Bill Goodykoontz|Arizona Republic
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Wait, which one is it? We'll find out Monday, Nov. 15, when Peyton and Eli Manningreturn for “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli,”their offbeat — oh let’s just call it goofy — take on the weekly game. The brothers have been building buzz and audience on their show, which airs on ESPN2at the same time the traditional broadcast with a different announcing team is on ESPN.
And then every so often they disappear.
They’re contracted for only 10 games of the 17-gameseason. So the duohad a few weeks off, came back and were gone again Nov. 8.
But they’re scheduled to return for the Nov. 15game between the LA Rams and the San Francisco 49ers.
Yay.
If you can make Alabama's Nick Saban relax, you've accomplished something
So I think, anyway. I like the dopey repartee, the casual guest appearances. It's probably not too hard to get former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to drop an F-bomb and some other choice words — he's always been his own guy. Butif you can make Alabama coach Nick Sabanloosen up a little, you’re doing something right.
I also like Eli, the perfect clownto Peyton’s straight man. He’s Gob to Michael Bluthin “Arrested Development,”Chris Farleyto David Spadein "Tommy Boy."
There's even talk of a Manning curse— active players who appear as guests lose their next game. Fabulous.
But mostly I like the different way of watching a game. Or at least the option of it.
Ever since NBCpointed a camera at the field for a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers (yes) in 1939(also yes), the basic format has remained the same. We watch, they talk.
Sure, there have been changes to on-screen graphics and instant replay was a big advancement. The advent of broadband brought about a lot of would-be innovations — I know because I’ve tried all the alternative broadcasts.
But really, watching a game on your phone on Twitter while you’re supposed to be watching your kid play volleyball isn’tideal. For me or my kid.
The Peyton and Eli show, however, is the first to really breakthrough in a way that’s captured football fans’ imagination. And technology isn’t the reason. It’s done so in an old-school way. It’s just a couple of people sitting around talking.
But not just any people. Peyton is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eli surely will be. That’s not what makes them worth watching.
Being brothers is. Their bickering and their football expertise combine for what you wish watching a game in a sports bar would be like, but isn’t. That’s because they know so much more about the game, when they get around to talking about it.
Which isn’t always.
Peyton is the brains of the operation, but Eli's the heart
In one game they worked, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles,everyone talked about Eli flipping a double bird while recalling his experiences playing against the Eagles in Philadelphia, where he said a 9-year-old Eagles fan flipped him off with both hands. It was kind of funny and, yes, maybe slightly inappropriate for a national broadcast.
Funnier still was Eli’s tepid apology when the show came back from commercial.
“All right, sorry,” he said. “Earlier I gave the double bird. I guess that’s frowned upon, so I apologize if I offended anybody. That’s what a 9-year-old did to me, I thought I could do it back.”
Perfect, especially since he sounded like a 10-year-old whose parents made him apologize to the neighbor whose window he broke with a baseball.
Believe it or not, that wasn’t the best part of the broadcast. The brothers discussed Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott’spre-game hip-swivel exercises, which Eli tried to replicate. Poorly.
“The hips don’t lie,” he said. “I’m like Shakira.”
If you think that’s stupid, well, it is. But if you think it’s stupid and not funny, then “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli” isn’t for you. This is not the show for fans who use the word “we” when talking about their favorite teams, who take to Twitter to challenge every official's call that doesn’t go their way.
But if the game is still fun, so is the show.
'Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli'
6:15 p.m. Arizona time Monday, Nov. 15, on ESPN2.Seewww.espn.com/watch/for more information.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.
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