Undisputed on FS1 Needs Producers to Move the Show Along

I have been looking forward to analyzing the program Undisputed on FS1 as show centerpiece Skip Bayless remains one of the most thought-provoking and eloquent personalities on television.

I tuned into the February 28 edition and was immediately taken with a spectacular show open featuring rapper Lil Wayne. The sequence is a colorful burst of images of palm trees, freeways, and the LA skyline. In a play on words with Bayless’s first name, the most telling lyric in the song is “Skip the BS.”

Skip Bayless deserves as much credit as anyone for bringing sports writers into the forefront on television. He was not the first scribe to make the leap to the small screen, but he might just be the best.

His vociferous style, strong opinions, and direct manner set the pace and blazed the trail for those to follow, including Stephen A. Smith, his former cohort on ESPN’s First Take. Smith, himself, often recognizes the impact that Bayless had on his meteoric rise in the business.

Bayless and Smith formed an unbelievable combination on First Take. Perhaps that is why it was so difficult for Max Kellerman to step into Bayless’s role upon his departure to FS1. It always seemed like Kellerman was trying to chase Bayless’s ghost with bold statements and hot takes.

Most famously, he made the 2016 statement that Tom Brady was about to fall off a cliff and become just another quarterback. That was the beginning of the Max Kellerman phenomenon, and in retrospect the end, as Brady went on to win three more Super Bowls in fantastic fashion.

Now on Undisputed, Bayless is joined by rotating cohosts Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin and Keyshawn Johnson. Ironically, his former partner Shannon Sharpe now makes his TV home on First Take. On this program, Johnson joined Bayless in the lead story – Max Strus’s 59 foot buzzer beater that gave the Cavaliers a win over the Mavericks the night prior.

Johnson went into a very technical description of the different angles and aspects of the shot while video showed the shot repeatedly – 22 times in the first few minutes to be exact. Finally, they got away from that one shot, and Bayless talked a little bit about Strus’s overall end of game heroics. Strus outscored the entire Dallas team 15-9 with five three-point shots in the last 3:45 of the game.

At the top of the show, Bayless said that he could watch Strus’s game-winning shot 25 times, and I guess he was serious. More replays of the shot ensued as Johnson offered an analysis of the catch and shoot play in basketball.

As replay number 27 flashed on the screen, Bayless tried to tap into Johnson’s knowledge as a former NFL player asking him if he could remember a game when he was in a zone like Strus. Johnson replied only that he had a lot of them. Bayless persisted and Johnson finally remembered a 1998 game when he was playing for the Jets against the Dolphins.

The show was now 11 minutes old and still in discussion on the Strus shot, far too much time given to a February NBA game featuring two good but not great teams. Speaking of time, I feel like Bayless spends a lot of his time trying to bring something significant out of Johnson.

Bayless is always prepared, poised, and provocative. Johnson is appealing enough on television, but I view his TV work similar to his career as an NFL wide receiver – lots of talent and flashes of greatness but not in the caliber of contemporaries Terrell Owens or Randy Moss. Similarly on television, he is fun to watch at times, but not in the same category as Marcus Spears or Ryan Clark on First Take.

The comparisons to First Take are essential, not because of Bayless and Sharpe’s past history, but because they are similarly formatted sports debate shows in basically the same morning time slot. They are competitors, and it is fair to judge one against the other. As the Strus shot analysis on Undisputed moved past 15 minutes, I thought to myself that at least two or three different topics or angles would have been discussed on First Take in that time frame.

Again, this was an NBA game in February, not a playoff game or Finals game. Bayless made the point that this was an astounding performance for a role player like Strus. Johnson responded that Strus had never before been in a situation where he had to make so many treys at the end of the game.

Bayless astutely corrected him, making the point that Strus was 6 for 32 (19%) from the three-point line in the NBA Finals last year for Miami against the Denver Nuggets. The fact is that he had many opportunities to deliver IN big games, but simply did not do it.

As replay number 41 of the shot was fast approaching, Bayless showed past video of Strus hitting a game-winning three-quarter court shot for Lewis College. Johnson stated strongly that Strus definitely practices such long range shots.

Just minutes later, he contradicted his own technical analysis saying that such long shots are largely about luck. Johnson then brought up a Lakers player who got hot in the playoffs last year against Golden State but could not remember the name of the player.

This is Sports Talk 101. Don’t initiate a topic if you don’t know about whom you are talking. It is fine if your buddy at the bar can’t remember a name, but not a highly paid personality on a big time talk show. Johnson eventually threw out the last name Walker, but no first name. He was referring to Lonnie Walker who scored 15 fourth quarter points in last year’s Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Later, Bayless again tried to tap into Johnson’s knowledge asking if a role player in football can step in and have a huge game like Strus, noting that this would often happen with Bill Belichick’s Patriots’ teams.

Johnson barely let Bayless finish his thought, disagreeing with him and saying that Belichick had more established players. Bayless was correct however citing Jonas Gray who rushed for 199 yards against Indianapolis in 2016.

In truth, I like Johnson overall. He’s an engaging guy on the air. In fact, later in the program, he provided some really excellent and insightful commentary on Belichick and other topics.

Similarly, Bayless is a straight up legend, deserving of every bit of the fame he has earned on television. He is that guy, a true icon. In my opinion, it was just overkill on one topic, 42 replays and 22 minutes of commentary on the same shot in a Mavericks-Cavaliers game. The last piece of video involving Dallas that got this much attention was the Zapruder film.

Honestly, I put a lot of the blame on the show’s producers. A graphic on the bottom right of the screen showed the rundown of topics to be covered on this particular episode. It included the Cam Newton youth football scuffle, the Bears’ upcoming decision on Justin Fields vs. Caleb Williams, and an NFL Combine preview. From an editorial standpoint, all four of those topics should merit more time than the Strus shot.

Undisputed can be absolutely brilliant at times, but maybe it lacks what it once had. In the past, the likes of Joy Taylor, Jenny Taft, and Jen Hale played the Molly Qerim role on the show, moderating the discussion and moving from one topic to another. That’s what this specific episode needed. Someone to say, “Hey guys, the Strus shot was fantastic, but enough already. We want to hear what you have to say about these five or six other topics.”

John Molori

John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.