Max Kellerman makes his return to TV May 10th on Fox Sports Net. What sounds like a play on the Will Smith movie I,Robot which comes out this summer, it will be called I,Max. Commercials are currently showing.
I wonder what it will be like. A lot of people liked him on ATH, and miss him. He was also good on Friday night fights. I bet he will be on Best Damn show soon, I heard he will be on there some too. He needs to promote his show as well.

I still miss him on ATH. Yeah, Statboy has improved, but the show still isn't as entertaining as it was with Kellerman. I still miss hearing Max say "Next topic" with authority.

I, Max may also be a play on IMAX movies. Glad Kellermen landed on his feet. I'm not sure how 30 minutes of unrestrained Max will go over but will be the only show on FOX SPORT NET that I'll make an attempt to watch. I wonder if he got his 850K.

Yeah, in NY they only show the Mets on FSN and this will be the only thing i'll watch

Wow, that is a horrible show title -- probably worse than Rome Is Burning. Best of luck, Max.

Gimme Stiches: ITA. I wish certain people on the panel would stop knocking Stat Boy. I think he's doing a good job and yesterday he muted Plaschke with a comment like, who's in charge here?

Seeing the first fifteen minutes, holy crap, its a carbon copy of around the horn, but with less guests. And this is Max's show and he can interrupt whatever he wants, is that even fair if its scored. There's just no opinion on this show since its a copy. At least they have a guest, but it had to be consistent to get a reel feel. Also, they need to fix their delay, its getting annoying. They better change the format, because this is a spinoff of a spinoff.

I liked it, as I usually like Max in general even though eventually he will annoy me like he did on ATH, I liked seeing Holley by himself on the show and thought it was hilarious when he kept pausing him. I don't know about the scoring the arguments like a boxing match part through the whole show especially the email segment, but I could see it growing on me as long as it isn't going up against PTI.


btw, at the end of the show he thanked his cohost Michael Holley, is that a permanent thing or is he going to have a different cohost everyday?

I thought it was hilarious that he got hate mail when he lost.

There is absolutely no chance that I will ever voluntarily watch this show.

I am just floored by how much this is a cheap knock off of Around the Horn. I think it's a bad career move because it shows Max's limited abilities.

I don't think I'll ever watch again. Max annoyed me somewhat on ATH, and here he gets to talk as much as he wants. I don't think I can take it.

So it was ATH with 1 panelist?

I'd still watch it over sportscenter. But instead, MSG in their infinite wisdom gave us The Tim McCarver Show with Evander Holyfield. yay.

Missed it last night and after hearing the reviews I'm not sure I'll be catching it in the future. He's making 800K a year not bad of a (short-term) career move - assuming that is he hasn't burned bridges at the four letter network.

I only saw last 9 minutes so I need to watch the whole thing to get a good feel. He did add some humor and some was very cool. Well, it just started so we will have to see.

Really? If anything, this show is a strange hybrid of "Five Good Minutes," "Good Cop, Bad Cop," and "Toss Up!" from Pardon the Interruption, except with actual scoring.

I really like the theme music, though. Sounds like it's straight out of NFL Films.

P.S. Max introduced Holley as "former Boston Globe columnist Michael Holley" today. Did he leave the paper voluntarily?

Has anyone tried to read the scrambled bunches of words at the begginning of the show? I have paused it with tivo and saw the words "blow hard" repeatedly.

Not to answer my own question or anything, but it appears that he left to "pursue an opportunity on TV" -- I wonder if that's a specific reference to his co-hosting gig or to something else. The list of odds for his replacement at the Boston Globe is pretty amusing. Woody Paige at 10,000 to 1? Heh.

Anyway, one thing I don't like about the show is that the mystique of the Disembodied Voice is gone, now that we know his real name and see him everyday. But I do like how the pre-commercial teasers are modeled after Around the Horn, except now he uses a word that rhymes with "I" (so many to choose from, unlike "around") and yells "MAX!"

I've been trying to like this, because I like Max, but I can't. Everything about it bugs me. Max should not have quit his day job.

