Philadelphia, start your engines — there’s another hometown star competing in the upcoming season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Meet Mandy Mango, a first generation Filipino American who calls herself “the sweetest fruit in Philadelphia.”
Mango is one of 14 contestants announced this week who will compete in Season 18 of the legendary show that has catapulted the careers of some of the best drag performers in the country, from Trixie Mattel to Bianca Del Rio, to Bob the Drag Queen.
In the show, the queens face dance, makeup, sewing, acting, and lip sync challenges as they vie for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar and a cash prize of $200,000.
Mango introduced herself in the show’s “Meet the Queens” Instagram post praising Philly’s drag scene, which she described as “very diverse, very eclectic.”
“We have our teeny boppers, we have our mama whoppers, we have some flippity floppers, and some daddy toppers,” she said.
She added that her biggest drag inspiration is her mother, who was a pageant queen in the Philippines in the 1980s.
Philly drag queen Mandy Mango will compete on Season 18 of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ premiering on Jan. 2 on MTV.
“Growing up [Filipino American] has always been strange, trying to figure out if I’m Filipino enough, American enough, or not enough of either, on top of being queer,” said Mango. “Drag has really guided my journey understanding my identity.”
Drag fans will likely recognize Mango’s performances on Philly stages in recent years, from the time she competed in Snatcherella, or organized a No Arena Drag Show in 2024 to protest the Sixers’ arena in Chinatown, which she called a “special place for me and my art,” according to Philadelphia Gay News.
Mandy Mango is the drag persona of Sigfried Aragona, an HIV care and community health nurse at Penn Presbyterian Infectious Diseases who advocates for LGBTQ+ healthcare. He lives in Philadelphia with his three cats, Wasabi, Sriracha, and Soy.
Aragona first performed in drag as a student at West Chester University to Chelley’s “Took the Night.” He later went on to work at AIDS Resource Alliance, a nonprofit that provides health services across Northcentral Pennsylvania.
In a 2020 TEDx talk in Williamsport, Pa., Aragona passionately explained how he blends drag performance with his healthcare work and community activism.
“With Mandy Mango, I feel powerful. I feel fulfilled. And I believe that my space in this world is finally valuable,” said Aragona. “Mandy’s drag journey seeks to blend nursing intellect and drag art to empower people similarly.”
Mango is only the second drag queen to represent Philly in Drag Race’s 16-year history, following Season 16 star Sapphira Cristál. The opera singer was a fan favorite who aced challenges all season long and ultimately placed second. Cristál earned the title of Miss Congeniality and brought home $35,000 in prize winnings.
Other contestants who have ties to the Philadelphia region are Aquaria, the winner of Season 10, who grew up in West Chester, and Season 3 competitor Mimi Imfurst, who was raised in Massachusetts and Maine, but now calls Philadelphia home. Both of them represented New York on the show.
Season 18 of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ premieres at 8 p.m. on Jan. 2 on MTV.
Quinta Brunson wants you to dig into your pocket to make free field trips possible for Philadelphia students.
The actor, writer, and comedian — along with Philadelphia School District officials and the leader of the district’s nonprofit arm — announced the “Quinta Brunson Field Trip Fund” on Tuesday.
District teachers and administrators will be able to apply for money for field trips by completing a short application subject to evaluation by an independent, internal group of educators. Field trip grants will be made twice a year.
“They opened my world, sparked my creativity, and helped me imagine a future beyond what I saw every day,” Brunson said. “Going somewhere new shows you that the world is bigger and more exciting than you believe, and it can shape what you come to see as achievable. I’m proud to support Philadelphia students with experiences that remind them their dreams are valid and their futures are bright.”
“Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson watches the Phillies play the Atlanta Braves during a taping of the show in Philadelphia in August.
Every Abbott Elementary season has featured a field trip episode, including visits toSmith Playground, the Franklin Institute, and the Philadelphia Zoo. Brunson’s fund “will remove the financial barriers that too often limit our children’s access to these enrichment opportunities,” officials for the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia said.
The GivingTuesday launch kicked off with an unspecified donation from Brunson herself.
Kathryn Epps, president and CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, said getting students out of their classrooms is crucial.
“We are honored to partner with Quinta to expand these experiences for children in Philadelphia’s public schools, helping them to envision and realize any future they desire,” Epps said.
Tony B. Watlington Sr., Philadelphia School District superintendent, said he was grateful to Brunson.
