The Best Damn Sports Show Period

The Best Damn Sports Show Period was an American sports television show that aired on

The show aired weeknights at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, usually after FSN Final Score, or later if there was a local live sporting event that ran longer than expected, depending on the region and telecast schedule.

History

Conception

In 1999,

The preliminary idea for the format of the new show for FSN would have one main host and different ex-athletes as hosts for each major sport. It would interweave sports talk with comedic sports-related content. [3]

Test run

In June 2001, the producers started doing screen tests with over 30 different TV hosts and former athletes.

If you're looking for high-minded talk... this isn't the show for you. To enjoy [the show], you must suspend your intelligence and good taste before turning on the TV. The show is locker-room humor at its best, or worst, depending on your point of view."[5]

In November 2001, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "It's certainly not the worst either, and it's getting a lot better."^[2]

A growing amount of high-profile athletes and celebrities started to attend the show, with its relaxed, entertainment-focused approach.

The sports talk in the show was mixed in with different pre-produced comedy bits and features which many times lead the show to commercial break. One of the first comedy segments within the show was the "Nightly/Daily Sports Report", hosted by Ken Rudulph, a Daily Show-type satirical look at the latest sports news reported at an anchor desk, which soon became a daily staple in the show for its first year. The show would end with Tom Arnold's "Things You Would Never Say To..." A different athlete was highlighted each day, and Tom Arnold would belt out around 10 different lines you would never say to that athlete. One example was "Things You Would Never Say to Patrick Ewing": "Hey, Ewing, don't worry about the swelling on your fingers. It's not like you have any rings to put on them!"^[5]

2002

February 2002 saw the cancellation of the National Sports Report, leaving Best Damn as FSN's flagship show; indeed, the rapidly-increasing popularity of Best Damn was cited as a reason for the NSR's demise. FSN then opted to provide news capsules during primetime programming, as well as extended news reports during Best Damn, as a substitute for the NSR.^[8][9][10]

Also in 2002, former

Many critics argue that this time period was the strongest for the show's cast with Rose, Tom Arnold, John Salley, Michael Irvin, and John Kruk presenting an "irreverent mix of entertainment and insight in sports that you cannot find anywhere else on TV."[11]

In June 2002, FSN launched its biggest advertising and promotional blitz for the show with the "Best Damn All-Star Summer", with superstar athletes and celebrities appearing on the show, along with a barrage on newspaper, billboard, and radio advertising to help garner more recognition just before the show's one-year anniversary.^[6]

Part of the campaign included a Best Damn celebrity roast for Tom Arnold, a Best Damn awards show entitled the "Best Dammies", special guest appearances by

2003–04

In mid-2003, Best Damn had to deal with the departure of the entertaining personalities of John Kruk and Michael Irvin to ESPN. They experimented with numerous guest hosts to a varying degree of success. Among just a few of the names to sit in the Best Damn chairs alongside Rose and Salley as part-time hosts were Bryan Cox, Ray Crockett, Ron Darling, Rocket Ismail, Kevin Kennedy, Brian Bosworth, Eric Dickerson, Herschel Walker, Jason Sehorn, Steve Lyons, and Tony Bruno.

At times, the show would struggle to find its camaraderie among its cast because of the frequent changes to its main panel. Different themes and specialty weeks were tried for the show. One example was "Best Damn Decades Week", in which every day of the week represented a different decade in sports.

In late October, all the hosts dressed up in costume for the entire show to celebrate Halloween. All guests on set and on satellite also dressed up in costume. Since then, it has been a yearly Halloween tradition on the Best Damn set, along with a custom-carved Best Damn pumpkin for each of the Best Damn hosts.

On October 27, 2004, Best Damn partnered with professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to produce a two night television special The Best Damn Wrestling Event Period which aired on November 10 and 11.^[13]

2005: New direction for the show

The beginning of the year presented a crossroads for the show, as its ratings had plateaued and after being on the air for over three years, some felt it needed to be reinvented. In January 2005, following the Christmas/New Year's break, the program was revamped to appear like a late-night talk show. Original host Rose was dropped, and Arnold was made the headlining star with Salley as his sidekick. Sitting behind a desk, Arnold did comedy bits and an opening monologue, similar to other late night shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman.

