[sinclairfan]

FOX SPORTS, BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS
NEW YEARS' EVE 2021 FISTFIGHT
Erin Andrews interview
December 28, 2020

Pam Oliver:  Good evening, America.  As we bid good riddance to 2020, we all know the importance of staying safe, and socially distant, on New Years's Eve.  So we at Fox Sports are doing our part by renewing a tradition from our childhood and arranging for two A-list TV celebrities to have a televised fistfight.  I'm here with the first of those A-listers, my colleague and my friend, Fox Sports' own Erin Andrews.  Erin, welcome, and what makes you want to fight 'Penny' from 'Big Bang Theory.'

Erin Andrews:  Hello, Pam, and I'll start by saying that of course it's not Penny I'll be fistfighting, it will be Kaley Cuoco.  As with those 1970s fights, it will be a woman to woman battle between 2 women who .... HAPPEN TO .... both be in the TV business; but its not our characters fighting, it's actually us, in the flesh.  To answer your question, I think we all need to let off some steam after a really crappy 2020, so I jumped at the chance to test myself against someone who occupies some of the same space as me .... blonde, physical, popular, very beautiful .... Kaley checks a lot of boxes.

PO:  So, when you say that Kaley [air quotes] 'shares space with you' .... I'm hearing echoes of Lynda Carter's famous 1976 interview explaining why it was the right time for her and the late Farrah Fawcett to fight.  I take it those 1976 TV fistfight were part of your upbringing.

EA:  Pam, I think almost any woman of our generation who decided to go into the TV business came across those fistfight.... and the pre- AND post-fight interviews ..... and gained insights into the mindset you need to have in this business.  On the way up, there will be women about you 'throwing elbows' .... literal AND metaphorical .... on every rung of the ladder.  And then with each new plateau you reach, there might be enough room for you and the other women at that stop .... OR .... there might not.  And then when there's not .... you need to decide what you're gonna do about it.

PO: And, I think many in our audience are aware ..... this won't exactly be news .... there might be another woman in this room right now .... and I'm not talking about Kaley .... who you had such an encounter .... not a single encounter, more an interaction with ... on YOUR way up.

EA:  Oh .... perhaps.

PO:  Don't be shy, Erin, like you say, there are young girls watching for your words of wisdom.....

EA:  OK, so you're really gonna make me do this .... ok, fine .... so, yes ....  PAAAAAM, ... when I left ESPN .... and made the jump to Fox .... YOU, Pam Oliver, were the #1 sideline commentator here .... and I was the newcomer, who wanted to be #1 .... and of course, there can only be one #1.  So, yes, ...... you and .... discussed .... the situation .... amiight?.....

PO:  We did ..... and then did a little bit more than discuss..... and I won't, make you be the one to say it .... I'll let you off the hook here, .... but yes America.... Erin Andrews TOOK ... fair and square, but she TOOK the #1 sideline reporter position from me... like I said, fair and square .... I got my licks in, don't you doubt it... and, things were awkward between us for a few months or so, is that fair to say Erin?....

EA:  Very fair .... VERRRY AWKWARD

PO:  But .... we're friends now, and all I'll add is, Kaley, you best 'Bring It' Thursday night.

EA:  Well said, Pam.

PO:  Erin, good luck Thursday.

EA: Thank you!

PO:  Up next, Kaley Cuoco.

[sinclairfan]

December 28, 2020
Kaley Cuoco pre-fight interview

PO:  Good evening, America, Pam Oliver here .... I am back .... this time with my very special guest, Kaley Cuoco, star of 'The Flight Attendant', now streaming of Netflix.....welcome, Kaley..... Kaley, of course,, will be fisfighting Erin Andrews in 72 hours here on Fox Sports..... Kaley, when I was speaking before the break with Erin, she was recalling Lynda Carter's motivation for her 1976 fistfight with Farrah Fawcett, and said....

Kaley Cuoco:  Yes, hello, nice to be hear .. . and if I got just get some words in edgewater here..... sorry for interrupting, but you were going the same place I was..... Pam, I was so glad Erin mentioned the Lynda-Farrah fistfight ..... because I think one of the takeaways of those great 1976 fights .... was that the best fights ..... the real brawls, .... were when two genuine stage actresses .... Lynda and Farrah ..... Loni Anderson and Linda Evans .... remember, with the leather strap? .... Morgan Fairchild and Lindsey Wagner, on the hot pavement .... I think the really raw, the really genuine fights were between the straight actresses .... whereas the circus-style fighting ... where things jumped the shark..... was when you started having crossover personalities like Cathy Lee Crosby and, to a lesser extent, Chris Evert-Lloyd involved ....

PO:  Chris was known as Chrissy Evert at the time .....

KC: Yes, thank you for correcting me ..... [eye roll].....

PO:  [mumbles] word  ... in .... Edgewater....

KC:  ....So, where I'm going with this Pam .... is that I'm hoping to represent all the straight stage actresses out there .... many of whom are tough-as-nails fistfighters, BTW..... against say, a crossover figure such as Erin.

