In the aftermath of the ESPY’s, some folks are mad at ESPN and Shane Gillis for jokes told by the latter at the awards show on Wednesday night. The truth is, the opening monologue had the perfect amount of spice. In typical Disney fashion, they’ve watered down their sports subsidiary like boiled chicken in the past. In recent years, they’ve attempted to bring a small amount of consumable content back to the platform, with moves like bringing in the Pat McAfee show.
Nobody has cared much about the ESPY’s recently. It would be difficult to find someone who could name the last three hosts, because sports has become somewhat unbearable, so an awards show dedicated to them, populated by entertainment elites, is sure to be as riveting as a Mahjong finals at the local retirement home. Where ESPN got it right was looking at the hundreds of millions of views and reactions to Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes, and trying to copy the model.
After banning Norm McDonald from ever presenting again (following his 1998 performance), the show has been boring and stale. The Network has opted for several different stars to host (like Danica Patrick and Rob Riggle), but none have said or done anything remotely relevant during their time on stage. McDonald’s opening monologue is still talked about as one of the greatest in awards show history. That’s because, unlike Hollywood pinups and athletes, comedians are actually funny.
McDonald has been revered by comedians and fans alike for having no filter or not caring about laughs and applause. He knew what was funny, and was going to say it, and nothing gave him more joy than people not laughing. They either didn’t get the joke, or didn’t understand funny. His second joke of the night set the tone for the remaining seven minutes. “The ESPY’s are six years old, although Anthony Mason swears they’re 18.”
The few groans he got for that joke were fuel to his fire, and maybe his best joke of the night (it’s subjective and everyone will have their own favorite) was, in classic Norm fashion, an OJ Simpson joke.
“He [Charles Woodson] became the first defensive player to win the Heisman trophy. Congratulations Charles. That is something that no one can ever take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter.” -Norm McDonald at the 1998 ESPY’s
Ken Griffey Jr is seen shaking his head in disbelief at the jokes, and allegedly, the most offensive joke he told was making fun of John Elway’s teeth. The truth is that soft people can’t take jokes, and places like ESPN and Hollywood, who coddle and cultivate soft people, hate to be roasted or see each other roasted, and they rush to each other’s defense like moral crusaders, then pat each other on the back for having no spine or sense of humor.
After years of subpar hosts like Drake, Anthony Mackie, and Peyton Manning, ESPN finally brought in a funny comedian, who whether he knew it or not, paid homage to the late, great McDonald.
Gillis chose not to hold back on his edgy approach, either, and some folks were not fans. In particular was a group of angry old women who also hated McDonald’s comedy, and that is the ladies of The View. Whoopi Goldberg, allegedly a comedian when she was younger, wants people to know that there is a difference between being funny and being offensive. She expressed to the hundreds of viewers of her show that icons like George Carlin knew how to be funny without offending people.
Is there anything that displays how out of touch a person is than suggesting that Carlin’s comedy wasn’t offensive to anyone? He can be somewhat credited for the parental advisory sticker that now has to be placed on comedy albums. Carlin was a genius, and he was funny. The same is true of McDonald and Gillis.
Gillis made fun of Trump in his monologue (always a way to get laughter and applause from “that type” of crowd in attendance. He also made an Epstein joke, which nobody will judge him for, because it’s a bad look to groan for a joke about the world’s most famous pedophile. Where Gillis may have started to lose the comedy lovers, like Goldberg, may have been when he attacked the WNBA.
Gillis mentioned that after her career, Caitlin Clark will work at a Waffle House so she can continue fighting black women, and said that Trump referred to the New York Liberty as a group of large black men. One of he funnier moments may have been when he introduced four-time WNBA star Brittany Hicks to applause, then revealed it was his friend’s wife, and he knew that no one in the crowd knew WNBA players.
Gillis also made a joke about how “Thankfully,” Megan Rapinoe wasn’t in attendance. After a few groans from the crowd, he sarcastically mentioned how she would actually be a great time to be around. The funny thing is, the same awards show had her co-host one year, and it was not great. His monologue wasn’t all fun and laughs. There were some parts of it that dragged a little (his story about shaking Trump’s hand), but overall it was edgy and funny.
I don’t know if Gillis’ performance was better than McDonald’s. It was by far the best one since the former SNL cast member hosted, and it was needed. A good indicator of how good it was is by hearing all the unfunny people of the world (like The View) yelling about how unfunny it was. The louder their clucking, the funnier it actually was. Congratulations to Gillis on a great set, and thank you for channeling Norm, someone we all love and miss dearly.
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