Articles by Ryan Berenz

About Ryan Berenz

Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.

MLB Network Debuts “30 Clubs In 30 Days”

February 17, 2009 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan MLB Network’s spring training preview series 30 Clubs in 30 Days will premiere Feb. 20 at 8pm ET. The series devotes an hour to each MLB team, giving viewers an inside look at preparations for the 2009 season with field reports, interviews and a look back at each team’s 2008 season and offseason activity. Each episode also looks back at the best moments in team franchise history, and includes a roundtable discussion featuring a panel of front-office personnel and baseball writers. Reporters Hazel Mae and Trenni Kusnierek will report on-site at each club’s training facility, and an interactive […]

“10 Items Or Less” Recap: The Milk Man

February 13, 2009 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Leslie’s having a problem with shipments of expired milk being delivered to the Greens & Grains, and he goes off on a tirade against milkmen. But unbeknownst to Leslie, milkman Nathan is behind the dairy case, and he overhears Leslie’s fightin’ words. Leslie tells Nathan that he refuses to pay for milk, and so begins the war between the G&G and the powerful Dairy Consortium. Leslie starts fearing for his life when some mysterious mold-ridden cheese ends up in his sandwich and a shelf full of feminine hygiene products collapses on him. He holes up in his bedroom […]

“My Name Is Earl” Recap: Friends With Benefits

February 13, 2009 Ryan Berenz

After many exciting adventures and a bout with alcoholism, Mr. Turtle returns to the trailer park to find Earl and Randy living there while Joy and Darnell are under witness protection. Earl finds a note that Darnell left in Mr. Turtle’s food with a phone number where Darnell can be reached. Earl calls Darnell’s hair phone, and Darnell gives Earl the address where he can ship Mr. Turtle. But Earl realizes he can’t really snail mail a turtle, and he’ll have to drive to Darnell’s address to deliver it personally. Earl finds that Joy is dealing with a little crisis. […]

Will Digger Bury NASCAR On FOX?

February 12, 2009 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan FOX announced that it is taking Digger, its NASCAR Gopher Cam mascot, to disturbing new levels beginning with this Sunday’s Daytona 500. The Adventures of Digger and Friends, a collaboration between FOX Sports chairman David Hill and country music star Keith Urban, will premiere during the race, with five two-minute vignettes featuring the furry characters that will be repeated throughout the NASCAR season, long after we’ve all stopped watching. Says Hill:

GOLF CHANNEL Presents "Uneven Fairways" Documentary

February 10, 2009 Ryan Berenz

Posted by Ryan On Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 9pm ET, GOLF CHANNEL (HD) airs a special Black History Month documentary presentation on the pioneers who broke racial barriers in the game of golf. Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, Uneven Fairways reveals the little-known stories of African-Americans who were forbidden to play golf at its highest level but refused to accept their exclusion. The documentary celebrates the men and women of the United Golf Association — the “Negro Leagues” of golf — who challenged segregation and paved the way for future stars of the game. The documentary is based on the […]

“My Name Is Earl”: Randy’s List Item

February 6, 2009 Ryan Berenz

It’s President’s Day, and Randy got his usual card and gift from the great aunt who thinks he’s Abe Lincoln. Randy gets a scratch-off lotto ticket that wins $250,000. Overjoyed, he runs outside and gets hit by a girl on a bike. Sound familiar? Randy’s got his own battle with karma to deal with now, and he’s got the first item on his own list. A while ago, Zeke and his brother Arlo moved into town, and Earl and Zeke became good buddies. They went out a lot and did things and got T-shirts for doing them. But Randy became […]

10 Items Or Less: The Whistler

February 6, 2009 Ryan Berenz

Posted by Ryan The Greens & Grains is doing a (mostly) very sexy car wash for charity, and they made a modest $86. Mercy Jones, manager of SuperValueMart, drives up in a sweet convertible roadster (SVM must pay extremely well) and says that the SVM’s charity car wash made over $6,000. Leslie’s feeling down about his complete lack of talent or skill, when he realizes that maybe he should put his talent for whistling to good use. With Buck’s help, Leslie records a CD of whistling classics — Whistle While You Work — featuring songs like “Scarborough Fair” and “Londonderry […]

HBO Sports To Replace Bob Costas With … Joe Buck!

February 5, 2009 Ryan Berenz

Posted by Cubicle QB That didn’t take long. After losing Bob Costas to MLB Network this week, HBO Sports announced today that they’re sticking FOX Sports’ MLB and NFL pay-by-play announcer Joe Buck into the role formerly held by Costas. Buck will host a quarterly sports talk show with a town-hall format launching in May. Rick Bernstein, executive producer of HBO Sports says, “We will craft the series to showcase Joe’s character and personality. Joe is a tremendous broadcaster and we are thrilled to develop this new platform with him.” Whether Buck will say “fetus-faced windbag” on the show is […]

"Days Of Thunder" Flashbacks: Tom Cruise On ESPN2's "NASCAR Now"

February 4, 2009 Ryan Berenz

Posted by Cubicle QB Just in from ESPN: The Friday, Feb. 6, edition of ESPN2’s NASCAR Now will include an original interview with actor Tom Cruise at 5pm ET. Cruise discusses his interest in NASCAR and how he drove a race car at Daytona while filming the 1990 movie Days of Thunder. The movie featured a young Cruise playing the role of Cole Trickle — a hotshot rookie driver looking for success in NASCAR’s premiere division. From the big screen to real life, Cruise has had a lifelong passion for racing. The NASCAR season begins this weekend at Daytona International […]

MLB Network Snags Bob Costas

February 3, 2009 Ryan Berenz

Posted by Cubicle QB The month-old MLB Network made its biggest talent announcement to date — Bob Costas will join the network in a cable-exclusive multiyear deal. Costas will host original programming and serve as a play-by-play announcer for a number of the channel’s 26 live game broadcasts in 2009. Costas will remain with NBC Sports for its NFL and Olympics coverage, but will no longer do projects on HBO, such as Costas Now. This move is a perfect fit for both MLB Network and Costas. The network gets one of the game’s preeminent voices and historians, while Costas finally […]