Santino Marella sitcom being developed for WWE.com - may try to offer to Network TV

[Mr. TM]

The WWE is in the process of making Santino his own Sit Com.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/wrestling/blog/2010/01/a_santino_marella_sitcom.html

It will star Kozlov and Beth Phoenix on WWE.com, then it will be shopped to networks. What are your thoughts?

With the success of Santino as an actor in the WWE, it could be good, but with the downfall that Kozlov would show, it could be hurtful to the WWE. As a fan of Santino, I would love to see him used a lot more, as I appreciate a lot of his comedic storylines, so I won't judge this while its on WWE.com too hard.

WWE is developing a sitcom starring Santino Marella and co-starring Vladimir Kozlov as his best friend and Beth Phoenix as his girlfriend, according to a report by AOL. The Web site also said that the show will air initially on wwe.com and then WWE will try and shop it to networks.

Is this a joke?

It very well could be. I don’t doubt that a scripted comedy show could be in the works for WWE’s Web site, but I have to question whether there’s anything more to it than that. Marella, who rarely breaks character in media interviews, is quoted in the story and he sounds as if he might have been working the reporter.

“They call me the next one to cross over, the next Hollywood star. ... It will air at first on the dot com, then after that we will get it to a network television,” he said.

One would think that USA Network would be the logical destination for such a project, but an executive from the network told AOL that he knows nothing about it and the company is not actively looking for sitcoms.

Marella is a talented guy for sure, but if his appearance with Kozlov last week on ECW is an indication of what the show will be like, I would suggest that WWE use a laugh track instead of filming before a live studio audience.

 

[Theo Mays]

This could either be really awesome and worth watching or it could be an utter failure. Kozlov has acting skill and he has been in movies before. However I don't think he did much talking and was just more of a bodyguard type person. I'm interested in the show and will definitely watch the first couple episodes to see if it is anything worthwhile. Santino is funny, so I think he could carry the show.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Yeah, like Theo said, this is going to be something that can be awesome or it's going to be huge failure. Personally, I don't care to see this even if it does happen. Santino does make me laugh every now and then, but I can't picture him being on a show. He really doesn't have a routine. A lot of his stuff on Raw is just random skits or jokes. It's not like he's a legit comedian or anything.

I might watch some of the shows online, but I don't think this will go any where, especilly to network TV, but then again, there's a bunch of shit on TV any way, so I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[axl626]

Three letters come to mind: XFL.

Just stick to making your actual product better, WWE. Please. And when this doesn't get picked up we'll have to deal with 10 minute segments on Raw and 8 minute recaps on ECW and Smackdown about how funny and wacky this show is.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I don't really support this idea. I've never been a big fan of anything being exclusive to wwe.com, even The Dirt Sheet. I understand that they make segments exclusive to the website to increase the amount of traffic at it, but I think they put some stuff on there (such as The Dirt Sheet and whatever this Santino show will be called) that could make entertaining moments on Raw or Smackdown. I felt that back when they had The Dirt Sheet it should have been seen on the tv shows, and I feel similar to this Santino show. Also, if it's meant to be offered to network tv.... why would they spend time making sitcoms when they can't even come up with good storylines for the wrestlers?

Like others have said before me.... this could end up being a funny and successful show, or it might be the biggest mistake since the XFL. Nothing could EVER be as bad as the XFL, but this could be a really bad idea in my opinion because any ideas given to this sitcom could be made into angles for the wrestling shows. They need to focus on storylines for the wrestlers on Raw and Smackdown, not wasting time on a sitcom exclusive to the website.

 

[X]

I'm not quite sure if this is the best or worst news I've heard out of the WWE in a long time. On one hand, the idea of a sitcom revolving around Santino, Beth Phoenix, and Vladimir Kozlov literally has me giddy with nerdish stoner excitement. Mostly for Kozlov, I've never been too big of a Santino fan, but Koz is the shit and I would gladly watch any television show he was featured on. If the WWE actually thinks this might succeed though...lol, good luck Vinnie. This shit will bomb, no doubt about it, especially if it's on some quasi-network like MyNetworkTV.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Here's to hoping this leads to a Kozlov spinoff and a long and successful career in Hollywood for the Koz man.

 

[Davi323]

Add me to the ranks of the skeptical. I would love for this to be successful, Santino Marella is one of my top 5 WWE wrestlers, because he is so damned funny...but, I am afraid that what we hope for and what we get will be completely different. I can't help but think this will be a gigantic, epic fail. Who is going to buy a wrestler in a sitcom week to week? I have loved watching wrestling since around 1984, but even I am cringing at this idea...

 

[Tastycles]

It'll obviously be shit, but to be honest they might as well try it. The WWE already has writers, a production crew and it wouldn't be that hard to build a set somewhere, so the cost of this would be low. At the end of the day, the WWE doesn't need too much from this. It's a bit of exposure for the company, and if it's anything like their films, it'll probably make a bit of money on the side. It doesn't need anything approaching the infrastructure of the XFL or even the WBF, so I think it could be a nice little side earner. I don't think it'll be good, but they could probably find a cult audience for it somewhere. Will I watch it? No, but some cunt will, so they might as well try.

 

[Guilty]

I say you gotta at least give the 1st episode a shot. Marella....on RAW has been a riot for me. Took me a while....but i laugh every time hes got a mic now. Hope its a success. Im not a fan of Kozlov at all. Would be great if it gets to network tv. Im sure it can be as good as that crappy 2 and a half men show

 

[Thumz9814]

I would love to see a Santino Sitcom. I know it's not the best decision finacially for pretty much anybody, but I still think it would be funny as hell. I love it when Santino comes down the ramp cuz I know I'm gonna spend the next few minutes laughing my head off.

I dont think the sitcom is gonna go any further than a website, but here's hoping!

 

[wrestlingking]

I remember reading about this i guess when this thread was started. I had read allot about it and then there was nothing. So i was wondering if anyone has herd anything about the Santino show? I for one would watch it. Im sure there are others who would also watch.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Hmmmm.... I cannot see this ever getting onto Network TV. Santino is funny and all, but I don't think he could pull of a wrestling-related TV show on a week-to-week basis.

I reckon this is just going to be a WWE.COM show, and Santino is simply trying to drum up interest in it by claiming it could lead to a proper show on network TV.

 

[kittens]

This has bad idea written all over it.

Ultimately, it would/will probably end up as an online ordeal. NXT is strictly online now too, right? No idea how much traffic the 'E's website has, but if the Santino thing was to ever have a chance, I think it's best bet would be there.