Artie Lange Goes Nuts on Joe Buck Show

Joe Buck, sportscaster, invited Artie Lange to roast him good on Buck’s new HBO show (video above), and Lange did that and more. Now Lange is in the middle of a scandal. The Lange segment was so offensive the HBO Sports chief issued an apology Tuesday. HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said:

"I would say I’m sorry to anyone across America who had kids and were watching what they thought was a good and honest sports show that turned into gutter language."

"This isn’t indicative of the kind of product the HBO sports department sends out over the airwaves."

The segment occurred at the end of the pilot edition of Joe Buck Live. Buck, one of TV’s best-known football and baseball broadcasters, was conducting cross-talk with other comics on the set, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis, when Lange made a handful of homophobic cracks and uttered expletives. When the show ended at 10 p.m., the comic panel continued online until Greenburg finally pulled the plug at about 10:07. The HBO executive later told USA Today that Lange’s comments "bordered on bad taste" – a generous understatement – which prompted another outburst from Lange on Howard Stern’s show:

"Ross Greenburg, you –, you came up to me and you said if Paul and Jason get boring, you go nuts. That’s what I did."

Greenburg said Tuesday:

"He’s got a little misinterpretation of what I said. Prior to the show I saw him out in the hall and said, ’Look if you sense a lack of energy up there, I need your energy.’

"The whole episode was regrettable. He should never have been booked. We took a risk."

Lange did what they asked him to do, and Joe Buck called into a radio show (below) to talk about the scandal, and confirms Lange was asked to go nuts. Lange complains his reputation has kept him off shows like that of Conan O’Brien. Lange said:

“I’d been on Late Night with Conan O’Brien 15 times in the last 11 years, and they were great to me, but the last time I was on, they thought I was high, and now they won’t put me on until I prove I’m sober."

“I am sober. I can’t be a third guest? I mean, I’m not asking to bump George Clooney.”

Maybe Lange needs to use better judgement when others encourage him to "go nuts," especially since that is exactly what is keeping him from finding more mainstream work.