''Joe Buck Live'' is a talk show hosted by sportscaster

Joe Buck Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster. The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for the network's Nation ...

. The show premiered on HBO on June 15, 2009, and ended on December 8, 2009, being cancelled three months later. It replaced '' Costas Now'', which

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

hosted for HBO until February 2009, when he left for the

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

First episode

The first guests to appear on the show were

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fa ...

Chad Ochocinco Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and p ...

David Wright David Allen Wright (born December 20, 1982) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the New York Mets. He was drafted by the Mets in 2001 MLB draft and made h ...

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...

Artie Lange Artie is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Arthur. Notable people with the given name include: People * Artie Bettles (1891–1971), Australian rules footballer * Artie Butler (born 1942), American popular music arranger, songwriter ...

, and

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...

. The episode drew attention for Lange's outrageous behavior and Buck's seeming inability to stop it. Lange made remarks about Buck and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

quarterback

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...

and called Romo's then-girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, a "fat chick" and compared her to

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...

. Lange continued to insult Buck after being asked to take his feet off the table, responding that "somebody should look natural on this show." Buck came back when Lange held a cigarette in his chin with no hands by saying "I think it's in chin number four." Lange then retorted by saying "Number four, the show you won't get to." Lange went on to tell the flustered host, "you're out of your league, Buck ... stick to play-by-play." Buck responded, "I know, believe me, it was right after this segment started that I realized that."Watch Artie Lange crap all over Joe Buck's first show.
/ref> Coincidentally, Buck did not make it to show number 4, it was canceled after 3 episodes. HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg said Lange "bordered on bad taste" with his "mean-spirited" tone. But according to Lange on the next day's ''

Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 ...

'', Greenburg told him to "go nuts" if Rudd and Sudeikis start to get boring. Lange has since been banned from appearing on future HBO Sports shows, although he was in a pre-taped segment for the second episode of ''Joe Buck Live'', where Buck runs away from Lange after accidentally running into him in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. Two other episodes aired in 2009. In March 2010, Buck told a

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

radio station that HBO might be planning to cancel the program. HBO subsequently confirmed the show's cancellation to ''

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcas ...

''.

Second episode

Former NFL quarterbacks Dan Marino, John Elway and Joe Namath discuss sports; a round-table discussion features

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942) is an American businessman who has been the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) since February 1989. Early life Jones was born in Los Ange ...

and

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

; an interview with

Curt Schilling Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who is a commentator for conservative media outlet BlazeTV. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series appearance ...

. During an answer and question period with the audience, an audience member, Ryan Fernandez, jokingly questioned Marino's passing ability and produced a football. Marino instructed Fernandez to throw the ball to him. He then rocketed the ball back to Fernandez. Fernandez snagged the ball which prompted Joe Namath to remark, "Hellava Catch." Marino then beckoned for the ball again and gave it to two US Marines near the front row.

References

{{HBONetwork Shows 2009 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings 2000s American variety television series 2000s American television talk shows HBO original programming HBO Sports English-language television shows