“We want our students to venture out and bridge what they’re learning in the classroom to engaging, real-world learning experiences,” Watlington said. “This commitment to equitably expanding opportunities for students to have experiences outside of their classroom will help accelerate student achievement and we are becoming the fastest improving, large urban school district in the nation.”
Six NFL teams will take the field Thursday in the league’s latest incarnation of an annual Thanksgiving ritual, but for the 10th straight year the Eagles won’t be among them.
The last time the Birds played on Thanksgiving was in 2015, when they were blown out by the Lions in Chip Kelly’s final season as head coach.
The NFL decided to go big this year, pitting the Dallas Cowboys against the Kansas City Chiefs on CBS in a matchup likely to become the most-watched NFL regular-season game in league history. The current high mark is a 2022 Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and New York Giants, which drew 42.1 million viewers.
With the Cowboys and Chiefs both coming off comeback wins and fighting for playoff spots, that bet paid off. But the league seriously considered scheduling Eagles-Cowboys in Dallas for Thanksgiving, which would’ve been just the third time the NFC East rivals faced off on the holiday — they previously played one another in 1989 and 2014.
Maybe the league got sick of the Eagles’ holiday dominance. The Birds are 6-1 in games played on Thanksgiving, the highest win percentage (.857) in NFL history among teams that played at least five games.
NFL makes some Thanksgiving changes
This year’s NFL slate reveals a major shift for the league. Instead of dumping mediocre matchups on Thanksgiving knowing they’ll get good TV ratings — think of all those bad Cowboys-Washington games — the league turned to marquee teams in an attempt to maximize viewership.
“We decided that based on last year, and the numbers, and the audience, and how many people were watching, to really see how high Thanksgiving can get,” Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, told Front Office Sports.
The NFL also pushed the start of the first Thanksgiving game back 30 minutes, from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. Schroeder told the Detroit Free Press the earlier kickoff time was potentially lowering viewership numbers slightly.
“We look at the data where we can be informed,” Schroeder said. “It told us there’s a lot more fans that are home, that are back from wherever they are Thanksgiving morning to be on their couches and being able to watch. So that felt like a really obvious thing from a media perspective.”
2025 NFL Thanksgiving TV schedule
Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) at Detroit Lions (7-4)
Jared Goff and the Lions will take on the Packers in a NFC North battle.
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Mich.
Kickoff time: 1 p.m. Eastern
TV: Fox (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)
Radio: 94.1 WIP via Westwood One
Stream: Fox One
This game will only have playoff implications for the Eagles if the Birds lose a few more games.
While both the Packers and Lions are among a cluster of teams atop the NFC, the Eagles hold tiebreakers against both thanks to head-to-head wins against the Packers and Lions in back-to-back weeks earlier this month.
The game does have big ramifications in the NFC North, which the Packers are looking to win for the first time since 2021. Green Bay defeated Detroit way back in Week 1 and could sweep the season series with a win on Thanksgiving.
This is the 29th time the Packers and Lions have faced off on Thanksgiving, with Detroit holding a 12-9-1 edge overall.
Kansas City Chiefs (6-5) at Dallas Cowboys (5-5-1)
Dak Prescott hopes to keep the Cowboys’ slim playoff hopes alive.
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
Kickoff time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)
Radio: 94.1 WIP via Westwood One
Stream: Paramount+
The Cowboys have new life after their 21-point comeback win against the Eagles Sunday.
While the NFC East is likely out of reach for the Cowboys (barring an epic collapse by the Eagles), Dak Prescott and company are still alive in the wild-card hunt. A win on Thanksgiving would improve the Cowboys’ chances of making the postseason to 22%, according to the New York Times playoff simulator. A loss drops their already poor odds down to just 6%.
The Chiefs are in a similar situation, though things aren’t as dire. Despite entering Week 13 in 10th place in the AFC, Kansas City is right in the middle of the wild-card hunt with important divisional games against the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers coming up.
Cincinnati Bengals (3-8) at Baltimore Ravens (6-5)
Joe Burrow is back just in time for a big national game.
Outside of Joe Burrow’s return to the Bengals, the Thanksgiving nightcap has limited interest to Eagles fans.
The Bengals would need to pull off a remarkable streak of wins to sneak into the playoffs. They head into Thanksgiving looking to end a four-game losing streak, and over the next three weeks they’ll play the Ravens twice and face Josh Allen and the Bills in Buffalo.
The Ravens enter the game back in first place in the AFC North, though they’re tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6-5. The Ravens’ offense has sputtered this season along with Lamar Jackson, who is playing despite ankle, knee, and toe issues. But the Bengals have the second-worst run defense in the league, which Derrick Henry and the Ravens could end up feasting on.
