From the Wall Street Journal:

ESPN's "SportsCenter," which debuted some three decades ago, grew into a cultural icon in the U.S., spawning network superstars and sister broadcasts around the world. Its theme music is instantly recognizable to millions of sports fans.

But critics have complained it has lost some of the panache of its heyday in the 1990s. Meanwhile, a handful of competitors offering up their own sports-highlights broadcasts have piled in.

Now, Canada's version of the program is trying to reinvigorate the genre.

"There are plenty of shows to see your sports and get the scores and no funny business," said SportsCentre co-anchor Dan O'Toole. "That's not a show we want to watch. We go about making a show we and our buddies would want to watch."

SportsCentre—using the British spelling—airs every night at 1 a.m., with reruns all morning, on TSN, a dedicated cable sports channel. TSN is co-owned by ESPN and local media giant Bell Canada, a unit of Canadian telecoms and media giant BCE Inc.

It is a loopier, freer-flowing affair—with substantially more hockey coverage—than its bigger American cousin. And it is wildly popular north of the border.

Co-anchors Jay Onrait, 37, and O'Toole, 36, have become national celebrities in Canada, akin to the star status afforded SportsCenter stars Keith Olbermann and Craig Kilborn in the U.S. in the 1990s. YouTube clips of the pair's antics have racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

Their off-camera producer—known as Producer Tim, the butt of many of the show's on-air banter—has his own Twitter following of nearly 20,000. Each summer they take their show on the road, broadcasting from small towns across Canada.

Onrait and O'Toole say their inspiration comes from the glory days of the American sports show, along with David Letterman-style late-night routines.

"The biggest comment we get from Americans is, 'This reminds me of SportsCenter from the 90s,'" Onrait said.

ESPN defends its flagship U.S. show. "We certainly do encourage personalities on the air," said Mark Gross, a senior vice president and executive producer at ESPN's SportsCenter. "Where we can fit in some humor along the way, when appropriate, we do it. But we're conscious of not trying to force it. We don't have comedians working here."

O'Toole and Onrait were first paired together in 2005 after various stints at TSN and smaller regional TV shows across Canada.

"In a short period of time they really gelled on air," said Mark Milliere, the senior vice president of production at TSN, who hired both anchors.

Many of their comedic stunts can seem random to the uninitiated. The show sometimes uses long, awkward on-air silences, unimaginable in the U.S. Singing is another staple. Many gags, though, have roots on the field. The inspiration to put a young staffer in a yellow dress, for example, came after they spotted a man doing the same during a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers.

The U.S. version of the show features a straightforward top 10 plays-of-the-day feature. In Canada, a recent show included a "Top 10 Crying Athletes" segment.

Occasionally O'Toole and Onrait are asked to rein in the comedy. "There were times when they were pushing the boundaries more than we were comfortable with," said Milliere, the producer, adding: "To their credit, over time they evolved into this perfect mix where they really pick their spots."