Two Signature Shows Signing Off

All TV shows come to an end.  There are exceptions, of course.  The news, for example, will never not be on, and, I'm not entirely sure how, but it sure seems like Grey's Anatomy, NCIS and Law & Order will be on until the end of time.  But, for the most part, all TV shows come to an end.  That includes signature sports shows (except for maybe SportsCenter, which has been on every night in ESPN's 40-plus year existence).  Even good signature shows.

Another show that's been on the air since Day 1 at its network is NFL Total Access.  The first episode of NFL Total Access aired the day NFL Network launched in 2003.  The final episode aired on Friday, leaving Good Morning Football as NFL Network's new signature program.

This development most likely came about because the NFL is actively trying to sell a majority stake in NFL Network, so they're trying to cut costs.  That's already reflected in NFL Network's program schedule, which is now mainly just game replays and the NFL Films library.  Original programming isn't disappearing completely.  They're moving production to Los Angeles and will still have on-air personalities.  Just not as many.

As a result of the cost-cutting measures, NFL Total Access met the ax.  Whether it will be revived in the future is up in the air, and it wouldn't surprise me if some sort of replacement program that's shocking similar just with a different name ends up on NFL Network once the move to LA is complete.  But for now, NFL Total Access is no more.

Other shows are cancelled simply because the network that they air on lost the rights to that particular sport.  That's what happened with the original NFL Primetime, which aired on ESPN before the Sunday night game before NBC got the rights to Sunday Night Football.  NFL Primetime was revived as a streaming show on ESPN+ a few years ago, but will never come close to the original.

Speaking of Chris Berman-hosted programs, ESPN also used to have a nightly version of Baseball Tonight.  The screaming cartoon baseball before the clips of the day's home runs at the end of the show was the best!  Baseball Tonight is still technically on the air...as the Sunday Night Baseball pregame show.  That's it.  Once a week for an hour.  Fortunately, you can still get your nightly highlights fix from MLB Network's MLB Tonight and Quick Pitch.

Likewise, as great as the NHL On NBC's studio show was, it was pretty obvious it wouldn't continue once NBC's hockey contract went to ESPN and TNT instead.  Then NBCSN was shuttered entirely and all of their hockey talent moved on to the new rightsholders.  Although, TNT's NHL studio show, which is essentially the NHL On NBC's replacement, is amazing!

TNT's other signature program, Inside the NBA, has long been the gold standard among studio shows.  Inside the NBA has been a staple of TNT's coverage ever since the network started covering the NBA in 1989-90 and has won an incredible 18 Sports Emmys.  It's the perfect blend of highlights, analysis and the ridiculousness that is Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Unfortunately, it looks like the final game of this season's Western Conference Finals will also mark the end of Inside the NBA.  While not official, it looks like it's a done deal that Turner will be losing its NBA rights to NBC next season.  All three analysts have opt-outs in their contracts, so it appears likely Chuck, Shaq and Kenny will either head to NBC and join their NBA studio show or go to ESPN and become another panelist on the Stephen A. Smith Show.  Sorry, I mean NBA Countdown.  Or maybe one of them moves to Amazon, which will also evidently become an NBA rights holder next season.

What's a bummer about that, aside from the sheer quality of Inside the NBA, is it would also likely mean we no longer get Charles Barkley & Kenny Smith in the studio during the NCAA Tournament.  Seriously, the highlight of March Madness every year is watching Chuck act like he's been watching both of the 16-seeds playing each other in the First Four all season when, in reality, he's most likely never heard of either school before!  Then, as the tournament progresses, how he becomes the biggest fan of the 13-seed that made the Sweet 16.

I'm sure that NBC will have its own NBA pre/postgame show, which will effectively be the Inside the NBA replacement.  Whether it's anywhere near as good as TNT's NHL studio show, it'll clearly be no Inside the NBA.  I can say with some confidence that it'll be better than ESPN's NBA Countdown (aka. The Stephen A. Smith Show), though.  And the loss of Inside the NBA will create a definite void.

When/if TNT regains NBA rights once the upcoming NBC/ESPN/Amazon deal ends, I'm sure one of their first orders of business will be the revive Inside the NBA.  Will it be the same, though?  We've seen that with every iteration of The NFL Today, none of which has ever come anywhere close to the magic of the original!  (They won't be making any documentaries about the Phil Simms/Boomer Esiason version.)

Or maybe TNT won't ever get NBA rights back and Inside the NBA will be relegated to sports TV history alongside other great programs like This Week In Baseball.  That's a fate Inside the NFL has so far been able to escape, although the quality of that show has gone down with each successive network.  It was excellent and groundbreaking on HBO, still decent on Showtime, then moved to streaming on Paramount+.  Now it's on The CW and terrible.  A shell of its former self.

So, maybe the end of Inside the NBA will be for the best, then.  Because its success is something that can never be replicated (even if the show is one day revived).  And, since that's the case, we should just celebrate Inside the NBA's place in history.  As one of the best sports studio shows ever.