Fubo subscribers won’t be able to watch one Thanksgiving game
Mike Tirico (left) and Cris Collinsworth will call the evening Thanksgiving game on NBC.
All three games will stream on their network’s respective subscription streaming services — Fox One for Fox, Paramount+ for CBS, and Peacock for NBC.
The games also will stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries the three broadcast networks, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.
The one exception this year is Disney-owned Fubo, whose more than 1.3 million subscribers won’t be able to stream Thursday’s Bengals-Ravens on NBC due to a carriage dispute with NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
As a result, all of NBC’s TV networks — including Bravo, CNBC, MS NOW, and NBC Sports Philadelphia here in the city — are dark on Fubo, with no sign of a deal on the horizon.
If you live in the Philadelphia TV market, you can stream all three games on NFL+, the league’s subscription streaming service, which runs $6.99 a month. But that only includes tablets and mobile devices.
If you’re looking to stream the games for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is using a digital antenna, since all three will air on broadcast television.
What NFL teams have never played on Thanksgiving?
Jacksonville is still looking to play in their first Thanksgiving game.
The Jacksonville Jaguars remain the only NFL team to never play a Thanksgiving game.
There are a lot of reasons for this, but it’s mostly because the Jaguars just haven’t been that good or compelling, and there are less opportunities for AFC teams than NFC teams.
It doesn’t help Jacksonville has only played a total of nine road games against the Lions and Cowboys in 30 seasons since entering the league in 1995, and isn’t scheduled to face either team this season.
The NFL’s old TV rules didn’t help, either. Prior to 2022, any Jaguars-Lions or Jaguars-Cowboys game would have had to air on CBS, which had the rights to broadcast AFC teams when they were on the road facing NFC teams.
Maybe they’ll get their shot next season, since the Jaguars appear to be on the upswing and will face the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in 2026. Then again, if the NFL is focusing on big matchups, Jacksonville may be out of luck.
A former Fox broadcasting executive submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday asking the agency to reconsider a petition seeking to terminate the license of the network’s Philadelphia-area affiliate, Fox29.
Preston Padden, who worked as a senior executive at the broadcasting network controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family in the 1990s, has been a vocal critic of Fox News and its coverage of the 2020 election and an early supporter of the petition.
In his letter to the FCC, Padden writes that Fox and the Murdochs lied to the American people by reporting that the 2020 election was stolen, despite knowing that it was untrue.
“Fox and the Murdochs’ lies to the American people had consequences,“ Padden wrote. ”Those lies undermined public confidence in the electoral process.”
Neither Padden nor Fox’s attorneys responded to requests for comment.
Padden’s letter urged the FCC to respond to an appeal of the order denying the challenge to Fox29’s license.
The FCC dismissed in January a challenge to Fox29’s license renewal that was brought by the Media and Democracy Project, a self-described nonpartisan nonprofit. The petition, originally filed in July 2023, accused Fox of broadcasting “knowingly false narratives about the 2020 election” on the cable-based Fox News Channel.
Former FCC chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said in a statement accompanying the dismissal of the petition, alongside three other complaints targeting local TV stations, that the order was intended to direct the agency to “take a stand on behalf of the First Amendment.”
“We draw a bright line at a moment when clarity about government interference with the free press is needed more than ever,” she said.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said following remarks Kimmel made about the assassination of conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Arthur Belendiuk, the attorney for the Media and Democracy Project, said he expects to “grow old and die” before Carr issues a response. Even if Carr denies the appeal, he would open the possibility of an appeal to court.
Belendiuk believes that’s a risk the FCC chair will not take.
“If you, Brendan Carr, think you are right, issue a decision and defend it in court,” the attorney said. “Be a man.”
Staff writers Rob Tornoe and Nick Vadala contributed to this article.
The HBO crime thriller Task will return to Pennsylvania along with star Mark Ruffalo for a second season, thanks in part to generous support from the state.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Film Office announced that Task will receive a record $49.8 million tax credit, the largest amount the state has granted to a single production.
The effort is expected to bring about 3,700 jobs to Pennsylvania as HBO estimates investing $194.1 million into the state economy, including hiring local crews and paying for hotel accommodations.
Task comes from Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby, the writer from Berwyn who has developed a reputation for putting Delco (and Philly) crime stories on national television. Last week, HBO announced the popular show would return for a second season, which is expected to film primarily in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
The tax credit is part of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts to bring more TV and film productions to Pennsylvania.
