''Dream Job'' is an American
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...
show made by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, which began on February 22, 2004. It was the network's second reality show, with two editions of ''
Beg, Borrow & Deal'' having previously aired. However, this was the first reality show from a network to offer its winner an on-air place on one of its shows. The show was hosted by
Stuart Scott
Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on ''SportsCenter''. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the network i ...
.
Summary
The premise of ''Dream Job'' was to find a new anchor for ESPN's popular sports news program, ''
SportsCenter''. The winner of ''Dream Job'' would get a one-year contract with the network, and would play a trivia quiz on ''SportsCenter'' to determine her or his annual salary. The winner would also receive a new
Mazda 3
, commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan.
In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...
. Every week, either one or two contestants would be cut from the show as the American viewing public and the show's judging panel were allowed the power of whom they wanted to be cut from the show.
Season 1
Contestants
In September 2003, the show's producers went on a nationwide talent search to find those who wanted a chance to be an ESPN anchor. Over 10,000 people attended the talent search across the United States. The field was narrowed down to 10 contestants who would compete in the televised finals, which started in the
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...
of 2004. Originally, the show wanted 11 contestants, 10 from the nationwide search, and another from a contest that was being sponsored by the popular fast food chain
Wendy's
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...
. A 12th contestant would be selected as an alternate.
The last 12 contestants still in the running on the premiere episode ranged in ages from 21 to 40. They were:
* Maggie Haskins, the youngest contestant, a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
native who was a full-time student at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. Haskins was originally the alternate, but producers later changed their minds and she competed from the show's first episode.
* Michael Quigley, the oldest contestant, an auto parts salesman from
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Lansdowne is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, located southwest of the Center City Philadelphia. It was named for the Marquess of Lansdowne. As of the 2010 census the borough had a population of 10,620.
Lansdowne grew quickly in the ...
. Quigley quickly became known for his over-the-top anchoring style, similar to a play-by-play announcer.
* Aaron Levine, 21, a senior at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
*
Mike Hall, 22, a senior at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
*
Casey Stern
Casey Stern (born October 17, 1978, in Massapequa, New York) is an American television personality and radio host who currently works for Turner Sports and Sirius XM Radio.
Career
Stern departed MLB.com's BaseballChannel.tv, formerly MLB Rad ...
, 25, an executive recruiter from
Bellmore, New York
Bellmore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population according to the 2010 census was 16,218. Bellmore is located on the south shore of Long Island 5 miles from Jones Beach State Par ...
*
Zachariah Selwyn
Zachariah "Zach" Selwyn (born April 23, 1975), also known as simply Zachariah, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, host and writer best known for hosting the series ''America's Secret Slang'', ''Guinness World Records Gone Wild!'', ''Atta ...
, 28, an actor and a musician from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
* Nick Stevens, 29, a
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-based comedian
* Chris Williams, 31, an
attorney from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
*
Chet Anekwe, 38, a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
-born
computer programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
from
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...]
(Williams won the contest sponsored by
Wendy's
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...
to become a contestant on the show)
* Kelly Milligan, 38, a
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
attorney
* Lori Rubinson, 39, from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, now a host at
WFAN
WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...
Judges
The judging panel consisted of:
*
Tony Kornheiser
Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Washington Post'' from ...
, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' columnist and author, and co-host of ESPN's talk show, ''
Pardon the Interruption
''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top storie ...
''.
*
Kit Hoover
Catherine "Kit" Hoover (born July 29, 1970) is an American television host, sportscaster and broadcast journalist currently serving as the anchor of ''Access Hollywood'', and co-host of ''Access Daily with Mario & Kit''.
She has worked as a sp ...
, a former Fox News correspondent, cast member on the inaugural season of MTV's ''Road Rules'', and co-host of the ESPN2 morning show, ''
Cold Pizza
''Cold Pizza'' is an American television sports morning talk show that aired weekdays on ESPN2 from 2003 to 2007. The show's style was more akin to '' Good Morning America'' than '' SportsCenter''s straight news and highlights format. It included ...
''.
*
LaVar Arrington
LaVar RaShad Arrington (born June 30, 1978) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Penn State and was drafted second overall by the Washington Re ...
