"Brockmire" Is Dark, Daring, Defiant and Deliriously Funny

Jim Brockmire, a character created and played by Hank Azaria, may in fact be the single most interesting fictional man in the extended world of baseball.  Watching him is akin to driving past a fiery accident on the highway, if that blazing inferno had an outdated plaid blazer and the voice of a seasoned baseball announcer.  Jim is the perfect mix of charisma, narcissism and self-loathing, and he is a joy to watch.

IFC’sBrockmirespent its first season introducing us to the alcoholic, drug-abusing baseball announcer who -- after his wife Lucy (Katie Finneran) cheated on him with like, everybody -- had a potty mouthed meltdown while calling a live major league game.  This resulted in his getting fired and spending ten years in self-exile, mostly announcing cockfights and going on sexual escapades in Asian countries.  Eventually he returned to America, thinking the world had long moved past the unfortunate events of yesteryear, but he’d forgotten about one little thing: The Internet.  His pain had gone viral.

He found all this out after Jules James (Amanda Peet), the ambitious owner of a minor league baseball team, hustled him into becoming the field announcer for her extremely mediocre Morristown Frackers.  She also introduced him to Charles (Tyrel Jackson Williams, pictured below right with Azaria), a young, baseball-illiterate digital media guru and Jim’s assistant in the booth.  With no other options left, Jim reluctantly chose to make the best of what he had left and maybe get back to the majors -- or die barely trying.

 

Ainsley Andrade

Ainsley Andrade is a freelance writer working primarily as a TV critic and influencer for MediaVillage in the column #AndradeSays. Having "cut the cord" back when cords were still a thing, Ainz, as he likes to be called, brings a fresh an… read more