“This is the largest tax credit we’ve ever awarded to one show, and we’re proud to support another returning series by homegrown storyteller Brad Ingelsby through the Film Production Tax Credit Program,” said Pennsylvania Film Commissioner Gino Anthony Pesi in a statement.
“The Shapiro administration understands that supporting productions like Task have a powerful impact on Pennsylvania’s creative economy through the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, while also giving new opportunities to local businesses in the southeastern region.”
“Task” showrunner Brad Ingelsby and star Mark Ruffalo on set.
Ingelsby has been committed to “investing in authenticity” through not only writing film and TV scripts that are based in the Philadelphia region, but pushing for his productions to shoot on location as much as possible.
“There is value in shooting something where it’s set — it will bring something to the production, to the characters, to the emotion that you just can’t emulate somewhere else,” Ingelsby told The Inquirer in September.
“The locations in and around Philadelphia add an invaluable level of authenticity to the series,” said Janet Graham Borba, HBO’s executive vice president of production, in the statement. “Furthermore, the opportunity to bring a production of this caliber to Pennsylvania and provide jobs to its citizens and businesses is extremely gratifying to Brad Ingelsby and all of us at HBO.”
Shooting with Pennsylvania crews also had an impact on the Task cast: Some actors, including Emilia Jones, who played Maeve Prendergrast, bonded with crew members, who also helped them learn that difficult-to-nail Delco accent.
President Donald Trump may no longer be a fan of Shane Gillis after listening to the comedian’s most-recent podcast.
Gillis, a Mechanicsburg, Pa., native, joked about the possibility 79-year-old Trump is beginning to show signs of mental decline on the most-recent episode of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Matt McCuster.
While Gillis expressed some sympathy for Lucey, he also joked about whether she deserved to be corrected by Trump and how awkward the plane flight must have been following the exchange.
“Think if you were next to her and hated her,” Gillis said.
Watch (caution: strong language):
Lucey, who has not spoken publicly about the matter, spent 12 years as a reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News covering everything from police corruption to local news. She left in 2012 and spent time reporting for the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal before joining Bloomberg in March.
“Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favor,” a Bloomberg News spokesperson told the Guardian. “We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s insult of Lucey, telling reporters Thursday the president “calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information.”
There’s no indication Lucey was spreading false information while asking Trump about the Epstein files.
After being fired by Saturday Night Live in 2019, Gillis has risen to fame in part thanks to his unflattering yet sympathetic portrayal of Trump. Gillis has amassed a huge audience of MAGA fans, including the president himself.
Gillis, an Eagles fan, met with Trump at the Super Bowl in New Orleans alongside country music star Zach Bryan.
At the Super Bowl, Trump meets comedian Shane Gillis and country star Zach Bryan. Both are big Eagles fans. pic.twitter.com/tHlKH03zpq
“Well, he’s a very good … I mean, on our side, right?” Trump later said in an interview with the Spector editor Ben Domenech, with the president adding he was a fan of Gillis and likes “everybody that’s on my side.”
Gillis recalled the meeting during an episode of his podcast, describing the room as “intense” thanks to the heavy presence of Secret Service agents.
“I finally had the moment — quick handshake,” Gillis said, though adding that Trump “has no idea who I am.”
Joe Rogan and Theo Von not-so-quietly cooling their support of Trump
Joe Rogan at President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Gillis is just the latest comedian within the so-called “manosphere” to begin to peel back their support of Trump.
Joe Rogan, host of the popular The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, mocked Trump over his handling of the Epstein files.
“I heard ‘there’s no files,’ I heard ‘it’s a hoax,’ ” Rogan said on the most-recent episode of his podcast. “And then all of a sudden, he’s going to release the files. Well, I thought there was not files.”
Rogan famously endorsed and interviewed Trump ahead of the 2024 election, with the episode reportedly drawing over 40 million listeners. He also attended Trump’s inauguration but recently has been criticizing the president over everything from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and mass deportations to his continued lies about the 2020 election.
“I feel like if you say that, you’ve got to have some, like, really good evidence that you could give out,” Rogan said on his podcast earlier this month about the 2020 election. “Either you don’t have any evidence that they stole the election, or you have evidence and you’re not telling me. Why would you not tell me? Why would you not tell me?”
Theo Von at Trump’s inauguration.
Theo Von, host of the This Past Weekend podcast, also interviewed Trump and attended his inauguration, but called out his administration after the Department of Homeland Security took a joke out-of-context and used it in a pro-deportation social media video that was later deleted.
