‘Brockmire’ Star Hank Azaria Gives Insight About His Character’s Unlikely Evolution In The Series Fourth And Final Season

As a series that started out as simply being about a washed up baseball announcer trying to make a comeback, Brockmire has evolved into a much more than a straight-forward character study of an obstacle-studded road to redemption. 

Hank Azaria created the character of hard-charging, plaid-jacket-wearing Jim Brockmire years ago, and what began as a short video on Funny or Die evolved into a complicated, yet hilarious, study of one man forging ahead no matter how disastrous his choices often turn out to be. 

As the final season of the Brockmire gets underway, Azaria shared some of his thoughts about the series with Forbes. 

He spoke of the evolution of the character, saying, “The idea was always that Brockmire starts out as this really selfish, troubled, narcissistic, awful guy and as he gets better and better the world gets worse and worse. Part of the darkness and humor is his insides rarely match his outsides.”

Azaria points out that this is why Brockmire and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Jules can’t seem to make it work. “That’s why he and the love of his life can never find each other at the right time.”

A big twist in the final eight episodes is that Brockmire discovers that his has a child. This change shows just how far Brockmire has come, says Azaria. “I think giving Brockmire a daughter turned out to be a really great way to serve this journey of a guy that goes from victimized, angry son to loving, giving father.” 

In its early seasons, the series focused about a bit more on baseball, as Brockmire’s identity at that time was completely linked with the game. But, in this final season the baseball aspect, while still present, has faded a bit. Azaria explains that this was always the plan. “[Series creator and showrunner] Joel Church-Cooper was really committed to making every season feel different one way or another,” he says, adding, “We were certainly more committed to telling the story of Brockmire ‘the man’ as opposed to Brockmire ‘the baseball announcer’ and making baseball almost irrelevant, if not completely dead, seemed to serve that story the best.”

Another major element that makes this season so unique is that the narrative is constantly time-shifting, with the majority of the story being told between the years of 2030 and 2033. 

As shown throughout the storyline, time has not been kind to the world – there are food shortages, personal debt is at an all time high, global temperatures are off the charts, the Amazon has burned down, some parts of the United States have become lawless ‘disputed lands,’ and television is full of ads for assault weapons and companies that suggest euthanasia as an alternative to radiation sickness, water toxicity, among other illnesses, such as a ‘supercancer.’

This was all Church-Cooper’s idea, says Azaria. “He was always writing to this kind of ending but I think that he got the idea to place it in the dystopian near future between season three and season four.” Given the current actual global situation, Azaria points out, “Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that that dystopian future was going to be actually happening when season four was released.”

With the time jump, the series has a bit of a sci-fi aspect and uses this element to make fun of the use of technology and how personal relationships are conducted. Azaria details how this came about saying, “When Joel pitched the idea of a kind of sci-fi future season four, I thought he was a little bit nuts and asked him about seven times if he was sure it was a good idea. He said, ‘yes,’ every time, and I couldn’t think of a comfortable way to ask it an eighth time so that’s what we did.”

His initial skepticism aside, Azaria admits, “The final episode plays like this weirdo comedy episode of Black Mirror and it’s one of my favorites.”

If there’s one thing that Azaria wants people to know about Brockmire, it’s, “THE SERIES ITSELF! It’s honestly my favorite thing I’ve ever done except for the fact that not enough people have seen it. Please watch it. I’ll buy you a pony. I’ll give you a dollar. (Maybe I shouldn’t beg. Do what you want.)”

Fans of Jim Brockmire shouldn’t despair that the series is ending, says Azaria, because the character may return. But, beware, cautions the actor, “He may appear as a gelatinous, amorphous blob.”

If this is the case, then the evolution of Jim Brockmire will truly be complete.

 The fourth season of ‘Brockmire’ airs Wednesdays at 10e/p on IFC. Previous seasons are available for streaming on Hulu.