Kenny Mayne’s new series good for a few laughs

As an ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor, Kenny Mayne always was more of a comedian than a sports guy. His dry wit oozed from his delivery. So it was no surprise that the debut of his “Mayne Street” series on Tuesday on ESPN.com had its share of laughs.

In ESPN.com’s first original scripted series, Mayne plays himself in a fictionalized version of life at the center of sports television. In the 4-minute debut, he teams with Scott Van Pelt on the late show. The two are on the set for hours as Mayne repeatedly mispronounces Rafael Nadel’s first name in the closing. His producers want to take the corrected version and include it in the morning repeats. Eventually, Van Pelt takes over the duties but not after cursing Mayne for his repeated miscues and even blaming him for his marital problems.

The fictional production crew which includes Mayne’s producer, Sarah (Alison Becker); cameraman, Video Cowboy (Jon Glaser); production assistant, Jordan (Jordan Carlos); network executive, Mintz (Ben Schwartz); Mintz’s right hand, Robin (Aubrey Plaza); as well as other ESPN personalities including Van Pelt and Neil Everett.

ESPN.com plans to post new 3 to 5-minute episodes every Tuesday and Friday.

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