Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch has found a new calling in life, and that’s performing in disguise as a famed Canadian hockey commentator named Tony Babcock. Middleditch debuted the character during Fox Sports West’s broadcast of the L.A. Kings game over the weekend, which was teased on the Kings’ website. There was also a backstory for the character similar to how ABC introduced Mike Myers’s Gong Show host character Tommy Maitland back in 2017.
Described as “a mysterious fellow,” Babcock’s sports-expert résumé includes “over seven months as a PeeWee equipment coach for the Surrey Thunder A2” and a very small portion of one game as a sports broadcaster. “He filled in for his father, a longtime announcer, who was sidelined by a freak press meal. Throughout the hockey community, it’s rumored that undercooked salmon was the culprit,” the L.A. Kings website reveals. “Babcock called the final four minutes of the game, exemplifying that quality takes precedence over quantity.”
Some particularly hilarious Babcock quotes from the evening:
I’m searching for the thing that we all are searching for: father’s approval. And it is elusive! More elusive than the blue whale.
That’s a little bit of a razzle dazzle dingle dangle. Right now he’s heating up the oven to a cool 450, cause he’s gonna bake a pizza pie with any toppings he wants!
Holy smokes! That’s enough spicy mustard on that hot dog to make you regret your choices tomorrow morning. A lot of razzle, a lot of dazzle, and everybody is invited to the magic show!
Well, in the end, when you’re a shattered vase at grandmother’s kitchen, you gotta pick your pieces up and find the super glue. So if I’m the L.A. Kings, I’ve gotta look myself in the mirror and scream at the top of my lungs, “Not today!”
Check out another clip from Middleditch’s Instagram below:
