Will it last the summer?

Yes, because Zucker is so involved.
What do you think?

The sidekick Fuglestank is awful. He was awful on America's Funniest Home Videos and he's awfuler here. He's up there with the other host of American Idol who only lasted the first season.

I really wanted this to be an enjoyable new talk show. It airs at 10 p.m.: the perfect time in my world. Unfortunately, the premiere episode was just painful to watch. The only redeeming aspect, in my view, was Patty Smyth, she was just a breath of fresh air. Maybe they should can John Fuselang (hey, there is life after VH1) and make Patty the sidekick.

Poor Jersey took a number of hits last night.

I tuned in just to see my man Sting, but it was pretty painful to watch. McEnroe was just so awkward with the questions and the chit chat. Patty was a hoot though! Who knew?

Somehow I could guess your interest in that ep based on your Member Name :-)

Johnny Mac is always so comfortable during tennis broadcasts and in the tennis environment it was painful to watch him like a fish out of water. I would love this show to be a success for him but somehow I think he'd be better off having a show on The Tennis Channel, which I don't even get.

And what about asking Sting for the gazillionth time about the tantric sex? Boring and uncomfortable for everyone. (Although Patty asking Sting why he and Trudy had never offered to swap with Mac & Smyth was hilarious.)

I don't agree with that statement at all. When he's commenting on game play or giving his opinion when the camera isn't on him, Mac does a great job. However, he always looks so uncomfortable when the tennis broadcast begins and he is staring frozen at the camera when they're in the little talk show looking area. He was also horribly stiff and uncomfortable-seeming when he guest hosted for Letterman. I did watch The Chair, but have no memory of what he was like during that disaster. He would be outstanding as the host of a radio talk show.

Gawd, this really WAS painful. Johnny Mac, so far, has like ZERO interviewing skills and seems most comfortable when things are about him. (IMHO) Sidekick guy was pretty bad, but it seemed like there were a couple of times when he actually bailed John out when he got a little stuck in his interviews. Patty Smyth was a hoot -- no inhibitions there!

Did anyone check to see if McEnroe's guitar was actually plugged in?

Maybe they can get Mary Carillo as a sidekick! (Although I don't think she'd lower herself.)

This show so needs Mary, though, because she's known John forever and loves to take the piss out of him. Maybe as a guest, but they need to get her on the show.

Mac is so enamored of himself, though, that he sucks as an interviewer. He never let poor Will Ferrell get any kind of leverage because he was so hyped to ask all the questions he was supposed to ask and then didn't even let Will answer. If he had just managed to shut up for 20 seconds Will would have made the first half watchable. I switched to an Unwrapped about candy for the second half because I couldn't watch anymore.

Very good points, iMissEthan.

I do think Fugelsang was trying to help McEnroe (unsuccessful though his attempts were.)

During NBC's Wimbledon coverage, McEnroe was plugging his show. He said, "I don't know about the show but I know we'll have the best theme song because my wife wrote it." Well, John. There you go.

I was shocked that they signed off with Patty singing Scandal's old hit. I figured she'd be sick of it by now. But I do love that song. I'm such a sucker for the 80s (or was it 90s?).

I think Scandal peaked in 1984. And I will say this for Mac - he's very vocally demonstrative towards his wife and children.

So Zucker's involved, eh? Then I imagine it was he who, after the first part of the extraordinarily awkward Sting interview, phoned in and had Patty slip in next to Sting. And try to save it, which, bless her, she almost succeeded doing.

That was terrible, though not quite as uncomfortable as watching a Sharon Osbourne interview.

Sting is truly the sexiest man on the planet. Trudie is a lucky, lucky woman.

Well I thought he did much better on the second night. But interesting that they added Karch Kiraly to the lineup. He's still a hottie. Looks like every night they'll have some kind of athlete on.

Weird that my cable lineup doesn't show McEnroe on at 10 p.m. but it does show it re-airing at 1 a.m. or so. Huh?

This is a daily show? I thought it was weekly. Why would they start a daily show on Wednesday? Bizarre. Needless to say, I haven't tuned in.

I think it started on Wednesday because Mac has significant obligations at Wimbledon. He does some broadcasting for the BBC plus there's a gala for the champions after the Finals. Anyway, he was probably in London until Monday. But I thought it was weird too.

His show is the definition of painful. He's so awkward and unfunny--at least his cohost has some animation. I watched Friday's episode with Aisha Tyler, who is so gregarious, so interesting, that it literally made me ill watching her try to get something resembling a conversation out of Block-o-Wood McEnroe.