“My father immigrated here from Nicaragua. One of my prized possessions is I have his immigration papers from when he came here. I have them in a frame,” Von said on his podcast last month.
The Delco crime thriller Task, starring Mark Ruffalo, will be getting a second season, HBO announced on Thursday.
From Mare of Easttown creator and Berwyn native Brad Ingelsby, the first season of the series followed an FBI task force led by Tom Brandis (Ruffalo) — a former priest and grieving widower — as they tracked down thieves robbing drug houses in the Philly suburbs. Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey, who grew up in Howell Township, N.J., played Robbie, the mastermind behind the thefts.
It was a tense cat-and-mouse narrative with surprisingly tender and occasionally funny performances as both protagonists struggled to be good dads.
The drama was filmed across Delaware and Chester Counties as well as Philadelphia, with some locations as far as Berks County. The cast, which also featured Fabien Frankel (House of Dragon), Emilia Jones (CODA), Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King), Martha Plimpton (The Regime), Alison Oliver (Conversations With Friends), and Jamie McShane (Sons of Anarchy), lived in the region for about six months during filming in 2024.
“Task” showrunner Brad Ingelsby and star Mark Ruffalo on set.
Like many Inglesby projects, Task was infused with Philly flair, from incredibly accurate Delco and South Philly accents (courtesy of Maredialect coach Susanne Sulby) to Rita’s and Wawa shout-outs.
South Philly-raised filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar, son of beloved mosaicist Isaiah Zagar, worked closely with Inglesby on the project as an executive producer and director, along with Gilded Age director Salli Richardson-Whitfield.
Ruffalo also served as executive producer.
Mark Ruffalo plays FBI agent Tom Brandis in “Task,” on HBO.
Ingelsby has made it his mission to continue making shows about Delco that are actually filmed in this region; Season 2 of Task furthers his efforts to stay close to home while delivering blockbuster television.
HBO said Task was one of its “top three fastest-growing, debut seasons.”
“We knew well in advance of its launch that we had a powerful drama series on our hands, but it has been so rewarding to witness the audience’s fervor and embrace of this show as it grew week after week,” said HBO Programming’s executive vice president Francesca Orsi, the head of the studio’s drama series and films, in a statement.
“Task” creator Brad Ingelsby in his office in Berwyn, Pa., on July 17, 2025.
“Rarely does a writer balance humanistic storytelling with intricate, explosive plotting, but Brad Ingelsby is one of our industry’s greats and we have no doubt he will strike as profoundly and addictively once again in season two.”
A second season means the production will return to the region in a big way — however (spoiler alert) several major characters don’t survive season one, so expect to see a largely new cast.
The Eagles will play their first game in 15 days when they take on the Green Bay Packers tonight on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Unfortunately, some fans in Philly and across the country won’t be able to tune in.
An ongoing dispute between YouTube TV and Disney has left ESPN, ABC, and a handful of other channels dark on the so-called “skinny bundle” for more than a week, with no end in site.
The two sides continued to negotiate throughout the day Monday but remained far apart on dollars — Disney wants more money than parent-company Google wants to pay.
On Sunday, hopes of a potential deal got dimmer when YouTube TV announced a $20 credit for customers due to the continued outage of Disney’s channels.
YouTube TV has grown into the third-largest cable distributor in the country with about 10 million subscribers, trailing only Comcast and Charter. Not surprisingly, ESPN’s college football and Monday Night Football ratings were down slightly last week, which most experts attribute to the blackout.
Networks ending up blacked out over carriage disputes is rare, and ones lasting this long are even rarer, though they happen. TelevisaUnivision has been dark on YouTube TV since late September, and Disney-owned Fubo hasn’t had TNT or TBS since April 2024 due to a carriage dispute with Warner Bros. Discovery.
It’s the first of two Monday Night Football appearances this season for the Eagles. Hopefully, this dispute is settled before the Birds take on the Los Angeles Chargers on ESPN Dec. 8.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Eagles-Packers.
How to watch Eagles at Packers
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisc.
When: 8:15 p.m., Monday
TV: ABC, ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge)
Radio: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Devan Kaney)
Streaming: ESPN Unlimited
How to stream Eagles at Packers
There are plenty of options to stream Eagles-Packers tonight.
While ESPN will likely remain blacked out on YouTube, there are a host of services that will stream tonight’s Monday Night Football game.
The most obvious is ESPN Unlimited, the network’s new subscription streaming service that includes every game that airs on all 12 ESPN networks. The service runs $29.99 a month.
