| Hardball | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Jeff Martin Kevin Curran |
| Starring |
Bruce Greenwood Mike Starr Joe Rogan Phill Lewis Dann Florek |
| Composer | Jonathan Wolff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Interbang, Inc. Magic Beans, Inc. Touchstone Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | September 4 – November 4, 1994 |
Hardball is an American baseball sitcom that aired Sunday nights at 8:30 pm on Fox from September 4, 1994 to November 4, 1994. The series premiered in the middle of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike and was canceled around the time that the year's World Series would have been played. [1] YouTube channel "Baseball's Not Dead" published a 30 minute video detailing the series in September 2023 which caused a minor cult following of people revising the show. [2]
The series focused on the players and staff of the Pioneers, a fictional American League baseball team. Among those shown were pitcher Dave Logan, who has been largely overlooked by MLB, catcher Mike Widmer, who is past his prime, team owner Mitzi Balzer, who is sharp-tongued and trying to get her team out of last place, public relations girl Lee Emory, who has her hands full with Mitzi and the team, center fielder Frank Valente, whose cocky high-priced "superstar" ways put him at odds with Dave. The first episode showed Mitzi firing the manager and replacing him with a timid man named Ernest "Happy" Talbot, who is unsure how to get the Pioneers working as a team.
- Bruce Greenwood as Dave Logan
- Mike Starr as Mike Widmer
- Joe Rogan as Frank Valente
- Phill Lewis as Arnold Nixon
- Chris Browning as Lloyd LaCombe
- Dann Florek as Ernest 'Happy' Talbot
- Steve Hytner as Brad Coolidge
- Alexandra Wentworth as Lee Emory
- Rose Marie as Mitzi Balzer
- Adam Hendershott as Nelson Balzer
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | John Whitesell & Peter Baldwin | Kevin Curran & Jeff Martin | September 4, 1994 |
| 2 | "Mike's Release" | Peter Baldwin | Tracy Newman & Jonathan Stark | September 11, 1994 |
| 3 | "The Butt Winnick Story" | Peter Baldwin | Bill Freiberger | September 18, 1994 |
| 4 | "Whose Strike Is It Anyway?" | Peter Baldwin | Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman | October 2, 1994 |
| 5 | "Frank Buys an Island, Mike Pays the Price" | Peter Baldwin | Lona Williams | October 9, 1994 |
| 6 | "Lee's Bad, Bad Day" | Gil Junger | Lona Williams | October 16, 1994 |
| 7 | "My Name is Hard B." | Gerry Cohen | Bill Freiberger | October 23, 1994 |
| 8 | "See Spot Run" | Unknown | Unknown | October 30, 1994 |
| 9 | "The Rookie, the Batgirl, the Coach and His Wife" | Unknown | Unknown | November 4, 1994 |
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 506. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Russo, Jared (10 October 2023). "Joe Rogan's 1994 FOX Baseball Sitcom 'Hardball' Was So Bad It Got Axed After Seven Episodes". Digg.
 | This article relating to a comedy television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1990s American sitcoms
- 1994 American television series debuts
- 1994 American television series endings
- American sports comedy television series
- Baseball on television in the United States
- Baseball television series
- Television series by ABC Studios
- American English-language television shows
- Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms
- United States comedy television series stubs
| Hardball | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Jeff Martin Kevin Curran |
| Starring |
Bruce Greenwood Mike Starr Joe Rogan Phill Lewis Dann Florek |
| Composer | Jonathan Wolff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Interbang, Inc. Magic Beans, Inc. Touchstone Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | September 4 – November 4, 1994 |
Hardball is an American baseball sitcom that aired Sunday nights at 8:30 pm on Fox from September 4, 1994 to November 4, 1994. The series premiered in the middle of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike and was canceled around the time that the year's World Series would have been played. [1] YouTube channel "Baseball's Not Dead" published a 30 minute video detailing the series in September 2023 which caused a minor cult following of people revising the show. [2]
The series focused on the players and staff of the Pioneers, a fictional American League baseball team. Among those shown were pitcher Dave Logan, who has been largely overlooked by MLB, catcher Mike Widmer, who is past his prime, team owner Mitzi Balzer, who is sharp-tongued and trying to get her team out of last place, public relations girl Lee Emory, who has her hands full with Mitzi and the team, center fielder Frank Valente, whose cocky high-priced "superstar" ways put him at odds with Dave. The first episode showed Mitzi firing the manager and replacing him with a timid man named Ernest "Happy" Talbot, who is unsure how to get the Pioneers working as a team.
- Bruce Greenwood as Dave Logan
- Mike Starr as Mike Widmer
- Joe Rogan as Frank Valente
- Phill Lewis as Arnold Nixon
- Chris Browning as Lloyd LaCombe
- Dann Florek as Ernest 'Happy' Talbot
- Steve Hytner as Brad Coolidge
- Alexandra Wentworth as Lee Emory
- Rose Marie as Mitzi Balzer
- Adam Hendershott as Nelson Balzer
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | John Whitesell & Peter Baldwin | Kevin Curran & Jeff Martin | September 4, 1994 |
| 2 | "Mike's Release" | Peter Baldwin | Tracy Newman & Jonathan Stark | September 11, 1994 |
| 3 | "The Butt Winnick Story" | Peter Baldwin | Bill Freiberger | September 18, 1994 |
| 4 | "Whose Strike Is It Anyway?" | Peter Baldwin | Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman | October 2, 1994 |
| 5 | "Frank Buys an Island, Mike Pays the Price" | Peter Baldwin | Lona Williams | October 9, 1994 |
| 6 | "Lee's Bad, Bad Day" | Gil Junger | Lona Williams | October 16, 1994 |
| 7 | "My Name is Hard B." | Gerry Cohen | Bill Freiberger | October 23, 1994 |
| 8 | "See Spot Run" | Unknown | Unknown | October 30, 1994 |
| 9 | "The Rookie, the Batgirl, the Coach and His Wife" | Unknown | Unknown | November 4, 1994 |
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 506. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Russo, Jared (10 October 2023). "Joe Rogan's 1994 FOX Baseball Sitcom 'Hardball' Was So Bad It Got Axed After Seven Episodes". Digg.
|
| This article relating to a comedy television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1990s American sitcoms
- 1994 American television series debuts
- 1994 American television series endings
- American sports comedy television series
- Baseball on television in the United States
- Baseball television series
- Television series by ABC Studios
- American English-language television shows
- Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms
- United States comedy television series stubs