Shaq-Tastic? hardly

Don't know if anyone happened to watch the premiere of "Shaq Vs" on ABC Tuesday night, but allow me to hand in a report card. For as entertaining as the Big Insert-Ostentatious-Noun-De-Jour-Here is-- and there is no denying this-- his show goes flat within minutes.
The concept is definitely intriguing: Shaq goes up against world-class athletes in other sports, with a slight handicap, to see if he can beat them at their own game. A pretty good concept, but the biggest problem is that they stretch the affair out to one hour. The competition, though, is so cut and dry, that even with interview cutaways its done in 15 minutes.
The biggest drain on the show is the scene-setting at the site. The announcers are below-average, at best. I don't understand how a show with a clearly massive budget would cut corners with the announcing crew. They were not insightful, they were not funny... they added nothing to the broadcast. Every time they cut back to the stadium to build the moment, any momentum or energy they had from the other events fizzled out.
The upside of the show is that Shaq is legitimately funny, and he and Ben Roethlisberger (the antagonist for the series-opener) had solid chemistry back and forth. Watching Shaq go through the drills was much more entertaining than a game of 7 on 7 with no one rushing the passer (are you kidding me?). But watching Shaq try to run the 40 while making sure not to pull a hamstring was great.
The smarter approach to the show is one of two angles. First, combine two challenges per episode. That way, you don't have to string out as much filler. Secondly, put more emphasis on the training and drills. You know those QB skills competitions? How great would it be to watch Shaq run through cones, weave past dummies, then try to whip a pass 20 yards down field at a moving target?
Instead, we get subjected to two sub-par announcers harping over and over again about how seriously Shaq is taking the competition. But the bottom line with this show is that it will be Shaq's personality that drives it. And he will need to connect with all of his opponents to make the show salvageable--easier said than done with Michael Phelps on the docket. But maybe co-executive producer Steve Nash can fix that problem. He's used to getting the most out of people, and making them look much better than they really are...