The schedule for Barry Bonds reality show, "Bonds on Bonds", has been announced. It will air on ESPN 2 on Tuesday afternoons at 4 and will be half an hour long. The first episode will be an hour long and airs at 5 PM on April 4th.
It's not quite clear what the show will be like or how much editorial control the Barry has over it. In fact, the producer, Mike Tollin, sniffed at the idea that it'll be a reality show and said, "I don't do reality shows." True, there does seem to be an increasingly blurred line between reality shows and documentaries these days, we think being somewhere along the lines of documentaries don't end with somebody picking somebody or something all in attempt to achieve D-Level stardom. We're guessing that this show will be more ""True Life"" than "Flavor of Love," although it's purported purpose of trying to make Barry into a nice, likeable guy, we think makes the show more "Made" than "True Life." Hmm...we wonder if Barry will step outside a scene and talk directly to the camera like Ashley Parker Angel on "There and Back" and how do we even know any of this?
ESPN has been getting some flak for the show (ESPN.com's online ombudsmen even criticized it), something about journalistic integrity and conflict of interests and all that stuff that's so 20th Century jouranlism paradigm. Barry supposedly has some level of editorial control but everyone involved claims that it'll show Barry, warts and all. We'll eagerly await for the first footage of Barry bitching at members of the press for going to close to his barca lounger or popping his back acne.
Anyways, keep it here to SFist for episode reviews and recaps. Maybe not Television Without Pity style (we barely have time to read their recaps, let alone write them), but more TVGasm style. Let's just hope there's actual baseball footage as part of this thing and not hours after hours of him rehabbing.