You can also stream tonight’s game on a host of other skinny bundles, including Hulu + Live TV ($64.99 a month for three months), Sling ($4.99 for one day pass, $60.99 a month), Fubo ($84.99 a month with a free trial), and DirecTV Stream ($94.99 a month with a free trial).
If you’re just planning to watch the game on your phone or tablet, you can stream it on NFL+, the league’s mobile subscription streaming service. NFL+ runs $6.99 a month.
Because the game is simulcasting on ABC, most fans who live in and around Philadelphia and other cities should be able to stream the game for free using a digital antenna.
6abc’s signal in Philadelphia can be finicky. The station suggests an all-band antenna that covers Low-VHF, High VHF and UHF with long elements (rabbit ears for those of you old enough) that should be fully extended.
The Channel Master website has specific information about what channels are available using your address.
Jason Kelce takes a serious turn on tonight’s Monday Night Countdown
Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen (left) was interviewed by Jason Kelce for “Monday Night Countdown” ahead of Birds-Packers.
In his second season with ESPN, former Eagles star Jason Kelce has become known for his crowd-pleasing antics and fun-loving outfits, from his “South Philly tuxedo” to a Bills Mafia getup inspired by Fred Flintstone.
For tonight’s game, Kelce took a more serious tone for a featured story about Rodney Davis, the grandfather of Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen, whose heroic death during the Vietnam War saved the lives of several members of his platoon.
Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor after jumping on a grenade that landed in a bunker where he and five other soldiers were pinned down by enemy fire in 1967. He was 25, the same age Steen is now.
“He gave his life for his, for his …” said an emotional Samantha Steen, Davis’ daughter and Steen’s mother. “He gave up his life for other Marines.”
Quinta Brunson, Shane Gillis will be guests on the Manningcast
“Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson at a Phillies game in August.
Peyton and Eli Manning will be back on ESPN2 tonight for the Manningcast, and they’ll be welcoming some Philly star power to their Monday Night Football alternative broadcast
Quinta Brunson, the star and creator of Abbott Elementary, and comedian Shane Gillis will appear as guests tonight. It’s unclear when either will join the show.
Also joining the show will be Disney CEO Bob Iger, a lifelong Packers fan whose appearance coincided with the company’s dispute with YouTube TV.
It’ll be the sixth time the Eagles have appeared on the Manningcast, which is quietly in its fifth season at ESPN. Last season, Peyton and Eli turned to Downingtown native Miles Teller during the Eagles’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts — who attended the Mannings’ quarterback camp while a sophomore at Alabama — was a guest in 2022, where he revealed he liked to watch game tape of former San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and wore a hoodie with the phrase, “God bless whoever hating on me.”
“Other teams, it’s a copycat league, and if you can copycat it, you will. If you can’t, then you probably complain that it’s not fair,” Manning told The Inquirer. “So I’m on the Eagles’ side of it. I think it’s their niche, and it works, and they make it happen.”
How to “tush push” according to @JasonKelce: Head 👇, a$$ 👆. Got it.
The Eagles were overtaken Sunday by the Seattle Seahawks, who moved into the top spot in the NFC thanks to their blowout win against the Arizona Cardinals.
If the Eagles win tonight, they’ll move back into first place because they’d hold the tiebreaker against the Seahawks with a better conference record.
NFC standings
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NFC East standings
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The stars of the night were Tyrese Maxey and first-round pick VJ Edgecombe, who scored 34 points, the third-best debut for a rookie in NBA history.
Barkley used Edgecombe’s eye-opening debut to jokingly take a shot at his college coach, Baylor’s Scott Drew. In reality, the two are close, and Barkley played with Drew’s brother, Bryce Drew, with the Houston Rockets.
“Scott Drew can’t coach. He’s been holding this kid back,” Barkley joked.
“I was asked a thousand times this summer about the Sixers. I said I can’t give a fair prediction,” Barkley said. “As much as I love Edgecombe and Maxey, if Embiid and Paul George can’t play, [the Sixers] are not a contender.”
“He only gave your four points,” Shaq added.
So yeah, while Barkley, Shaq, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith have jumped from TNT to ESPN, nothing changed about the chemistry of Inside the NBA, one of the most beloved sports shows in TV history.
Who else would ESPN let compare new Wizards guard CJ McCollum to convicted felon and former New York U.S. Rep. George Santos, who was released from prison by President Donald Trump?
“Man, I don’t know what CJ McCollum did to someone” to end up on the Wizards, Barkley said. “We freed George Santos, let’s free CJ McCollum.”
The foursome, now in their 15th season working together, mocked their new home relentlessly, joking that Barkley will appear on every ESPN show, from Get Up to First Take to NFL Live.
