On Thursday, MLB Network airs a special hosted by Bob Costas with comedian Jerry Seinfeld as the guest. Costas and Seinfeld will spend 30 minutes breaking down one of the most iconic comedy sketches of all-time, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s “Who’s on First?”
The show which will be titled, “Costas & Seinfeld: Who’s on First?” will air this Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Taped at Soho House in New York for airing during the MLB All-Star Break, Costas and Seinfeld review the 60th Anniversary of the Abbott & Costello skit that was unveiled for the first time in 1952.
Here’s the press release from MLB Network.
Jerry Seinfeld LOOKS BACK AT Abbott & costello’s “Who’s On First?” with Bob Costas on MLB Network on Thursday, July 12
Special Interview Marks the 60th Anniversary of the First Televised Performance of the Legendary Routine
Secaucus, NJ, July 10, 2012 – Comedian, actor, writer and longtime New York Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld recently spoke with MLB Network’s Bob Costas for a special interview to air during MLB’s 2012 All-Star break this Thursday, July 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET commemorating the 60th anniversary of comedy duo Lou Abbott & Bud Costello’s first televised performance of the legendary routine “Who’s on First?.”
Filmed at New York City’s Soho House, Costas & Seinfeld: Who’s on First? features extensive footage of the routine that TIME Magazine named as the best comedy sketch of the 20th century, interspersed with comments from Seinfeld on his favorite moments and how “Who’s on First?” influenced him as a comedian, writer and baseball fan. Speaking about why baseball lends itself to comedy, Seinfeld says, “Baseball has a heart of gold. It has a humanity that other sports, they just don’t have, for whatever reason, and humanity is funnier.”
Throughout the 30-minute interview, Seinfeld also reveals details of how “The Abbott & Costello Show” impacted the creation of and characters in the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Seinfeld. Seinfeld tells Costas, “I really wanted to imitate this show in my TV series in a couple of ways. … Even [with] Abbott and Costello and me and George, there’s a physical similarity there.” Seinfeld confirms that even the full character name of “George Louis Costanza” was influenced by the show, saying, “We named him after Lou Costello. We were all fans of Abbott and Costello on the show.”
A preview of Costas & Seinfeld: Who’s on First? can be viewed here. The interview will air on MLB Network prior to MLB Network Countdown: Fresh Faces at 7:30 p.m. ET, ranking the top ten players to have debuted since Opening Day 2011, and the midseason recap show Plays of the First Half at 8:00 p.m. ET.
That’s all.
