He was referring to his eight-year-old son, who is already well on his way to following in his dad’s footsteps as a fan of the Amazins and of baseball in general. In addition to learning the sport at The Baseball Center on 74th Street, Azaria’s son already knows Citi Field well. Back in 2015, shortly after Azaria had moved back to New York from the West Coast – a period when, he said, he “had a lot of free time” – he attended approximately 30 games that season, which ended with the Mets in the World Series (for the first time since 1986, when they won). “My son was with me the whole time, and he got a big kick out of how excited I was,” Azaria recalled. “Even though that season didn’t end with a World Series win it was pretty special.”
Baseball remained the hot topic on both a professional and personal level throughout the lunch, during which we were joined by IFC President Jennifer Caserta and at one point interrupted by a friend of Sir Derek Jacobi, who was dining at a nearby table and had requested an audience with Azaria, as he is a big fan. Azaria visited with Jacobi when our lunch ended before dashing off to the Manhattan studio where he records his long-running character voices for The Simpsons. (Pictured below, left to right: Jack Myers, Hank Azaria, Jennifer Caserta and Ed Martin.)
Brockmire – the character and the series -- was very much on everyone’s minds, as Azaria and Caserta had attended the gala event the night before celebrating the show’s sophomore season, which included a screening and panel discussion at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater and a blow-out party on the Empire Hotel rooftop. It was a grand affair, right down to the details, which included life-sized decals of a passed-out Jim Brockmire affixed to the floors in the restrooms (see photo below). “I didn’t know they were going to do that,” Azaria laughed. “I went to pee last night and … I
“Last night was the latest I have stayed up in I don’t know how long,” Azaria laughed, noting that he had left the affair at about 10 p.m. for his home on the Upper West Side. “Ever since my son was born I find that I want to be there, and it’s an early job! I like to have an hour to myself before he gets up.
“I enjoy nights like that,” he continued. “I would do more, but because I am a celebrity … not a superstar, just a celebrity … it just turns into taking selfies. It becomes a public appearance, not a social event.”
Strangely, Jim Brockmire – a former superstar sports announcer on a long-delayed and very rocky road to redemption after a very public fall from grace – might agree. After being out of the country and the media limelight for ten years, he found himself becoming a reluctant, nationally known podcast star during season one of the show, even though he was only calling games for a minor-league team in Morristown, PA. Credit for that went to Morristown Frackers owner Jules James (Amanda Peet), who became his drinking companion and lover, and digital media whiz Charles (Tyrel Jackson Williams) who assisted Brockmire in the booth. That success led to a big-time move to New Orleans for Jim and Charles, where the podcast is making a mint while Brockmire’s comeback collapses (along with his relationship with Jules).
Brockmire is one of the more layered and complicated characters on television right now, which is especially relevant at a time when thousands of characters populate hundreds of scripted series across the broadcast, cable and streaming landscape. Much of that is due to Azaria’s fearless and fiery portrayal of a man who has gone over the edge and back again (and again, and again, and again). But Azaria insists that the lion’s share of the credit should go to head writer and showrunner Joel Church-Cooper.
“The character is mine originally, but Joel has written it for years now much better than I could,” Azaria admitted. Jim Brockmire began as the star of a short video on Funny or Die written by Azaria and friends. Then Azaria started doing public appearances as Brockmire, including on the NFL Network. “