at 6:41 AM on June 23, 2000

Why does Dennis Miller lose integrity by joining Monday Night Football? Is there some stigma associated with the program that isn't attached to HBO and Saturday Night Live?
posted by rcade at 6:46 AM on June 23, 2000

I was really hoping they'd pick Rush
posted by rschram at 8:17 AM on June 23, 2000

I think having someone who is not a retired football player doing this would be cool and a great change of pace....

You can only listen to these guys relive their glory days in each play so many times. A whole big thing is going down while some fat old guy talks about how he did the same thing in 1976 (three plays ago, I might add). YAWN!

Dennis Miller can really spice this up with a more "living room/fan" POV. I'm gonna have to get a pad and count how many times he's gonna say "OOH...he's gonna feel that one tomorrow...!" though.
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 8:45 AM on June 23, 2000

Well given that the show has been going in the toilet since Cosell left, why not take a flyer with someone like Dennis? He's well-read, he can think on his feet, what the hell?

And really, it's football, for gawdsake. It's not like he's reading the news or something.
posted by chicobangs at 9:07 AM on June 23, 2000

You know, I haven't see a mismatch like this since Xerxes stepped over Lysander's mutilated corpse at Thermopylae.

I'm looking forward to this. Finally, we closet football watchers (Hell, I played the game in High School before getting bounced for flagrant violent fouling) who also like to read the occassional book with have something to do when the game is on.

Unfortunately, the Browns' pass defense seems to have spent the night before the game eating Magic Mushrooms with Terrance McKenna, because whatever universe they're in right now, it isn't the one where the Steelers keep throwing the ball like Knute Rockne playing catch with Quasimodo, here.
posted by Ezrael at 9:26 AM on June 23, 2000

I love it! Dennis Miller will be great - just the kick in the pants that's needed. After all, Monday Night Football had comedy relief before (albeit unintentionally) in the form of Howard Cosell. The difference is, people laughed at Howard (poor Howard . . . . .), and they'll laugh with Dennis.
posted by the webmistress at 10:32 AM on June 23, 2000

You're right. Dennis Miller didn't lose integrity by joining Monday Night Football.

He lost it when he shilled for M&M's.

My bad.
posted by solistrato at 11:32 AM on June 23, 2000

Maybe they should have a new celebrity host everyweek. Sort of like what Ebert is doing.
posted by john at 12:28 PM on June 23, 2000

Hrm...rotating hosts like Ebert? Can you picture Harry Knowles doing color commentary?
posted by bradlands at 8:17 PM on June 23, 2000

I think people are missing the big picture here.

TV is evil!!!! TV is the embodiment of the devil here on earth. Satan is trying to get more souls to turn off their brains and sit in front of the glass teat, worshipping consumerism driven violence.

And it's working!!! Listen to you people! Miller will bring a new intellectualism to professional football commentary???!!! No! Miller's presence will lure more people to vegetate in front of the TV. People who otherwise would be doing something productive instead of sitting on their asses and watching the world swirl down the drain.

Kill your TV! Right now! Take it out into the driveway and smash it!
posted by y6y6y6 at 8:47 PM on June 23, 2000

or you could just do like me and turn down the sound, turn up the radio broadcast. Miller won't last because he's just NOT FUNNY.....heck, SNL news hasn't been funny since Chevy left. Might as well have Jay Leno reading off a teleprompter.
posted by webwide at 9:41 PM on June 23, 2000

I disagree. Norm MacDonald was the best... now THERE'S somebody I'd like to see announcing MNF. "Hey... that guy just got hit really hard. Cool."
posted by fusinski at 11:56 AM on June 24, 2000

I hope he ends at least the first game with the SNL signoff... sometimes, a comedian's gotta do what a comedian's gotta do... even if it's obvious.

posted by baylink at 7:09 PM on June 24, 2000

Norm MacDonald??? *ack*..........oh well, I guess some people have a strange sense of humor :o)
posted by webwide at 6:18 AM on June 25, 2000

And some people pride themselves on it, too. ;)
posted by fusinski at 7:21 AM on June 25, 2000