Chemistry: The Missing Ingredient.

Chemistry is not something that's forged overnight. If you look at the best basketball show on TV, Inside the NBA on TNT, Ernie, Chuck & Kenny work masterfully off one another. The jokes, banter and commentary are all spot on, and down right entertaining. They also aren't scared to ask the questions, or give the real talk, that's necessary for great television.

As I posted previously, I'm pretty excited about the fact there is a true basketball show on Canadian television, (Court Surfing), and the fact that it's hosted by three black men, is pretty groundbreaking. Have to give props to The Score, without question, they've revamped their game a bit and continue to be the Canadian leader in sports, (if you want to view boring, staid, vanilla hoops commentary with questionable insight, watch TSN). As I missed the opening show, I tuned in last night to check it out, and of course watch some games. So here's my take, Court Surfing: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good:
I like the 106 & Park/Much On Demand feel for the show, with the set, they have a DJ, and a live audience which is great, they also check out what's happening online. The sports desk isn't fully covered, so I can see what kicks the hosts are rocking. Of course it goes without saying they flip through NBA games, so you're not stuck watching OKC vs. Indiana. The segments are great, The 24 Second Shot Clock where the hosts go head to head on certain topics and have 24 seconds to state their piece, The CrossOver where they did a piece on Lebron James and the new LBJ 6 kicks, was cool as well.

The Bad:
The only guys who should be getting face time on Court Surfing are Sherman Hamilton, Mark Strong and Will Strickland. The Court Surfing bloggers are all over this show, but they really shouldn't be getting any PT. DJ and Randy aren't ready for this shine yet, listen, I am a blogger, I can write, that doesn't mean I turn into George Stroumboulopoulos when you put a camera in front of me.

Sherm and Strong need to work on their rapport, both are good in their own individual right, but they aren't really connecting. With Strong sometimes less is more, there doesn't need to be a joke or one liner out of everything, especially when it's not always funny, and Sherm falls into it as well, and he's supposed to be the straight man.

The Ugly:
They played the new Lebron 6 commercial straight off of the web, it looked like a 1981 porno on VHS. Couldn't someone have just called Wieden & Kennedy, or Nike Canada to get the TV spot? Also, the Top 5 dunks weren't that hot quality either, I'm not watching in HD, but the difference was noticeable.

I'm a hardcore hoops fan and I dissect media, I'm just not super engaged with all of the stuff beyond the game surfing... yet. It's not automatic like Stockton and Malone, or Sid & Tim on The Score Tonight or Inside the NBA. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, as it's only show #2, but it takes time to build that chemistry.