“One thing I’m not going to be is Stephen A. Smith — everywhere,” Barkley said.
Much later in the evening — ESPN let Inside the NBA roll past 1 a.m. Philly time — Johnson quizzed Barkley on which networks a handful of NBA personalities worked for. Barkley got two right, but missed on TNT colleague Allie LaForce.
And for those keeping score, Barkley picked the New York Knicks to win the Eastern Conference, a prediction that will likely change at least seven times before the end of the season.
TNT had broadcast NBA games since 1989, but the NBA rejected the network’s offer in favor of new 11-year deals NBC and Amazon. Despite that, the show is still produced by TNT out of their Atlanta studio. It’s just the name on front of the desk that’s ultimately different.
Barkley and company will be back on the network tonight for another doubleheader: Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers at 7:30 p.m. Philly time, followed by Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m.
“Ernie, that’s today!” Barkley said shortly after midnight.
Once the NFL season is over, Amazon will stream NBA games on Prime Video Thursday nights. Until then, the evening is wide-open, allowing ESPN to swoop in to broadcast two national games tonight.
After that, Inside the NBA will have a light schedule on ESPN until the end of the year, though they’ll appear more frequently during the second half of the season.
Here’s when Inside the NBA will appear on ESPN though the end of December:
Thursday, Oct. 23: ESPN
Wednesday, Oct. 29: ESPN
Wednesday, Nov. 12: ESPN
Thursday Dec. 25: ESPN and ABC
Mark Sanchez still recovering from stabbing as trial date set
Mark Sanchez has called NFL games for Fox since 2021.
Mark Sanchez won’t be returning to a broadcast booth anytime soon.
The Fox Sports announcer and former Eagles quarterback is scheduled to go on trial next month to face accusations he attacked and injured a delivery driver in Indianapolis Oct. 4 ahead of calling an NFL game.
Sanchez, 38, was also seriously injured in the assault, and his recovery could force a delay in the trial, which is scheduled to begin Dec. 11.
Sanchez is accused of drunkenly assaulting a delivery driver in a fight stemming from an argument over a parking space. Police said the driver, Perry Tole, 69, pepper sprayed Sanchez, then pulled out a knife and stabbed him multiple times in self-defense.
“We are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space and-or a dispute about where people are parking, and it resulted in someone receiving just incredibly significant injures,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears told reporters a few days after the incident.
In a lawsuit filed against both Sanchez and Fox Sports, Tole claimed the fight left him with “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function” and other injuries.
Fox Sports has declined any further comment on the incident beyond a brief statement issued in the immediate aftermath of the fight: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, and we ask that everyone please respect his and his family’s privacy during this time.”
Quick hits
Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe impressed the Celtics’ announcers.
Barkley and Shaq weren’t the only ones impressed by Edgecombe’s debut — announcers on NBC Sports Boston were amazed by his first-quarter jam:
Amazon announced the Eagles’ Black Friday matchup against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 28 will stream for free on its Prime Video platform, welcome news for Birds fans that live around the world (unless you live in Canada, where it will remain behind the paywall). The game will air for free in the Philadelphia TV market on Fox 29.
Tom Brady is back to broadcast his third Eagles game of the season Sunday, when the Birds take on the New York Giants at 1 p.m. on Fox. It won’t be his last — Brady is slated to call the Eagles Week 12 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys and the Birds Week 17 trip to Buffalo to play the Bills.
Say goodbye to ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheaders. NFL owners approved the league’s deal to sell the NFL Network to Disney Wednesday. As a result, the four extra games slotted to ESPN will return to the NFL, according to Sports Business Journal’s Ben Fischer.
NBC managed to do the unthinkable — making a regular-season NBA game feel big.
Broadcasting their its NBA game in 23 years, NBC made the league’s season opener between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets feel like a playoff game. The crowd was loud, the camera work and graphics were crisp, and enough can’t be written about John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock.”
The opening was just about perfect, balancing nostalgia for the NBA of the 1990s with current stars like LeBron James and Joel Embiid, who had “no idea” when asked about his memories of the league during that era. (Embiid was 2 years old when Jordan won his fourth NBA championship in 1996.)
“TNT — as good as it was, as comfortable as it was — never made Opening Night feel as much as an event as tonight,” wrote Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis, adding “the moments leading up to tipoff felt bigger than during the Finals last year. And that’s not me taking shots at ESPN, it’s just kind of obvious to me.”
Then there’s Mike Tirico, who has developed into an announcer whose voice makes a game feel bigger.