PO:  So you're doubtful of Erin's fistfighting ability.  After just hearing that she fought ME for a job??

KC:  Well, in fairness, Pam, I don't know that we heard a heckuva lot .... certainly not in the way of details .... about that supposed fight .... and, again, I took the fight.  I'm just saying, I want to win back the 'rep of us stage actresses .... and maybe give this series some more LEGS than the first iteration had.

PO:  So, IF you win ...... against Erin on Thursday ..... it sounds like you've given some thought to actresses you'd like to fight next.

KC:  Well, first stipulating that I am NOT looking past Erin Andrews .... some names I'll throw out, names, which by the way, I think EVERY woman in America has thought about fistfighting, .... at least MY generation has.   are .... Christina Applegate, be it her Kelly Bundy phase or her murderess 'Dead to Me' persona ..... Blake Lively. ..... Scarlett Johansson .... Jennifer Lawrence .... shit, I'm blanking on names here, these bitches are going to think I'm calling them out .....

PO:  ARE you calling anyone out ..... say, Scarlett Johansen, who's a good six inches shorter than you?  I might add

KC:  OK, time out, you researched that ahead of time.  Why are you trying to stir shit between ScarJo and I?

PO:  Because, perhaps, I know from the 1976 interviews that women in that chair can't resist calling out rival's they have beefs with.

KC:  Ok,OK, time out ..... that's NOT what I was doing .... you know it, I know it .... I was complimenting the many many actresses out there who would kick Erin's ass ....  or YOURS....  in a actual fistfight.  And great takedown interview, by the way, for your 'friend."

PO:  It was my pleasure.  Good luck Thursday, Kaley, you're gone need it.  Kick her ass double hard just for me, Erin.

[sinclairfan]

CBS Morning News
January 18, 2021
Pam Oliver interview

Gayle King:  Good morning, everyone.  This weekend was a big football weekend, and many of you may have watched all or part of Saturday's Green Bay Packers defeat of the Los Angeles Rams.  Those of you who were watching at the start of the second half may have seen Fox's Pam Oliver ..... supposedly  .. . slurring her words.  And then the social media speculation afterwards, much of it unforunate and frankly... ugly.  Pam is here this morning with me to clear the record.  Pam, good morning, how are you?

Pam Oliver:  Much better, Gayle.  Thank you for the opportunity to speak directly to your viewers.

GK:  You're welcome, and no need to thank us, you're an old friend and always welcome here.  Pam, we know that you've put out there in the public your chronic struggles with migraines, sometimes needing to retreat into stadium tunnels to avoid bright light and noises   Do you know the root cause of those migraines?

PO:  Well, nothing is ever 100% in personal health, but the migraines began.... the really debilitating one's at least, ..... about 14 years ago, when Erin Andrews took my role .... my previous role ..... as lead sideline reporter at Fox.

GK:  Now, of course, a couple weeks ago .... and I think even non-football fans are aware of this, you interviewed Erin, and the two of you referenced a fight the two of you had when Erin took your job.  The impression that came off from that discussion.... my take at least .... was that you and Erin were friends ....  remained friends .... after the fight.

PO:  Yes, and that impression was wrong, Gayle.  I'd like to set the record straight.

GK:  Please do, Pam.

PO:  OK, the night Erin and I fought .... and by the way, Gayle, Erin and I both knew she would probably win, the girl has,   what?? ... 18 years?? ... on me.... and 2 inches....

GK:  But who's counting?  So, I just want to interject here .... having been in the news industry my whole career myself .... those of you from Hartford, Connecticut may remember an old rival of mine <<<coughs>>>> Janet Peckinpaugh <<<ahem>>>> ..... this was a situation where the handwriting was on the wall ....  Erin had taken your job ...  but needed to show her she couldn't push you around.

PO:  That's right ..   make her "pay the toll" for taking my job ..... let off some steam ....

GK:  OK, and then what happened?

PO:  Well, I was proving my point that I'm no pushover ....  but of course neither is Erin.... she's married to an NHL  player, ya know? ....well, she gets me pinned .... but Gayle, and this part was totally unnecessary .... she started stripping and riding my face ..... getting herself off ....

GK: Bizarre....

PO: To the point, Gayle, that she lost track of time .... or me .... Gayle, long story short .... I passed out.  And for while, too.

GK:  And you attribute your migraines to this night.

PO:  They started a few weeks later, the next time I was in bright lights.

GK:  and what does Erin have to say about this.

PO:  She's unrepentant.  Like it was a big joke.

GK:  But, to you, it wasn't.

PO:  I tried to forget it.  But not after this weekend.  I have to start confronting it now.

GK:  By doing what?

PO:  By talking about it.  After Erin that .   we'll see.

GK:  Does "after that" involve Erin herself at all.

PO:  Like I said, we'll see.

[sinclairfan]

Such little air time at the Tampa Bay-Green Bay game for Erin Andrews.  Hmmmmm......