Call me gullible, but was Will Ferrell's interruption of CNBC's Power Lunch that they showed in the premiere ep "real" (I mean, did he actually wind up interrupting a live broadcast during CNBC daytime)? Or was that just done as a skit?

I interpreted it as a skit.

Anyone else cringe when John says, "You're watching McEnroe!"?
That line, of all lines, should just roll of the tongue. And he is so stiff and uncomfortable in the delivery. Poor John.

It wasn't a skit, they really interrupted the Power Lunch show. There was an article about it in today's NY Times business section.

Thanks for the info iMissEthan! Who knew? From The New York Times. Note: requires free registration.

**sigh**
Show 4 was still relatively painful to watch. And guess there will be no A-list guests on this show. You would think with as many tennis pros on the East Coast for the Hall of Fame induction, he'd at least have a few folks pop in tonite. Alas, not so.

One of Monday night's guests was Katrina Vanden-Heuvel. The interview began with a ninth grade class picture of Katrina and John. She was hot and in a micro-skirt and he was short and geeky. Ah the terrible memories for guys of being in the ninth grade!
I notice that Brian Williams is a guest tomorrow night. Now there's another NBC battleship that is sinking fast. Let's see what two nervous people do together.
However, Wednesday looks good - Elton John.

Go here for an SI article on McEnroe. You have to scroll down to get to the section about the show. I've read it, and I think it's intended to be positive. But, um, I'm not sure.

Also, Jon Wertheim mentions it briefly in his column.

I don't know what you are talking about when you mentioned Brian Williams. Have you ever seen him speak outside of the news setting he's always in? He's a riot with a very dry wit. If anything....Williams will keep McEnroe somewhat interesting for more than two minutes.

I thought the Brian Williams segment was painful as anticipated.

I'll take this moment to mention that I haven't watched the show since it's second episode. I'll watch Dennis Miller and then, somehow, the remote clicks away from CNBC. Poor John.

Well that might've been the best show to date. Elton John and Nicole Richie, who'd've thunk it?

I was actually impressed with Nicole Richie. It wasn't the first interview I've seen her do but it was certainly one in which she came across well.

Probably doesn't hurt that Elton and John know each other, if not socially, then at least through tennis (especially as Elton and Andre are such good friends.)

Was a bit disappointed that Elton did Tiny Dancer instead of Philadelphia Freedom for the tennis connection but it was still very cool that EJ performed. Heck Sting didn't do that (just chimed in with Patty).

It was a total goosebump moment watching Elton sing "Tiny Dancer" to nothing but the piano.

Loved it.

Does anyone else hate McEnroe's sidekick with a severe passion? His sidekick is John Fugelsang from America's Funniest Home Videos. He is probably the lamest people ever born. I just did a Google search on him and there are a bunch of "hate sites" for Fugelsang. Check out this one: http://www.johnfugelsang.com

McEnroe himself was in Newport, RI for the Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony (he also played an exhibition doubles match: McEnroe and Tony Roche took on Andre Agassi and Rod Laver). He was probably too busy making his own appearance there to get one of his fellow Tennis Hall of Famers to come back to NY to tape his show...or something like that.




You're right...Brian Williams has made numerous appearances on Leno and Conan over the past 5-6 years, especially since May 2002, when it was announced that Williams will replace Tom Brokaw on "NBC Nightly News" at the end of 2004. The idea has been to introduce Williams to the viewing public who may not have seen him on MSNBC or CNBC, and to market him as a funnier, hipper, younger version of Brokaw (he's really into NASCAR, for example).

Williams seems genuinely down-to-earth and funny, but in all these late-night interview appearances, he can come across as trying to hard to impress.

When I ask my friends at NBC about Brian, they emphasize his intellect not his humor or human side. Maybe I am reading to much of what I see through those comments.

I'm sure that description is accurate. What I was trying to say was: Brian Williams is a smart and professional anchor, but in order to "prove" that he isn't a boring stiff, NBC execs have dispatched him to appear on Leno and Conan numerous times.

Tom Brokaw had the benefit of being the lead news anchor on "TODAY" for a while before starting on "NBC Nightly News", so the viewing public already knew him as a smart guy with a cheerful, funny side.

Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the shear (sheer?) number of guests they have in an hour on McEnroe.

Last night he had:
* Kevin Pollack
* Mike and Mad Dog (sports radio)
* James Lipton
* NBC-requisite Olympians (two fencers)

That's six guests plus they did bits and showed some footage of various guests' work.

Interestingly, McEnroe caught himself doing his rapid-fire question thing where he asks a guest four questions in a row and then doesn't have time for the guest to answer any question sufficiently. That was entertaining. He stopped himself and said, let me ask you one question at a time. But then the guest made him ask the follow-up (which was a ridiculous question).

