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| Cheap Seats | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Randy and Jason Sklar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ESPN Classic |
| Release | February 4, 2004 (2004-02-04) – November 19, 2006 (2006-11-19) |
Cheap Seats without Ron Parker, orCheap Seats: Without Ron Parker commonly shortened toCheap Seats, is a television program broadcast onESPN Classic and hosted by brothersRandy and Jason Sklar. The brothers appear as fictionalESPN tape librarians who amuse themselves by watching old,campy sports broadcasts and lampooning them. Produced byMark Shapiro, Showrunner, Todd Pellegrino, James Cohen and Joseph Maar,Cheap Seats was originally an hour-long program. There were eight one hour-long episodes in the first season, all of which were edited to fit a 30-minute time slot.
A number of actors and comedians were featured in various pre recorded and in-studio comedy skits on the show, includingJim Gaffigan,H. Jon Benjamin,David Cross,Zach Galifianakis,Ed Helms,Eugene Mirman,Michael Ian Black,Nick Kroll,Kristen Schaal,Judah Friedlander,Nick Swardson,Mike Birbiglia,Paul Rudd,Doug Benson,Kathy Griffin,Carlos Alazraqui andPatton Oswalt.
Cheap Seats debuted on February 4, 2004, with the opening of the episode showing "Ron Parker" (played byMichael Showalter), the show's browbeating original host, injured by a shelf full of tapes after it collapses on him, thus forcing the Sklars to fill in as hosts as they were #2 and #3 on the depth chart after him (ahead of #4Ryan Leaf). This skit was part of the show's opening theme until the second season, which featured a new introduction while all references to Parker were removed (although in the theme song which opened episodes of Season 4, the lyrics include "going farther than Ron Parker").
In addition to the Sklars' regular commentary,Cheap Seats contained regular segments such as "Do You Care?" (in which the Sklars informed viewers of obscure facts related to the shows they were watching), and "The Cheapies", where awards in nonsensical categories were given out to in-episode personalities at the show's closing. Other regular segments included "Breakdown", where then-ESPN analystSean Salisbury would comedically break down an athlete's performance; and "What Got Cut", in which other humorous elements of an episode that were edited due to time constraints were glossed over by the Sklars. "Cheap Shot of the Week" showcased an athlete featured earlier in the show or in a prior episode at their worst. Original sketches parodying a topic relevant to a particular program were filmed by various comedians.
The set featured a wall-mounted poster that would appear on camera prior to commercial breaks, which read "Attention ESPN Staff: Do Not Lend Tapes to This Person" and contained a photograph of a then-relevant notorious celebrity or athlete, such asVince McMahon orBarry Bonds. A photo of the Sklars themselves was seen in the series finale.
Cheap Seats briefly included a live studio audience and virtuallaugh track during the second season, starting with an episode on the 1980Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Only six shows were produced with this format, and the audience was gone by the premiere of the third season on September 19, 2005. The episodes with the audience were edited to minimize their presence in future reruns.
Two episodes were taped in locations other than New York or Los Angeles. In October 2005, ESPN Classic aired "Cheap Seats on the Road" from the Sklar brothers' hometown ofSt. Louis, Missouri, where the secondBusch Stadium was being torn down because part of it was on the same land on whichBusch Stadium III was being constructed. On the episode, the Sklars try to convince city officials to cancel the stadium'sdemolition by combining the two into a bizarre superstructure.
During Season 3,Cheap Seats went toHillsborough, New Jersey, after a contestant won a contest for the Sklars to film an episode in their home. The episode was titledCheap Seats on the Road: A Fan's Couch.
This particular episode, which is not officially a part of theCheap Seats canon, is a 2004 ESPN special (produced byMLB Productions). It features the Sklars going on a trip to St. Louis and then toCooperstown. The Sklars went all the way to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame on a campaign to get beloved 1980s and 1990sSt. Louis Cardinals playerJosé "The Utilityman" Oquendo inducted for his versatility to play almost any position on the baseball field. (In 1988, Oquendo became the firstNational League player since 1918 to have played all nine positions in one season.)[1]
Most of the broadcasts are from ESPN's archives. Among them:
Cheap Seats was shot in New York City (with segments filmed in Los Angeles) and had made use of local comedians as guest stars in itssketches. Most of the bit parts were played bystand-up comics whom Jason and Randy met during their years on the road as standup comedians themselves. The "Creative Breaking/K-1 Fighting" episode guest-starred the cast ofMystery Science Theater 3000, in their theatrical silhouette form, cracking on sketches the Sklars performed.
A special titledThis is Inside Cheap Seats that aired on April 17, 2006, though most of the content therein was fictional. The fourth and final season premiered on June 5, 2006.
The series finale aired on November 19, and includedracquetball, amateurbowling,curling,model airplane racing, andping-pong. The episode's main focus was on the Sklars (fictitiously) getting a job on ESPN'sSportsCenter. However, it turned out they weren't hired to be anchors, but as errand boys to do the anchors' bidding, causing the brothers to consider going back to the show, which was currently being hosted by thenNew York Yankees outfielderJohnny Damon (a fan of the show) and a recurring character called the "Score Settler." Before the last episode, ESPN Classic presented 12 previous episodes in a six-hour "finale-a-thon."
Cheap Seats reruns do not currently air on the now-defunct ESPN Classic or any other network. Selected episodes from the first season were at one time, but are no longer, available for purchase through theiTunes Store.
