Jessica Simpson
Fox and Burger King have apologized to Jessica Simpson for their "poor attempt at humor" in an NFL animated skit that mocked her weight.
The spoof, which aired during Fox NFL Sunday and was sponsored by Burger King, featured cartoon versions of Dallas Cowboys players poking fun at the singer's physique, which has been under scrutiny for the past year.
Ashlee Simpson defends Jessica's weight
Among the jabs: "Man, I still can't believe ...
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Michael Strahan courtesy Fox Sports
Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan has signed on to join Fox Sports' Sunday NFL pre-game show. The outspoken Strahan, 36, retired earlier this month following a 15-year career with the Giants, culminating with a Super Bowl title in February. He received offers from several networks but ultimately chose Fox because of his past relationship with the network (Fox covers the NFC, which features the Giants) and because the show, based in Los Angeles, is located near his beach house in nearby Hermosa Beach, Calif."Likeability is an important factor and Michael is more than liked by a lot of people around the country," says Fox Sports president Ed Goren. "He's loved by a lot of football fans. He's the perfect fit for our show."Strahan says getting ready for TV will be an easy transition. "It's a lot like preparing for a football game,” he says. “I'll still have to put in film study, read a lot and know the players and teams and what's going on around the league...
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Question: In your recent answer to a reader's question about how Fox evolved into a "quality" network, you neglected to mention one of its hallmark moments: obtaining the rights to the NFL. With that one acquisition, "legitimacy" became a reality, and the change from "small-time" to "big-time" began with the shift of local affiliate channels to bigger stations with better signals in order to accommodate viewers' demands for NFL games each Sunday. Also, and maybe more importantly, the Sunday games provided a lead-in launching pad for scripted programming, as American Idol would years later, as well as an avenue to promote shows that aired later in the week. Since then, other sports and series have come and gone, but the NFL (and The Simpsons, I suppose) remain. The network's pregame programming and game coverage changed how others networks and sports did things, including NBC, which similarly jumped at the chance to regain NFL rights after seeing its fortunes, not coincidentally, begin ...
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