Short-Lived Shows: McEnroe

I'm not a sports fan, so I never cared much for John McEnroe the tennis player even if I knew enough about him based on his temper alone. He seemed like an odd choice to host his own talk show, but that's exactly what he did on CNBC in 2004 before the network pulled the plug. Why was the show cancelled? Well, there's a number of factors, all of which help to explain... okay, no one watched the show.

It's too bad more people didn't tune into the show, because it wasn't that bad. It could have been better, but I don't blame McEnroe himself for that. He's not exactly a dynamo as a host, but like David Steinberg he has a very comfortable demeanor that puts his guests at ease. His show followed Dennis Miller's, and it was a nice way to kick back and relax after enduring Miller's painful schtick and uneducated pontificating.

What made the show not so great was all the touches that were added to make it seem more like a crazy late night gab festwith things like"funny" skits and the addition of a sidekick, John Fugelsang, who is probably funny in his own right, but what he was doing on this show still remains a mystery to me.

On at least two separate nights Nielsen Media Research reported that no one tuned into the show at all. McEnroe tanked, but I don't blame McEnroe. I think given a different network and a production team willing to work with his strengths rather than trying to dress the show up with bells and whistles he could have fared much better.