In February 2005, with the new format, the show traveled to

With the new direction, they would feature either Top 50 or 100 moments related to sports such as bloopers, dangerous mishaps, or historic moments. Because of the witty tone, sometimes videos indirectly related to sports would appear in the Honorable Mention segments such as Fidel Castro infamously falling hard after his speech.^{[citation needed]}

Back to the original formula

Although the "late-night" format drew notable guests such as Snoop Dogg, Dennis Rodman, Bob Knight, Chris Rock, Derek Jeter, and even former president Jimmy Carter; many loyal long-time viewers were confused and felt abandoned by the new format. The show had taken a big step away from what had always been its sense of purpose - a group of athletes sitting around and talking sports as an ensemble-cast.

By March 2005, the show was quickly formatted back to its original concept, with Chris Rose returning as the main host. John Salley would stay aboard. Two weeks later, former NFL QB Rodney Peete and former MLB closer Rob Dibble were named as permanent hosts alongside Rose and Salley. Tom Arnold left the show as a host, and would return occasionally only for special events and/or segments. The show also stopped running many of its pre-produced comedy bits and segments. The show was now back down to an hour long, which remained that length for the remainder of its run.^[15]

2006–2007

In March 2006, BDSSP had a week-long celebration to commemorate its 1000th show. The show counted down its Top 100 moments of Best Damn history. Former hosts

In summer of 2007, Best Damn added Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Beard to their TV roster. Amanda would serve as a correspondent for the show and also give reports and a behind-the-scenes look at her preparations for her appearance in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Charissa Thompson also was added as one of the main hosts for the show.

In May 2008, Rodney Peete and Rob Dibble left the show after over three years on the Best Damn set. FSN decided to replace the duo with rotating guest hosts to work with regulars Chris Rose, John Salley and Charissa Thompson.

After the change, some of the guest hosts included former running back

At the same time, the network noted that the use of rotating guest hosts is keeping the show fresh and allows viewers to take a glimpse at the current and ex-athletes who shine in front of the TV camera.[17]

In July 2008, Best Damn celebrated its seven-year anniversary. Up to that date, it had aired over 1600 original shows and had welcomed over 3000 guests.^[12] By then, it had spawned a specialty show on the Internet, as it broadcasts new 30-minute podcasts every week through iTunes and its FoxSports.com Best Damn home page.

Finale

On June 30, 2009, Best Damn aired its last show. While the series would continue to air new episodes throughout the summer, Fox Sports Net announced that a small number of top 50 specials would be taped to add to its current stable of shows. Chris Rose and Charissa Thompson hosted a retrospective introducing some of the best video clips from the past eight seasons. At the end, former co-host Tom Arnold bid the show farewell.

Hosts

• Chris Rose: Host (2001–2009)
• Charissa Thompson: Reporter (2006–2009)
• John Salley: Host (2001–2009)
• Rob Dibble: MLB expert (2005–2008)
• Rodney Peete: NFL expert (2004–2008)
• Tom Arnold: Host (2001–2009)
• Michelle Bonner: Reporter
• Bryan Cox: NFL expert
• Ray Crockett: NFL expert
• D'Marco Farr: NFL expert
• Lisa Guerrero: Reporter (2001–2005)
• Michael Irvin: NFL expert
• Deacon Jones: NFL expert
• John Kruk: MLB expert
• Lauren Sánchez: Reporter
• Stephen A. Smith: NBA expert
• Reggie Theus: NBA expert
• Leeann Tweeden: Reporter (2001–2007)

Announcer

Announcer Tomm Looney was the announcer for the show's entire run and currently does sports updates and co-hosting on J. T. the Brick's show on Fox Sports Radio.

References