You remember Craig Carton, yeah? He was a WIP host in the 90s, went to New York, ended up in jail, and then got out of jail to return to WFAN. 97.5 the Fanatic had some interest in Carton working here, post-slammer, but we’re not sure if Carton ever had reciprocal thoughts about a Philly return.

Believe it or not, he’s now the host of a national show on Fox Sports 1 called The Carton Show, which debuted Tuesday morning, and James Kratch at ESNY wrote up a few notes:

Carton was Carton, but he took a bit off his fastball for a national audience unfamiliar with him. Co-hosts Cody Decker and Geoff Schwartz complimented him well. And away they went. They bantered about a series of NFL topics in a light-hearted, but substantial enough manner. They had fun and showed some viral video clips and mean tweets. And Carton mixed in a few anecdotes and dick jokes.

You don’t want to overreact after one show. But our early take: “TCS” is unlikely to be a smash hit, but it doesn’t have to be. It was what a breezy cable morning sports show designed to play in the background should be. There was accessible analysis, there was humor and they kept everything moving. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and Carton and FS1 don’t appear inclined to try. It may not be everyone’s taste. But it will resonate enough to succeed.

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Last thing: The co-host shuffle will be interesting to watch. Schwartz, a former Giants offensive lineman, is a genial, smart guy. He can mesh with pretty much anyone. And Carton and Decker are friends who have worked together on WFAN. But FS1 has said it will be a rotating cast of co-hosts. It will be interesting to see if Carton can collaborate with different talent the way Stephen A. Smith manages on ESPN First Take.

Admittedly, I haven’t followed Carton too closely since he got out of jail and went back to New York, but when they announced he was doing a new national show, it was curious. Was Carton national TV show talent? I guess so. When he’s talking straight sports, he’s not bad. He’ll cycle through the relevant topics of the day, give some pretty reasonable takes, etc. He’s a New York guy, but he’s got no issue talking Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers, etc – basically the big national NFL topics that pay the bills in sports media households.

Also, Geoff Schwartz is good. He’s a former NFL offensive lineman and good Twitter follow for video and breakdown, just a reasonable and straightforward dude. Decker actually was a pro baseball player, so between him and Schwartz, there’s two ex-athletes in their 30s to add some legitimacy to the show, which airs weekday mornings at seven.