I think it is safe to assume that the Rocky Mountain News’ Dusty Saunders is not particularly concerned with the career arc of Robin Tunney.
An irritating pop-up promotion, complete with a siren, appeared on the screen during a key inning.
The promo was for Prison Break, Fox’s Monday night drama that returns to prime time when the World Series ends.
The siren, of course, indicated the prison break, which Tim McCarver and Joe Buck couldn’t ignore.
They provided brief, lame comedy lines about the baserunner making his break.
Such pop-up promotions aren’t new on live sports events because Fox and CBS have been using them regularly during NFL games.
But they’re more intrusive in baseball, particularly during the intense, often slow-moving World Series coverage. And when audio is added, the process further cheapens baseball, which continues to lose its appeal as a TV attraction.
Fewer viewers are watching the sport annually.
Call me old-fashioned. But getting involved with baseball on television was more fun when the only images on the screen were ballplayers, umpires and managers.
And the sounds were the voices of pros such as Vin Scully, not sirens.
Much as I respect Mr. Traditionalist’s opinion, I personally feel that Fox doesn’t go far enough. The sort of crossover programming that worked so well in the past for, say, “All In The Family” and “The Jeffersons”, or “Homicide” and “Law & Order”, could easily be employed in this setting. Joe Buck could be entrusted with the tranquilizer gun to supervise that screaming woman from “Trading Spouses : Meet Your New Mommy”. If one or both are killed in the process, that’s a small price to pay. The OC’s Adam Brody and Kevin Kennedy could switch places for a week — just to see if anyone noticed.