, a former NFL
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
, who at the time played for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
.
*
Al Jaffe, the Vice President of Talent at ESPN.
The judging panel's job consisted of giving criticism to the contestants after performing a task on the show and cutting contestants.
Episodes
There was one segment that recurred each week on the show called "My SportsCenter." Each contestant was to read a highlight, or, as they did in week 4, introduce packages done by the person they were co-anchoring their segment with. Each show also consisted of a different sporting event. These ranged from an analysis of the
NCAA men's basketball tournament
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
to the "Al Jaffe Sports Quiz", which is given to every on-air personality who applies for a job at ESPN.
The first two weeks of the show saw the contestants split into groups of 6, and each doing the "My SportsCenter" segment solo. To break a tie between Chris Williams and Michael Quigley at the end of the first show, Scott called a network executive who made the final decision to cut Chris Williams. Alvin Williams was cut the following week. In week 3, on March 7, 2004, the "My SportsCenter" segment became co-anchored, and Quigley and Rubenson were voted off. For the "My SportsCenter" segment in week 4, on March 14, 2004, all the eight remaining contestants were sent to Florida to do reports on
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams in
Spring Training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
. Stevens and
Chet Anekwe were cut. A special episode chronicling the nationwide search was shown the night after. In week 5, on March 21, 2004, "My SportsCenter" again became a solo segment, with each contestant reading two highlight packages, both on the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Al Jaffe Sports Quiz took place that night as well. Each of the six remaining contestants were asked five questions. Selwyn scored highest, answering three questions correctly. After the segment, though, host Scott called out Haskins and Hall. Two days earlier, on March 19, 2004, the entertainment section of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' ran a brief paragraph that stated that Hall and Haskins had been dating for some time. When asked, they confirmed the article's truth, but not directly. Amidst all the romance talk, Stern and Milligan were cut that night.
Finale
The two-hour finale, airing on March 28, 2004, would determine who the new ''SportsCenter'' anchor would be. In the first hour, only the judges would determine who got cut. Haskins and Selwyn, arguably the most popular contestants on the show, were cut, leaving Levine and Hall in the championship round. Haskins was tabbed by Jaffe as the show's most improved contestant. She was praised for having the best writing during her time on the show. When making the decision to cut Selwyn, Kornheiser said, "I probably just made a mistake." In hour two, the American viewing public would cut one more contestant. At the end of the night, Levine was cut by garnering 60% of the viewers' votes.
Mike Hall was the first ever ''Dream Job'' winner.
Later that night on ''SportsCenter'', Hall took his sports quiz and correctly answered 5 questions. Each correct answer was worth $5,000, increasing his first-year salary from $70,000 to $95,000. He graduated from the University of Missouri on May 15, 2004. He started his tenure as a regular ''SportsCenter'' anchor on July 19, 2004. He had done some
on-air work for
ESPNEWS
ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...
before officially joining ''SportsCenter''.
As for Selwyn, he became a color commentator on the
Game Show Network
Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...
series, ''
Extreme Dodgeball
''Extreme Dodgeball'' is an American game show based on the game of dodgeball that aired between 2004 and 2005 on the Game Show Network. The series ran for three seasons, each of which featured six to eight teams of five to seven players. The f ...
'', which began on June 15, 2004. He also hosted three episodes of ''
Around the Horn
''Around the Horn'' (''ATH'') is an American sports Round table (discussion), roundtable discussion show, conducted in the style of a panel game, produced by ESPN. The show premiered on November 4, 2002, as a replacement for ''Unscripted with C ...
'', which some believe may have been a trial of sorts to determine if he was worthy to replace
Tony Reali
Tony Reali (born July 4, 1978) is an American sports personality and television host of ''Around the Horn'' on ESPN. He served as the statistician on ''Pardon the Interruption'' from the show's debut in 2001 until late 2014. In April 2014, it wa ...
. He currently can be seen on ''
Attack of the Show
''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4 (American TV network), G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally a ...
'' on
G4.
Season 2
David Holmes won season 2 of ''Dream Job''.
