And I think it should be a successful endeavor. Now, I’m not talking ratings here. I have no clue if people are going to watch this show or not. But, if this is the template, they’re off to a good start:

The as-yet-untitled pilot will be based on the Onion Sports Network online video series and take on teams, fans, sports products and sports coverage. The show will be geared toward sports lovers and long-time followers of the Onion.

“We are thrilled to be in business with a cultural icon like the Onion to give our audience the sports show they deserve,” said Comedy Central programming president Lauren Corrao. “The short-form content on the OSN Web series is outstanding, hilarious and exactly what you’d expect from the gang. We’re really excited to take this great idea and turn it into a regular, weekly series.”

The Onion is consistently one of the smartest and funniest places on the Web, and when they rolled out the Onion News Network back in ‘07, it fell right in line with their print content: original, hilarious, sharp. (We’ve featured a few from the Onion Sports Network on this here blog.) If this show is an extension of their preexisting style and brand, I don’t see any reason why it won’t be relevant or make me laugh. I do wonder, though, if it’s all going to be satire. All the Onion Sports Network stuff isn’t based in reality; it’s just made-up ridiculousness. This show might really succeed if it’s also touching on sports topics that are based on what’s really going on that particular week or month.

Or it might be like that Jeff Dunham bro’s show. The dude with the puppets. I’ve heard he’s not very good.

The Onion, very rarely, fails to bring the funny. They are to humor what ESPN is to “over-the-top, screaming analysts on brightly lit sets talking about inane aspects of sports.” Which makes the following video pretty freaking appropriate. You see, in this hypothetical situation, the NCAA Tournament has expanded to 4,000+ teams, and there’s analytical justification for why each one of them deserves to be there.

The only way this gets funnier is if it’s an NFL Draft parody of Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, but since the former is a satire of himself at this point, maybe that’s too meta.

Yankees Building New Vacation Stadium In The Hamptons

The Onion is really a top-notch publication. Eschewing all the remarkably original and hilarious news blips and bleeps they roll out, the AV Club features some caps locked SOLID analysis, writing and interviews. Oh, and they also have the Onion New Network, which cranks out videos. That are funny. Like the one firmly embedded in this post.

Did I mention I like The Onion? Because I really like The Onion.