Although I enjoy "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars" as much as anyone, the best reality show on television, by far, is HBO's "24/7."Besides having television's best theme music and perfect narration from Liev Schreiber (I could listen to him read the phone book), on no other show could you possibly see these priceless moments portrayed in such entertaining fashion -- and have them relate to a huge upcoming fight: Oscar De La Hoya passing gas, Floyd Mayweather Sr. making Kool-Aid and eating a taco in his car while driving, Ricky Hatton showing off his butt in a thong, Freddie Roach getting a haircut, Enzo Calzaghe borrowing a New York street musician's guitar and playing for him, Roy Jones Jr. emotionally watching the election night announcement in Times Square that Barack Obama had won the presidency, rap star 50 Cent riding a Segway through Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s mansion, and Roger Mayweather shopping for Thanksgiving groceries.
So it was great news when HBO made it official this week that it would follow the buildup to the July 18 Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez fight (which will be contested at a maximum weight of 144 pounds, despite some recent reports to the contrary) with a four-episode run of the Emmy award-winning series.
This will be the sixth time HBO's cameras will be embedded in the training camps for a big fight. The half-hour show -- with no commercials! -- is simply addicting.
New episodes will debut on three consecutive Saturdays (June 27 at 9:30 p.m. ET, July 4 at 9:45 p.m. and July 11 at 10 p.m.), with the finale scheduled for Friday, July 17 at 9:30 p.m. -- the day before the HBO PPV fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will the second consecutive instance that the finale will air on a Friday, which will allow the producers to squeeze in important footage of that day's events, including what should be a raucous weigh-in.
As good as the show is, it's at its best when it features Mayweather Jr., who is coming out of a year-plus retirement for the fight and will star in the show for the third time. Love him or hate him, he makes "24/7" must-must-see TV.
"We're dealing with one of the great reality stars in television," HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg told me Wednesday morning. "Floyd is compelling, and it's exciting to bring him back. [Our producers] will get that 2 a.m. wake-up call when he wants to go out jogging. You never know where you'll end up with Floyd."
(Incidentally, a lot of Fight Freaks have been asking me when tickets for the bout go on sale. The answer: Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Price points: $150, $300, $600, $750 and $1,000.)
Besides the training for the fight, watching the Mayweather family dynamics on "24/7" is fascinating. The family has some issues, to put it mildly. The relationships between Floyd Jr., uncle and trainer Roger, and father Floyd Sr. are complicated, but the show has given us a feel for them in past installments. Now that Floyd Sr. and his son are talking again, it should make this new batch of episodes even more interesting.
Other than a brief reunion before Floyd Jr. fought De La Hoya (which was also captured on "24/7"), father and son have been estranged for most of the past decade. Floyd Sr. and Roger also have a rocky relationship.
In recent weeks, Floyd Jr. and Floyd Sr. have been spending time together. They've talked and worked out, although Roger remains the head trainer. Seeing all three Mayweathers on screen together figures to produce television magic again.
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Maybe this reunion will be longer-lasting than the previous one. Hopefully it will be, considering that the elder Mayweather recently divulged that he is fighting sarcoidosis, a disease that diminishes his lung capacity. As Hatton's trainer for the May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather Sr. saw his ailment detailed on "Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7."
"It's clear Floyd Sr. wants to reach out to his family," Greenburg said. "He and Floyd Jr. have been spending a lot of time together, and if it continues I'm sure we'll see that in the show."
I'm also looking forward to seeing the inside of Marquez's camp and the father-son-like relationship between Marquez and longtime trainer Nacho Beristain.
Even though the personalities of Marquez and the rest of his team are not nearly as outgoing as those of Mayweather and his team, as Greenburg says, "Everyone has a story to tell."
"We've started to learn about some of the odd training habits of Marquez down in Mexico," he said. "We'll be bringing an entire crew down there for what will amount to three weeks. Apparently, he's into eating strange things. He has some odd dietary habits. There will be some surprises out of his camp. He does some things that will make for dramatic television."
Although Mayweather-Marquez came a little out of the blue, Greenburg said there never was any hesitation about doing another set of "24/7" episodes.
"I don't think we'd be doing this if it wasn't Floyd and [didn't have] his impact on the medium. '24/7' began with Floyd, and he brings so much to the party. This is his venue," Greenburg said. "He's such a natural. It would almost be criminal not to do '24/7' for this fight. He's too much of a reality star. People are salivating to see this guy again on a weekly basis. And with his family, it's the boxing version of the Osbournes."
Greenburg said ratings for the show have been outstanding. By slotting episodes either before or after fights and moving episodes to Saturday nights, "we doubled our ratings from De La Hoya/Pacquiao to Pacquiao/Hatton," he said. "The show is certainly hitting its stride right now."
Which is why I can't wait for the new series to start already.
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