Bonds on Bonds is a 10-part reality TV series starring former San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 outfielder Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds

Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...

 that aired on ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

. The show revolved on the life of Bonds and his chase of Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

 and Hank Aaron's home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 records. It was produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions

Tollin/Robbins Productions

Tollin/Robbins Productions is an American movie and television production company operated by Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, the latter probably best known for his role as Eric Mardian in the 1980s TV series Head of the Class...

, producers of the Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 series All That

All That

All That is an American live-action, sketch comedy-variety show that aired on the Nickelodeon cable television network featuring short comedic sketches and weekly musical guests. The theme song for All That was performed by TLC...

and many other shows and movies.

Segment breakdown

The first segment of Bonds on Bonds, aired Tuesday, April 4 nationwide on ESPN2

ESPN2

ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...

. Much of the premiere episode dealt with how Bonds has coped with questions about whether steroids have fueled his athletic performance. At one point, Bonds even started to break down in tears. "If it makes them happy to go out of their way to try to destroy me, go right ahead. You can't hurt me any more than you've already hurt me," he said. He continued by saying, "You don't see me bringing anyone else into this. I'm going to take it myself." Bonds paused as his eyes welled and he choked back tears, "And I'm going to take it because there's so many people who depend on me."

In different segments throughout the program, Bonds acknowledged his often rocky relations with the press but cast himself as a victim of critics out to tear him down. He described himself as "mentally and emotionally drained" but insisted he was not going to let anyone "bring me down."

Cancellation

In June 2006, ESPN and producer Tollin/Robbins Productions officially pulled the plug on the reality series, citing "creative control" issues with star Barry Bonds and his representatives. No other details about the decision were given. Bonds on Bonds had been absent from the network's schedule since May 30, 2006 and given its poor ratings, the decision to cancel the show was hardly surprising, especially when coupled with the "creative control" issues.