When Scott Baio Ruled The World

Howard Cosell calling Baio's run through an obstacle course. God Bless you YouTube.
(Baio's run is a little after the halfway mark. Do NOT fastforward the pre-race interview with Baio. Especially if you've ever been interested in seeing Scott Baio's balls. Not that that's the only reason to watch or the reason I like the video or.... let's just move on.)
This original design for this post, more than anything, was simply to present a glorified advertisement for Scott Baio's upcoming reality show on VH1 entitled: "Scott Baio is 45 ... and Single." I was going to tie in sports somehow (maybe a Charles in Charge episode or something), but really I wanted to talk about how amazed I was that the mighty Baio had fallen so far and stooped to such a level of ignomity by allowing his lovelife to be taped and broadcast for all to see. But then, by the grace of the 'Tube, I was rewarded with the above video. I really don't have the words to describe it but I think it's safe to say that Scott Baio was a frickin stud back in the day. He DOMINATED that obstacle course. He must've snuck onto the course the night before and practiced. The video would be great solo, but to have Howard Cosell do the play-by-play.... how is this not in the YouTube hall of fame?

Anyhoo, back to Baio's show. The concept for the show itself is enticing but the previews were what really drew me in. Baio, it would seem, has an aversion to commitment that borders on a clinical disorder. It's a pretty pathetic setup and the preview shows clips of him arguing with his girlfriend and then later at a strip club (the juxtaposition is meant to suggest that the two cannot co-exist. Well, it's working ok for A-Rod...). My favorite part (other than the fact that it caused me to stumble upon the above video) is that Baio is clearly in denial about just how weak a move this is. He offers this, ummm, defense(?) of the show and why he's doing it:

"I didn't want to do a reality show. The concepts were always meaningless, and the people seemed pathetic," Baio says. "Maybe I'm a little pathetic. But this isn't Scott Baio getting a colonoscopy. It's about a guy trying to get his life together, trying to figure out why he's never been married and what his problem is."

I know I'll be watching but maybe Scott should think about doing a better job of getting the key demo's attention here. I'm not sure, "Scott Baio is 45 ... and Single; at least it's better than watching a colonoscopy" is going to get people watching.