As the coronavirus destroys everything in its path, the situation got real this week whenit even infected sporting events, leading to postponements of the NBA and NHL seasonsand who knows what else by this weekend. Sure, we’re sad to miss conferencesand business functions, but sports? Now this is getting serious! And with this weekbringing news that the MLB will postpone Opening Day by at least two weeks, it’s nota moment too soon for the return of IFC’s baseball-adjacent series “Brockmire,” whosetitle character played by Hank Azaria has been working his way back from baseballannouncer obscurity for three seasons now. And with the fourth and final season setto premiere on March 18, get ready for a comedic examination of personal dysfunctionset against the backdrop of iconoclastic nostalgia for simpler times. Interestingly,the final season jumps ahead 10 years to the 2030s when baseball is dying a slowdeath—so the guardians of game call upon now-sober icon Jim Brockmire to save it.“They desperately turn to Brockmire to be commissioner because they don’t know whatelse to do,” says Azaria. His partner in crime, Jules James (Amanda Peet), attempts tohelp with marketing—but it doesn’t go well, so they team up with a sentient operatingsystem called Limon to bring baseball back from the brink. “By the end, it’s kind of afull-blown ‘Black Mirror’ episode,” says Azaria. “They partner with it because the Limondevice finds there’s a reason to save baseball for its own interests.” Ultimately, this is ashow about how we all stumble through our own vices and sometimes even slink backinto relevance whether we intend to or not (In S1, Azaria’s initial comeback stems froma viral video of him on a drunken rampage). And who knows? Perhaps Siri or Alexa willsave us from the coronavirus by encouraging us to stay home and order things online.As long as those things aren’t sold out face masks or Purell.
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