Author Topic: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED  (Read 178 times)

GangstaBoogy

"Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« on: January 16, 2007, 12:58:32 PM »
Stephen A. Smith's volume dial was turned down to 1, his trademark bombast on mute.

"I have to sit back and get some rest and take stock in my life and where I am moving forward," he said quietly Friday, an hour after ESPN announced the cancellation of his talk show, "Quite Frankly."

This was a long way from the summer of 2005, when various media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, profiled Smith as a rising star in sports punditry, a lightning rod many loved to hate.

SI called him "the most despised personality on the air today."

But ESPN's then executive VP Mark Shapiro said, "Stephen A. Smith moves the needle on ratings ... People might come back because they hate him. The bottom line is they come back."

As it turned out, they didn't. His show got weak ratings on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m., then switched to 11 on Jan. 30, 2006. Since then it averaged 0.3 percent of cable homes, a total of about 240,000.

Smith praised his staff and insisted the show was "getting better and better," but added that given the production costs for a daily, hour-long show in Manhattan, the audience did not justify the price tag.

"Would it have succeeded on ESPN [rather than on ESPN2] or in a different time slot?" he said. "I can't blame anybody for that but myself, because I'm the one who wanted to move it to 11.

"The finger should be pointed at me."

Quite frankly, the show simply never caught on, and staff members regularly were outside Penn Station trying to drum up even a studio audience.

So it is difficult to fault ESPN, and Smith didn't, saying "the buck stops with me."

Still, something was lost with its demise. Defending Smith can get people nearly as upset as they get at Smith himself, but we can take it, so here goes:

On the last episode much of the show was devoted to a panel discussion featuring three black journalists in addition to Smith and one who is a Korean-American. Some subjects that touched on racial issues led to heated disagreements and points of view not often heard on national shows.

It was good stuff, the kind that shows the potential Smith, 39, has as a loud, distinctive voice amid the cacophony of sports talk.

That doesn't excuse his excesses, such as questionable reporting, shouting for the sake of shouting and sexist guy talk on his ESPN 1050 radio show. But you have to admire the spunk of the chronic hustler out of Hollis, Queens.

The end of "Quite Frankly" is far from the end of Smith. He plans to continue writing a column for The Philadelphia Inquirer and doing his radio show. ESPN said it would expand his presence on SportsCenter and as an NBA analyst.

"For the first time in my career, I was a little tired and I do think I bit off more than I can chew," he said. "No matter how well people think I handled it, the toll was significant and substantial.

"But I'm OK. If anything I'm going to be even more of a fixture on the NBA and hopefully the NFL. I don't plan on going anywhere. I'll be around. I just need some rest."


http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition/ny-spbest165054479jan16,0,1809892.column?coll=ny-sports-print
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rik

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Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2007, 01:10:23 PM »
Wow, this shit was still on? I thought they had cancelled it a long time ago.
 

"THE" MoSav

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2007, 01:34:04 PM »
good Stephen A. Is obnoxious

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rik

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Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2007, 01:42:13 PM »
good Stephen A. Is obnoxious

Real spit. I hate that muthafucka. I've hated him eversince I first seen him on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" speaking of that show is that shit still on?
 

"THE" MoSav

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2007, 01:43:00 PM »
good Stephen A. Is obnoxious

Real spit. I hate that muthafucka. I've hated him eversince I first seen him on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" speaking of that show is that shit still on?

yeah it is^^
Hes just so annoying with how he argues shit, i just wanna sock dude in face.

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Now_Im_Not_Banned

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Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2007, 01:51:30 PM »
Heard about this a few days ago...He gets a whole lot of hate, but a good portion of it is deserving.
 

"THE" MoSav

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2007, 01:52:52 PM »
hes too opinionated in a wrong way. a guy like rome is opinionated, but he knows his shit

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Bay Area Jat

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Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2007, 01:54:45 PM »
Stephen gets the tough questions answered during interviews. Athletes tend to open up more to him prolly cause hes black
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"THE" MoSav

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2007, 02:09:45 PM »
Stephen gets the tough questions answered during interviews. Athletes tend to open up more to him prolly cause hes black

nah, there are plenty of guys that will get the answers. And you are right the black guys get more personal answers from the athletes.

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Chad

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2007, 02:13:53 PM »
Good!  This guy was about as nerve-wrecking as Gangstaboogy... ;D
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PLANT

Re: "Quite Frankly" with Stephen A. Smith has been CANCELLED
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2007, 02:23:23 PM »
good Stephen A. Is obnoxious

Real spit. I hate that muthafucka. I've hated him eversince I first seen him on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" speaking of that show is that shit still on?
yep I cant stand him either, and I hated him even more for what he said about Charlie V after he was drafted by Toronto.