It looks as if showbiz isn't the new biz for Joe Buck, at least for the foreseeable future.

For several years, he has talked of branching out from sportscasting to add duties in the entertainment field. He did several comedy bits for Anheuser-Busch's bud.tv website, shot a pilot of a late-night show that he pitched to several TV networks and has dabbled as a host of CBS' "Late, Late Show'' as well as "Talk Soup" on the E! Entertainment network.

Then he got his big break in February when he was hired by HBO Sports to provide a quarterly show after Bob Costas departed.

The first edition of "Joe Buck Live,'' in June, was a raucous episode in which comedian Artie Lange's profane appearance grabbed the headlines on a program that mixed sports and comedy.

It created a big buzz nationally, but it was publicity that HBO President Ross Greenburg didn't like. Episode No. 2, on Tuesday, was a toned-down affair concentrating on sports, not comedy.

"I was really pleased, they (bosses) were really pleased, it's got a really nice feeling to it," Buck said of Tuesday's show. "That comes as a relief. Like anything you do in life, the more you do it the more familiar you get.''

Now, after the two vastly different editions of "Joe Buck Live," he's pulling back a bit on the talk of expanding outside of sports.

"I don't know how realistic that is, or even is something I would ever want to do,'' said Buck, the lead baseball and football play-by-play announcer for the Fox network. "Those two nights when I did the 'Late Late Show,' it was fun. But I never would give up my sports life for a daily life of that. That's a trade I don't think I'd ever be willing to make.

"I'm really content doing what I'm doing. This is a big challenge. I have a lot of growing to do. I've done play-by-play professionally since I was 19, and I'm 40 now. So I've been at it for over 20 years. But doing an interview-talk show is relatively new to me so I have to continue getting better at that and see where that leads."

ARTIE AGAIN

Tuesday's show, which lacked the controversy sparked by Lange, didn't lack Lange. In a clever taped bit to start the show, Buck was seen strolling down a crowded sidewalk in Times Square. Lange bumps into him, gets a crazed look and Buck quickly runs while being chased by Lange.

"I have not run like that in years,'' Buck jokes to the audience in a New York studio after the tape ends. "You've got to love this city — I don't care how big it is, you never know who you're going to run into out on those streets.''

It was the perfect way to put the Lange issue to rest, and it turned out to be funnier than some of the comedy in the opener. HBO scored big by taking the Lange issue head-on in a comical manner at the top of the show.

"It was something we had to put to bed," Buck said.

Greenburg acknowledged he had to be talked into the bit.

"There was a time in this building we were real (leery) to put Artie on at all,'' he said. "We feared a backlash, we were quaking in our boots a little. It took a lot of heavy convincing from Joe that we needed to do this, that it wouldn't be enough just to give a couple lines in the opening monologue to address Artie and that this indeed would be the best way to treat it, tongue-in-cheek.''

He's glad Buck was insistent.

"Even though I first disagreed with Joe, once I saw the segment it felt right and I think we nailed it. I thank Joe for sticking to his guns and convincing us to go ahead and do that. It put it to rest and it was Joe at his best. And I can't thank Artie enough. He did a great job on the skit. It worked.''

The bit was taped the night before the show aired.

"Nobody died on the stage that night (Lange appeared), and you need to treat it that way,'' Buck said. "Ross deserves all the credit for signing off on that (because) a lot of feathers were ruffled.''

LOOKING AHEAD

The third installment of "Joe Buck Live" is set for December, and look for a version similar to the one that aired this week in which the only off-color material was the utterance of a curse word by Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban, owners of major sports franchises in Dallas. Other guests were Joe Namath, Dan Marino, John Elway and Curt Schilling.

And after a difference of opinion with Greenburg over how the first show turned out, Buck now says Greenburg was correct.

"Ross is right that I can be myself within the context of a relatively straight sports show,'' he said. "I can take interviews in different directions and still have fun with the guests. I'm sure we're always going to find that opportunity to make it light-feeling and fun. But it is under the heading of 'HBO Sports' and I think Ross is dead right about that.''

Greenburg concurred.

"This is the show we wanted to do from the beginning,'' he said. "It was smart, entertaining and brought out the best in Joe..''

Buck said the first episode was like "we basically aired our pilot.

"I think once you get into something you can have all the ideas you want. But carrying it out and seeing what fits and feels right and what doesn't, you don't know until you get in and do it. I felt pretty comfortable going into and out of the first show. I felt even more comfortable, and it felt even more right, coming out of the second show. I like this feeling a lot better. That's a good thing, and I'm sure we'll continue in that direction. You've got to chew on the show for three months (until the next one), and this has a better taste to it.''