800,000 per year. Holley is probably making at least 200,000. We know FOX isn't going away anytime soon (even if it is second rate compared to the Four Letter Network). As long as Max didn't piss on Dan Patrick's desk on the way out he always can go back. . . hell, look at Jim Rome.

I live in Boston and enjoyed Holley's columns in the Globe more often than not, especially compared to his two biggest colleagues: codgy old bastard Bob Ryan and annoying egomaniac Dan Shaughnessy, who former Red Sox Carl Everett famously and aptly dubbed "Curly Haired Boyfriend", or CHB, a nickname that has stuck with Boston sports fans.

The local TV stations in Boston each have their own weekly, hour-long "Sports Reporters"-type show, and I usually liked what Holley had to say when appearing on those shows, too.

His column stopped appearing in the Globe around late 2002, and he said in one of his TV appearances that he was on a sabattical from the newspaper while writing a book. I searched on Amazon.com, and it must be the forthcoming "Patriot Reign : The Genius of Bill Belichick and the Building of a Dynasty" (to be published in September 2004), because that's the only book under his name. Anyway, after a long absence, Holley's column re-appeared in the Globe a couple of months ago, if only briefly before leaving for "I, Max".

And I'll also add that the "I, Max" title seems to be a direct rip-off of the IMAX theater brand name, and you'd think the IMAX lawyers would be on the case by now.

I think that "I, Max" is a play on the "I, Claudius" book and miniseries title.

Ratings update:

Michael Hiestand of USA Today said that .08% of housholds watched I, Max, but in the "big three cities," it was .00%. Ouch, FSN better hope to throw the whole kitchen sink to promote Max.

I can see why. I saw the "weekend" edition and it sucked.

Caught one episode. Agree with every last one of you. It's Around the Horn Lite. Max, Holley, NoLongerDisembodied Voice, the mute button (oh, I'm sorry, ME, VR) lead-ins to commercials, scoring... jeepers. Somebody teach these ponies another trick already.

Wow, I had no idea the ratings were so bad.

Yet another Pardon the Interruption rip-off -- dressing up The Disembod...er, Bill Wolff in various costumes. Last week? Card shark. Today? Prison inmate. "Good Cop, Bad Cop" you ain't.

Nevermind.

I must be one of the few poor souls who still watches this show every day (my addiction to sports-related banter seems to be incurable).

What's amused me most recently is the constant references to Max's fiancée, who is apparently an attorney in NYC. I had no idea he was engaged -- Mazel Tov! The higher salary didn't hurt, but she's probably the real reason why he moved back from DC.

I also like the hate mail segment when Max loses. Didn't realize people in this country despised him that much. But Bill Wolff's cackle has got to go. It's insufferable.

I was wondering whether all of the talk of his girlfriend was for real. Everytime Max mentions something Wolff always says "if she really exists." My odd crush on him will continue anyways I suppose.

I wish they had brought somebody else over from Around the Horn, I don't really care for Micheal Holley all that much.

*Bump*

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Woody was their first choice, but he decided against it. Holley just happened to say yes.

I agree that while Holley was great on ATH, he seemed to have undergone a personality change here. And it's not for the better.

I haven't heard about or seen Max Kellerman for years. I'm not a big sports person (I was in this section to post on the Spelling Bee), but I was oddly fascinated by Max's public access Max on Boxing show YEARS ago. He was a scrawny 16 year old who answered questions about boxing from anyone who called into his show. Whenever I was flipping channels and saw his show, I had to watch it. It doesn't surprise me that he wound up at ESPN. How old is he now? Did he ever fill out, or is he still a stick man?

He's 30, getting married, moved from ESPN to FOX for more money, his show, I,MAX is doing terrible, he wants his mommy back on set.

Feel free to judge for yourself.

The show is still watchable for me, ratings be damned. The hate mail when Max loses is as funny (and harsh) as ever, and I'm always amused at how Max thinks that he's won "The Devil's Advocate" segment when it's obviously never going to happen. I don't like the recent endings, however; it seems like in round 11 or 12, Max makes some lewd comment about a female athlete or celebrity (e.g., Serena Williams, Courtney Love, J-Lo) and either wins or loses by KO.

