This disgrace of a show is the result of one factor contributing to the decay of America: the cherishing of the professional athlete. Television promotes athletes as people saturated with substance. Television sells the public the idea that athletes have extreme talent beyond their athletic skills. Sad to say, a great deal of them are nothing more than overpaid, overglorified pieces of meat. That brings us to Magic Johnson.
"Magic" dazzled us with his wonderful basketball prowess. He, along with Jordan and Bird, transformed basketball into more than a game, but to an art form, with quick thinking, toughness, and finesse. However, after AIDS, he retired, but he remained hot in the press. This led to work as an NBA color analyst for NBC. NBC was obviously using his name to augment ratings, because he was awful. He doesn't speak well. He sounds as if he has a speech impediment. He hasn't done color lately, at least not on NBC. The Fox Network, in another attempt for a network to sweep in the ratings, gave him a prime time special entitled "Magic Johnson: One on One". On this program, he interviewed various celebrities. Among those interviewed was Roseanne. I didn't waste my time watching it, but people I know who saw it commented that it was junk. Magic has no business behind a microphone. Yet, entertainment big shots did not get the message. He was given his own talk show.
His monologues were without thought, his attempt at comedy was pathetic, he had no interviewing skills, his speech was painful to listen to, etc. Late in the show's 2 month run, the exec's attempted to use established comedian Tommy Davidson as his sidekick to boost ratings. No success. My one line summary stated "Almost Complete Garbage!!" The only bright light to this show was Sheila E. as the musical director. As perhaps the best female percussionist in music today, she is tailor-made for music direction. It's too bad she was not part of a better show. It's good that her reputation as a great musician was not tarnished by her connection to this piece of junk of a show.
I admire and respect Magic Johnson's talent as a basketball player, even as a business man. However, Magic has no business trying to entertain the world in any entertainment field beyond basketball. Leave it alone.
