That Six Flags Venture Hasn't Worked Out Too Well For Danny Snyder And Mark Shapiro

When Redskins owner Daniel Snyder bought the Six Flags franchise back in 2005, he said he trusted former ESPN executive vice president of programming Mark Shapiro to help turn the amusement park franchise into the next Disneyland. It, uh, hasn't quite worked out that way. More »

Mark Shapiro's Reign Of Destruction Officially Over

It's a sad anniversary tomorrow, totally; January 17 marks the one-year anniversary of the cancellation of "ESPN Hollywood." The show lasted almost six months, and hoo, what a six months they were! More »

Bringing ESPN Tricks To The Amusement Park World

Former ESPN exec Mark Shapiro, the man responsible for Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, "Teammates," so on — left the network on October 1 to join Redskins owner Daniel Snyder in the running of the Six Flags amusement park franchise, as CEO. The reviews on his performance so far have been been mixed at best, but now he's trying to turn it around with a gimmick from his television past. More »

Internal Shakeups At ESPN's Original Entertainment

We hear serious rumblings of some big changes in ESPN's Original Entertainment. We hear that current executive producer Mike Antinoro is leaving the network for destinations yet unannounced (off to play with Bugs Bunny and Dan Snyder with his old buddy Mark Shapiro?), and that Executive Vice President, Studio and Remote Production Norby Williamson (funny thing: real first name is Antawn. OK, not really) is slowly taking power of shows like "Cold Pizza," "Pardon The Interruption" and all other non-movie EOE programming. More »

ESPN Proceeding With World Domination Plans

Big huge story in Business Week this week looking at the challenges facing ESPN Networks and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer as the network looks for more opportunities to grow. (Because that's what ESPN needs: To be bigger.) The story is a fascinating look at a company — and a leader — that tries to put a jocular public face while still desiring to dominate everything it sees. More »

Woody Paige Bites The Hand That Fed Him

After pointing out last week that "Cold Pizza"'s Woody Paige had been reduced to eating dog food live on camera, we've heard some more news about everybody's favorite "columnist." More »

The Legacy Of Shapiro

We've looked at what departing ESPN big momma Mark Shapiro did right during his reign atop the network and at what he did wrong. The real question is what the network will do now that the man responsible for its radical facelift over the last few years has gone. There will be no real "replacement" for Shapiro; the network is said to be spreading his job among several top executives, considered the only possible short-term solution. ESPN continues to post positive growth quarters, after all, even if many think its dominance of online is slipping. More »

Mark Shapiro's Many Missteps

As we continue to glance backward at ESPN alpha dog Mark Shapiro's tenure, we take a look back at some of the more serious missteps during his reign. More »

Saying Goodbye To ESPN's Mark Shapiro

After a reign that changed the culture of the world's largest sports entertainment network, ESPN executive vice president Mark Shapiro has now left the network to work for Redskins owner Daniel Snyder with his new venture with Six Flags. Ignoring all "Quite Frankly With Yosemite Same" jokes for a moment, we're going to be taking a look today at Shapiro's tenure atop the network, what his success were, what his failures were and what ESPN (and the people left behind) might look like in his absence. More »

Yeah, Red Smith Totally Used To Eat Weird Crap

OK, so we were just watching the rerun of this morning's episode of ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" — we can only watch the same "SportsCenter" so many times before our soul starts to collapse into powder — and we saw Hometown Columnist Woody Paige eat a whole canister of dog food. More »

Alberts Crosses Almighty ESPN, Pays Price

Hell hath no fury like a college football analyst scorned, apparently. ESPN college football analyst Trev Alberts was canned yesterday after refusing to come into work on Sunday, which, on Labor Day Weekend, is kind of a key day for college football analysts to work. Apparently Alberts was frustrated by all the publicity given to Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, said he wanted a bigger role and, when refused, took his makeup and teleprompter and went home. Or stayed home. Or whatever. More »

Shapiro's Depature Makes S.A.S. Sweat

Since the ratings for "Quite Frankly With Stephen A. Smith" — currently lighting it up with a 0.1 rating — have been so bad, and now that head overlord Mark Shapiro is leaving, people are wondering if Smith's show is still safe without Shapiro's protective cover. We're still confused about how Smith got the show in the first place, but at this point, we don't want it cancelled: We're just a couple weeks from "The Magic Hour" country now, and that's something we all should witness. More »

Shapiro Finally Sets ESPN And Viewers Free

It's official: ESPN overlord Mark Shapiro is leaving the network to run Redskins midget Daniel Snyder's bid to take over the Six Flags franchise. (His last day is October 1. Rest assured, you'll be hearing from him — and us — a ton.) More »

All Told, Mark Shapiro Would Just Rather You Die

Speaking of ESPN head overlord Mark Shapiro, he had a pretty money quote to SI.com this week. Talking to "media critic" Richard Deitsch, Shapiro explained why the network might have been interested in a Mike Tyson reality show a couple of years ago, but isn't anymore. More »

Fun With ESPN's Ombudsman

We repeat: We find it hysterical that ESPN has hired an ombudsman — former Washington Post editor George Solomon — to tell it when it's operating outside the boundaries of journalistic ethics. We mean, it's ESPN: Duh. Anyway, Solomon does his monthly tilting at windmills this morning, and as always, you imagine ESPN head honcho Mark Shapiro nodding in mock agreement and then going out and doing the exact opposite of what Solomon suggests. More »