Shark Bytes

Having loved the book, this series was a huge disappointment to me. As a baseball fan, I was pleased the network decided to air a sitcom about the grand old game, so I watched each week, half expecting a show that was either based on the book or at least had a scintilla of its humor. Unfortunately, this show was a turkey from day one and never improved. It was one of the most remarkably unfunny shows I have ever seen. If this show was ever going to hit any kind of stride at all, you would think it would have at least showed the slightest bit of promise, but the last episode was every bit as bad as the first. Despite any posts to the contrary, Jim Bouton absolutely could NOT act! He was horrific. He had no comic timing whatsoever, no concept of how to utilize voice inflections and, well, he was just dreadful, which saddened me, as his book was so funny. The 'talent' that surrounded him was marginal at best, and nonexistent at worst. The jokes fell flat about 80% of the time, mostly because they were delivered with such bad timing by such lousy actors. When the plug was pulled after just a handful of episodes, nobody in their right mind could possibly have been surprised. If any television show ever jumped the shark from day one, Ball Four was it.

I enjoyed each and every episode of this short-lived series. I remember one episode taking place in a hotel during a rain delay. The network didn't really give the show a chance at all. The actors were just hitting their mark when the show was yanked. Ben Davidson, the former fotball player, was extremely funny as Rhino, the dim-witted catacher.

At a time when athletes were widely portrayed as little more than earnest "in training", milk drinking heroes, Bouton's "Ball Four" was a revelation and a classic American book by any standard. I don't remember much about the TV show other than being disappointed by it's fluffy, misplaced emphasis. What made Bouton's book unique was that it was from the viewpoint of a rebel at heart and outsider, one who fundamentally never accepted jock culture values. The TV show, as I recall, portrayed the main character as just another "one of the boys". A total focus on wacky characters and wacky hijinks, as sitcoms are prone to, could not do justice to many of the darker elements contained in Bouton's wonderfully subversive observations.

it never jumped, i love jim bouton and the show never jumped and was cheated and for the above person who said JIM NEVER ACTED BEFORE, watch the movie THE LONG GOODBYE by Robert Altman starring Elliot Gould and Sterling Hayden, one of the best films of the seventies, Jim plays the most important character in the movie and, although his part is brief, and he's only in the film in the beginning and end, he is excellent, excellent, excellent!!!!! the entire film evolves around him and you really get to thinking he's a great guy and, well, HE HAS ACTED BEFORE SO GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they could've allowed ball four to have special ending episode like having jim bouton get called 2 pitch in all star game or get traded to contender.

The only memorable episode was the one where Jim Bouton (who actually came back to pitch briefly in 1978 after this debacle had been cancelled: http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boutoji01.shtml ) had to meet with "The Commissioner" over the content of his book, which alleged, among other things, that two guys once kissed on the team bus. That sure got everyone in the living room to look up (especially back then). As far as HBO and Showtime not existing back then, nonsense. They were in few homes, available in few areas and years away from any forays into series television, but they existed in all their glory.

I REMEMBER WATCHING THIS SHOW AS A KID, ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS ABOUT BASEBALL. I HAD JUST STARTED LITTLE LEAGUE THAT YEAR, AND THOUGHT IT WAS COOL THAT A BASEBALL SHOW WAS ON. THE ONLY THING I CAN SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER ABOUT THIS SHOW....(AND I WAS 9 OR 10 YEARS OLD), WAS THAT IT WAS ONE OF THE PLAYERS BIRTHDAY, AND THE GUYS WERE GIVING HIM PRESENTS IN THE LOCKER ROOM. THERE WAS A HAWAIIAN OR SAMOAN GUY WHO WAS ON THE TEAM. HE GAVE THE GUY AN ORANGE NECK TIE FOR A PRESENT. THE NECK TIE HAD AN EMBROIDERED GRASS HUT AND PALM TREE ON IT. HE TOLD THE GUY (IN HIS SOUTH PACIFIC ACCENT) THAT THE HUT WAS HIS HOME (BACK HOME), AND THAT WAS THE TREE IN HIS FRONT YARD. BUT BECAUSE OF THE LAST HURRICANE OR TYPHOON, NOW THAT TREE IS IN HIS NEIGHBORS YARD. AND OF COURSE, THE PRE-PROGRAMMED LAUGH TRACK WENT OFF.

Having read both of Jim Bouton's books I was looking forward to this show - what a letdown. They should have hired professional actors, or put it on cable where the restrictions are fewer and the need to deliver a line with proper timing and inflection isn't as critical. It looked like a high school production at best.

This show never had time to JTS, and quite frankly wasn't very good. It never left the locker room. Imagine Mash never leaving the Post Op or the Mary Tyler Moore show never leaving the newsroom. (OK, so this idea did work for Barney Miller). The other drawback is Bouton, the book's author, was the show's star, without ever having acted before. Anyway, the book was, indeed, the funniest sports book ever written. Unfortunately, the TV show wasn't.

Too bad HBO or Showtime weren't around then...BALL FOUR would have been TERRIFIC on a channel with less or no censorship [Beaver Shooting alone....]

When Ben Davidson walked onto the set for the first time. Why a football player for a baseball show, I will never know. Also, the Birdman was very annoying. Notice no one has heard from Lenny Schultz in years. Proof positive he had a hand in ruining this show too.