Kevin Harlan is the undisputed king of making a sports broadcast fun.
He’s also the undisputed king of ad reads.
No one is doing it quite like Harlan, who Awful Announcing tabbed as 2024’s Play-by-Play Announcer of the Year. Not because of his ad reads per se, but they certainly didn’t hurt his candidacy either. This is the same Harlan who could read the phonebook and make it sound interesting.
And he again proved that with a brilliant ad read on Thursday night.
In between Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke’s free throw attempts halfway through the third quarter of their 120-119 win over the Houston Rockets, Harlan, who is close to becoming one the voice(s) of the NBA on Amazon, did an ad read for a brand new show streaming on Max, The Pitt.
“From John Wells, the executive producer of ER and The West Wing comes The Pitt. Not the story about the Lobos in Albuquerque, New Mexico — uh huh. This is The Pitt, a new medical drama starring Noah Wyle. It’s got 15 episodes! 15 hours in one shift! Don’t miss a minute. Thursday at 9 ET, streaming exclusive on Max.”
And if Harlan can figure out how to get on the Max streaming service, he’ll perhaps binge-watch The Pitt.
“Now that we’re on, don’t touch it, and let’s just watch,” he quipped.
Unfortunately, for those of you nationwide trying to figure out how to stream The Pitt and catch every episode of Noah Wyle’s latest drama, you’re going to need Max for that. The show is exclusive to the service, so unless you’re already a subscriber, it might take a little effort to get in on the action.
Just don’t ask Harlan how to help.
But for those already in the loop, you have Harlan to thank for making the ad read just as entertaining as the show itself promises to be. Although, it’s Harlan who really stole the spotlight, so maybe, just maybe Harlan should be hosting a few of those 15 hours of medical drama himself.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.