Let's Bowl

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The Let's Bowl Cast (L-R): Lisa Bartholomew, Rich Kronfeld, Steve Sedahl, Drew Jansen, & Amanda Brewer.

Let's Bowl was a shortlived bowling game show that aired on the Comedy Central television network from 2001 to 2002 after a brief run on several TV stations across the U.S. in the mid-90's, the first three being Minneapolis-St. Paul stations: KXLI-TV 41 (Now KPXM), KLGT-TV 23 (now KMWB), and KARE channel 11. Hosts Steve "Chopper" Sedahl (himself) and Wally Hotvedt (Rich Kronfeld) wore outfits and headsets reminiscent of sportscasters of the 1970s and early '80s, and did play-by-play as contestants bowled against each other. Described as a cross between The People's Court and Bowling for Dollars, the show had participants play against each other to settle feuds and win nearly worthless prizes (in the second 1998 episode, a player received merchandise for a radio station that had been defunct for two years; gift certificates for Old Country Buffet were common that year).

Two women known as the "Queen Pins" were on each show—while women are often used to provide visual stimuli in TV programs, these two acted differently, usually taunting the contestants as they tried to compete. Another character in the show was "The Pig" played by Matt Sarazine. The original shows, pre-Comedy Central also featured "Butch" the janitor played by Nick Schenk and "Berni the Scorekeeper" played by Berni Sarazine. Nick Schenk went on to become one of the writers for the Comedy Central episodes of "Let's Bowl". The show also included a halftime performance by a local musical band, followed by a special "Inside Bowling" segment where Chopper and Wally interviewed unusual people and participated in bizarre escapades. Michael J. Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame was one of the writers for the show, both in 1998 and during the run on Comedy Central (though possibly only for the pilot). It was filmed in several different bowling alleys in the Twin Cities. Outside of the region, the 1998 season was carried on stations in markets such as Reno, Nevada; Madison, Wisconsin; and Chicago, Illinois.