TV media

USA TODAY, October, 2008

Sports comedy is an oxymoron.

Outside of a few anomalies -- Slap Shot, Caddyshack, Frank Caliendo's John Madden impersonation -- sports don't produce much comedic fodder. But just as the Internet allows experiments to see if anybody wants to see various obscure events, going online is also becoming a breeding ground for attempts at sports yuks.

Back on Topps, an online scripted series featuring comedians Jason and Randy Sklar, launched this week. The idea is that those brothers work at Topps, the trading-card maker, when it's been bought by ex-Disney head Michael Eisner -- who has, in fact, bought Topps and says he wants to "turn it into a media company."

Laugh tracks popping up on online sports includes NBCSports.com's online-only comedy Matty...