Season 3
Judges
All five judges from Season 2 returned: ''
The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' columnist, ''
Cold Pizza
''Cold Pizza'' is an American television sports morning talk show that aired weekdays on ESPN2 from 2003 to 2007. The show's style was more akin to '' Good Morning America'' than '' SportsCenter''s straight news and highlights format. It included ...
'' contributor, and ''
Around the Horn
''Around the Horn'' (''ATH'') is an American sports Round table (discussion), roundtable discussion show, conducted in the style of a panel game, produced by ESPN. The show premiered on November 4, 2002, as a replacement for ''Unscripted with C ...
'' panelist
Woody Page
Woodrow Wilson Paige, Jr. (born June 27, 1946) is a sports columnist for ''The Gazette'', author, and a regular panelist on the ESPN sports- talk program ''Around the Horn''. He was a columnist for the ''Denver Post'' for 35 years, and co-host o ...
; former ''
Cold Pizza
''Cold Pizza'' is an American television sports morning talk show that aired weekdays on ESPN2 from 2003 to 2007. The show's style was more akin to '' Good Morning America'' than '' SportsCenter''s straight news and highlights format. It included ...
'' co-host
Kit Hoover
Catherine "Kit" Hoover (born July 29, 1970) is an American television host, sportscaster and broadcast journalist currently serving as the anchor of ''Access Hollywood'', and co-host of ''Access Daily with Mario & Kit''.
She has worked as a sp ...
(who actually made her final appearance on ''Cold Pizza'' during this ''Dream Job'' season); ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' writer and ESPN NBA analyst who was judging possible colleagues,
Stephen A. Smith
Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...
; and ESPN executive vice-president of talent,
Al Jaffe.
Voting stayed the same. Each judge and the American viewing public was given one vote each to cut a contestant with. In the event of a tie between contestants, America's vote would be the tie-breaker.
Contestants
The show's contestants were six former NBA stars vying to become ESPN's next NBA analyst:
*
Dennis Scott, who spent most of his career with the
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
*
Dee Brown, who is most famous for winning the
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
slam dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...
contest with a no-look dunk while playing for the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
(he also played for the
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
and the Magic before retiring)
*
Matt Bullard
Matthew Gordon Bullard (born June 5, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA and former color analyst for the Houston Rockets on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Bullard played 12 years professionally and 11 years in the ...
, who won an NBA championship with the
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
*
Darryl Dawkins
Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also ...
, who, in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, became the first
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
player ever to be drafted directly into the league
*
J.R. Reid
Herman "J. R." Reid Jr. (born March 31, 1968) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the ...
, who averaged double figures in scoring during his first three years in the NBA
*
Gerald Wilkins
Gerald Bernard Wilkins (born September 11, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a 6'6" (1.98 m) shooting guard/small forward, who played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and the University of Tennessee a ...
, one of the most popular
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
ever
Dana Barros
Dana Bruce Barros (born April 13, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player from the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college, he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers. He was ...
was originally slated to be one of the six contestants, but was missing from the show during its first episode, apparently dropping out at the last minute. He was replaced by the
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
's first-ever draft pick,
Nick Anderson, but Anderson soon exited, and was replaced by Dennis Scott.
Summary
Due to Barros' absence, there were only five contestants for the season premiere. This meant that at the end of the episode, no one would be cut; ESPN thus touted the first episode as a "special preview" episode. Promotional ads for the show leading up to episode two said Nick Anderson would be Barros' replacement, but those ads quickly disappeared, as Anderson was then replaced by Dennis Scott. On episode two, Wilkins was the first contestant to go. The following week, Dawkins was gone, the victim of America's vote being used as a tiebreaker when he got his second cut vote of the night, though Scott also had two cut votes. Week four saw Reid saying goodbye, with Scott finally getting the boot in week five. That left Bullard and Brown in the last showdown for the ''Dream Job'' of ESPN NBA analyst. Bullard's mistakes got the best of him, and Dee Brown was the winner of the third season of the show, as Bullard got three votes to be cut.
External links
*
*
espn.com writer Dan Shanoff's thoughts on first week of the third seasonShanoff reviews week twoShanoff reviews week three
{{ESPN original programming
ESPN game shows
2000s American game shows
2000s American reality television series
2004 American television series debuts
2006 American television series endings