Oh John, I feel for ya.

You're (not) watching, McEnroe!

I missed Lipton. Did he bring any cards?!

I watched the very beginning Monday because of Johnny C (Cusack). If he's really going to be a reporter at the convention, I'll have to continue to tune in this week.

I watched last night, no Johnny C. Kinda disappointed. I have heard that he will be back, tho.

David Cross was cool.

What the hell was that lame ass "band" they had on tonight?

I feel obligated to speak up in defense of John Fugelsang... I worked with him on the pilot of a game show that didn't get sold ("Beat the Crowd"), and in person he's smart, funny and VERY hard-working. I wince at how hard he's working on "McEnroe;" he'd be better if he relaxed just a little. That public flogging last night, and the night before on Letterman, was unfunny, uncalled for, and excruciating to watch.

I saw John F. do stand-up years ago and the only thing I remember from his act was him saying "Don't I look like both Chandler and Joey from Friends?". He was right, and that's all I can think of whenever I see him now, except I don't think he's as funny as either of them.

Unfortunately, McEnroe himself is just not funny. Fugelsang is really trying to move the show along but McEnroe does stupid things like asking guests 4 questions in a row and then not giving them a shot to answer even one.

Last night was more than harsh. It was difficult to watch. I watched on the 1 a.m. re-broadcast and it seemed that during the dead silence, even the producers were wincing and cut away to commercial without warning.

If there is conflict between McEnroe and Fugelsang, they should just get rid of Fugelsang. I said before, Mac needs a co-host but he would be better off bringing Patty on. She was great.

I missed this...what happened?

Fugelsang missed Tuesday night's show because bad weather canceled his flight out of Los Angeles -- where, apparently, he'd gone to do show-related promotional work. I missed Tuesday and Wednesday nights' shows, but McEnroe went on Letterman Wednesday night and complained about the incident. Dave said that McEnroe should just "fire the guy," and JM said he believed in second chances. They showed the clip at the top of last night's show, and Fugelsang seemed genuinely disturbed. He said he thought they'd cleared the air, and asked whether he was fired; McEnroe said no. Fugelsang asked, "Do you hold on to anger?" and the camera locked on McEnroe's face for a pause that became excruciating. The audience didn't know whether it was supposed to be funny, and the producers cut away to commercial.

And the other thing was, McEnroe told eveyone that Fugelsang missed his flight. But in actuality, Fugelsang MADE the flight but it got called back to the gate for some reason (weather, mechanical, ?). So it was really out of his control.

I have the McEnroe eps on tape. I'm gonna have to watch Tuesday's ep to see if Mac flopped big time on his own.

It's funny, but when McEnroe appears on Carson this week they spend most of the time trying to out-misery each other about their shows. In the end, they agree that McEnroe really has it worse, because at least Carson can get some guests without a fight. At least he wasn't loud and obnoxious like he was on Conan.

Edited for bad structure.

Belated thanks for the recap, AnswerGirl! You really do have the answers, don't you?

I haven't watched in two weeks but ... I've been busy. Honest.

From TVguide.com:

He does, in fact, seem more comfortable behind the desk.

Aye, but he still looks constipated.

Well I watch a good 30 minutes of last night's ep. You would think there would be more tennis talk when the Bryan brothers are the guests but instead we have John McEnroe obsessed with the fact that he has twins on his show. All the ensuing schtick was annoying, even the appearance of PeeMac.

But wasn't I surprised at how entertaining the Rev. Al Sharpton was. He was a solid guest.

And the desk? Is not helping.

From eonline.com:

Another story on the same here at Zap2it.com.

I saw an episode a few weeks back. I stopped on it because David Cross was on it. Cross is very hard edged and sarcastic and free-wheeling and McEnroe made him look nervous and awkward. Cross was promoting his comedy CD "It's Not Funny" and McEnroe would say painfully stilted things like "David Cross, he IS funny, his cd is It's NOT Funny". Yep. Of course, I haven't seen the desk yet, I'm sure it's leaps and bounds better now, even though it's a falling tree in the woods away from not even existing.

It's like watching a train wreck every week.

Just saw an ep tonight where Mac's interviewing Kurt Bush/Busch NASCAR driver. I might not know how to spell his name but I know better than to ask NASCAR drivers about:
1) being afraid of wrecking
2) Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s wreck/death

Not to mention Mac really didn't have much to say about Kurt himself. It's just painful to watch. He is either not preparing enough or just plain bad at this gig.

Put us and Mac out of his misery. Cancel this show.