Dead Wood -- ESPN Shelves BONDS ON BONDS

(From Sports Business Daily)

TOLLIN/ROBBINS PRODUCTIONS and ESPN have decided not to produce any additional episodes of BONDS ON BONDS despite plans to air at least one more episode focusing on
BARRY BONDS passing BABE RUTH on the all-time career home run list.

ESPN in a statement said, "Bonds' representatives wanted creative control for the final episode, which Tollin/Robbins Productions and ESPN have been unwilling to give throughout the project."

The show was supposed to extend until the All-Star break.

While Tollin/Robbins contracted to air ten hours of BONDS programming, only 4.5 hours made it on the air. The show originally was to return if Bonds approached HANK AARON's all-time home run record of 755.

ESPN Vice-President/Communications MIKE SOLTYS said that there are "no plans to revive the show even if Bonds...got close to Aaron. There will also be no reruns. The entire show is dead."

Producer MIKE TOLLIN "confirmed the demand for control but declined to elaborate."

In April, he said that "at most, Bonds had the right to review the episodes, but had no control."

Bonds’ publicist, RACHAEL VIZCARRA, refused to comment.

Bonds, on the cancellation of the show, "It's OK if they put it on me. Isn't that what everyone else does?"

In New York, PHIL MUSHNICK notes ESPN claimed its journalistic integrity was "never compromised when it first jumped into bed with Bonds."

But Mushnick adds, "Imagine the nationwide bashing ESPN would be taking for the Bonds thing and scores of other things if sportswriters from large newspapers all over the country weren't on ESPN's payroll."

In Pittsburgh, BOB SMIZIK wrote "no matter how hard the network tried, it couldn't foist Bonds on the public.
This is one time the viewers knew best. Bonds passing Ruth did not become the epic story ESPN wanted."