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The Onion Hopes to Score Fans with Parody of ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter’

Jan 10, 2011  •  Post A Comment

The Onion, the satirical Website and newspaper, is hoping to win over some fans with its half-hour weekly parody of ESPN’s "SportsCenter," reports our old pal from our Inside Media days, Richard Sandomir, in the New York Times.

The show will start a 10-episode run on Comedy Central on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, leading into the network’s "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." According to Will Graham, an executive producer and director of the spoof, called "Onion SportsDome," the goal is for "people passing it or watching it in a bar to think that it’s real coverage.”

The show borrows its look and tone from ESPN, with throbbing music and anchors speaking with both speed and purpose, the article notes. "Sound bites from news conferences convey the frequent banality of the real thing. Heart-tugging features (like one about a dying girl, a Phillies fan, whose last wish is to brutally heckle Mets third baseman David Wright) capitalize on every familiar, mawkish note," the article says.

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