Finally saw it, and it was OK, definitely anything new though. What was Embodied Voice thinking though? He should've stayed behind the curtain.

I'll probably check it out a couple more times to see if it gets any better, but I can understand why it's doing so badly.

So the show's been retooled yet again, and really is virtually indistinguishable from Pardon the Interruption (the crawl banner with upcoming topics) and Around the Horn (running scoreboard) now. Switching from 15 to 12 rounds was a pretty good idea, though.

Anyone know if the ratings are still at 0.0?

This show just stinks. [/kornheiser]

Did Phillips block them out from naming the "Me-VR" to "Me-vo" though? Nobody calls it a DVR/PVR. It's a Tivo.

Still can't stand Max. Couldn't stand him on Around the Horn either. Who decided that Max was the Final Word on any debatable sports issue? I hate how he is so smug and all preachy.

i haven't watched at all this week and turned it on for a minute last night, the first thing I thought was, oh now they're ripping off PTI even more blantantly. I don't know, I actually don't mind Max as a personality and the show is totally starting to grate on me.

I saw the crawl and the timer thr other night and said to myself "The hell? Could they try any harder to rip off espn's shows." I've only watched this the few times it's on at night so it doesn't seem too bad to me. I like Michael Holley and some of the letters to Max are pretty funny.

Yeah, I mean I like Max, but if it was up against PTI or Around the Horn I would definetly watch either of those. The reason I even catch it at all is becasue it's on right when I get home from work. Why doesn't PTI run at that time, damn you ESPN.

Yea I agree. I would rather watch the same episode of ATH or PTI then watch I Max. God how I hate him

Yes this is a show whose gimmick is to pretty much take the PTI/ATH gimmick, and ratchet up the "obnxious" factor by about 10. The whole, I don't know, gestalt of this show revolves around the participants being as annoying as they can possibly be. Kind of hard to believe that the ratings are in the toilet. Do you think Max and friends are too? Does Max look at the ratings book and then sit there saying "I don't understand what the problem is... We're all screaming at the top of our lungs. I still look like a cocky, beadier-eyed version of David Riske, Holley is not only an idiot but the braces make him sound like it too...Disembodied Voice has one of those obnoxious faces that makes people just want to start throwing punches, so naturally we're giving him closeups every minute or so.... Why aren't people watching? I just don't get it.

Max just said that P. Diddy compares favorably to Thomas Jefferson. Ah-huh. Wow, what an idiot. Why do you hate your country, Max? Still like him though.

I actually went to high school with Max.

His fiancee (the NY attorney he talks about) was also a classmate of mine. They dated in high school for a while, too, if I remember correctly. (This is all from the high school alumni newsletter, for what that's worth as a gossip source).

Anyway, in high school he had the same "smug yet strangely endearing because he's trying so damn hard" attitude that he projects today.

He is insufferable. I watched one episode of I, Max then quickly realized how much I love Stat Boy.

Am I the only one who sees Max as Jim Rome with a NY accent? They're both short, goateed & obnoxious. I'd rather listen to Rome than watch I (wanna be like Rome) Max.

I kind of like this show because Max has the opportunity to say whatever obnoxious BS comes to mind, and it might be funny. I liked him as a boxing commentator, though he could stand to have a bigger vocabulary. The only problem is I really don't follow sports, so I can't get the full effect of his obnoxious BS. I wouldn't have even seen this show if I hadn't been flipping. For the longest time I thought it was about that panoramic dome theater.

I have the weirdest crush on Max. I don't know why.

I think he's absolutely adorable. Maybe that's cause I've only watched his show once, so I don't listen to his BS.

I love max kellerman. Whether he's right or wrong he's willing to stand by his beliefs and I love the combination of smuggness and self deprecation that he has. Stat boy has grown on me as far as being the host of ATH is concerned but he'll never and I mean never be as good as max.

"Never be as good as Max"? In terms of what? Smugness and self-deprication? Stat Boy is unparalleled in terms of sports knowledge--Max only really knows about pro boxing. I'm convinced Max has some lowly intern researching the facts for him before each segment, which he smugly reads from cue cards.