Other than practice games with the Sixers and Boston Celtics last season, it was Tirico’s first time calling a national basketball game since 2016. You would have never known it — Tirico knew the rules and was on top of every call. Officials missed Kevin Durant’s call for a timeout when the Houston Rockets had none during the closing seconds of overtime, but Tirico was all over it.
Tirico was part of an entertaining three-person crew alongside Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford, which is likely a preview of how NBC will handle this season’s Western Conference Finals.
“We don’t really have a lead crew,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said on a recent episode of the Sports Media Watch Podcast. “Jamal and Reggie are equals, and so you’ll see us going two-man crews and three-man crews at different times. And then we’ll see how the season goes.”
There were also nice touches during the broadcast, like NBC’s scorebug showing an animated hand after three pointers and shaking following a slam dunk.
The question is whether it will all be enough. NBC is reportedly paying $2.5 billion a year over the next 11 years for its NBA package, and the Wall Street Journal reported parent-company Comcast is projecting losses between $500 million and $1.4 billion during the first few years of the deal.
“It’s a long-term deal. We’re not trying to measure this based on quarters but the next 10 years,” Matt Strauss, chairman of NBCU’s media group, told the Wall Street Journal.
Hopefully we’ll get more from Michael Jordan
The idea of Michael Jordan, NBA pundit is interesting. After all, who wouldn’t want arguably the greatest player in the history of the game dishing on the league’s current players and situations?
Viewers, apparently. Jordan appeared via a pretaped segment for three minutes during halftime, where he told a nice story about the last time he shot a basketball and not much else.
“I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts, and go out and play the game of basketball today,” Jordan said.
“We have an obligation to pay it forward. That’s part of what this is all about.”
Watch Michael Jordan’s first conversation with Mike Tirico in the first edition of MJ: Insights To Excellence. pic.twitter.com/7tfzGm6SpM
Is it an improvement over quick-hit segments where studio analysts hurry through banal comments so networks can squeeze in as many sports gambling ads as possible? Yes, but that’s a pretty low bar to clear.
The good news is NBC plans to air more segments featuring Jordan’s interview with Tirico in the weeks to come. NBC said he’ll be back next Tuesday to discuss load management, a subject Jordan — who played 82 games nine times in his career — has strong views about.
Beyond that, it’s unclear how often Jordan, promoted as a special contributor, will appear on NBC this season.
NBC should ditch their AI deepfake of Jim Fagan
Older NBA fans probably felt something was off with Jim Fagan’s voice during the opening of Tuesday night’s broadcast.
That’s because the longtime NBA on NBC narrator died eight years ago.
NBC got permission from Fagan’s family to create a deepfake version of Fagin’s voice to intro games and provide promos for upcoming NBA games, as well as on other sports airing across NBC.
The AI-generated voice of Jim Fagan is back, proclaiming Liverpool-Manchester United as "one of the fiercest rivalries in all of English football": pic.twitter.com/dwi6KZA8l0
It isn’t the first time NBC has leaned into using artificial intelligence. During last year’s Olympics, NBC used a deepfake version of veteran announcer Al Michaels for personalized recaps on Peacock. But Michaels, who currently handles play-by-play on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football, is still alive.
Pregame show marred by glitches
As for NBC’s pregame show, it was largely forgettable. Despite featuring three NBA hall of famers — Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady — nothing memorable was said.
In fact, the most notable part was the technical issues that plagued the first few minutes, including some audio issues and a couple of bad microphones. At one point, host Maria Taylor slammed her microphone down on the desk after McGrady asked her to repeat a question, causing static to overrun the broadcast for a few seconds.
“Hey, this is the first night, so it’s not going to be perfect NBC family, but we’re going to get it right,” McGrady said.
NBC comes on the air for an NBA broadcast for the first time in 23 years… and it's marred by audio issues 😬 pic.twitter.com/5Z1Wc9uVIb
While the pregame show lacked much interest or excitement, at least NBC decided to take the high road and avoided sideshow antics involving shouting pundits and LeBron James vs. the world debates.
The Sixers are scheduled to appear exclusively on NBC five times, beginning with their Nov. 11 matchup against the Boston Celtics at the newly named Xfinity Mobile Arena. They’ll also play exclusively on Peacock on Jan. 5 against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Here’s when fans will see the Sixers on NBC and Peacock:
Nov. 11: Celtics at Sixers, 8 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
Nov. 25: Magic at Sixers, 8 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
Dec. 30: Sixers at Grizzlies, 8 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
