Joe Buck had Artie Lange on the premiere of HBO’s new show, Joe Buck Live.

Lange was his usual self, admitting to homophobia, saying Jessica Simpson is fat and looks like Chris Farley, and laughing that Tony Romo’s name rhymes with “homo”.

Buck spoke with USA TODAY and said the segment seemed to take an eternity.

“I thought that spending time on a treadmill felt long. That was like 8 or 9 minutes that turned into an eternity. You know, it’s cable, you can get away with it. It’s not my style. But, you do one show and you learn and you move on.”

He told reporters he thought Lange had an “agenda” when he came on stage to discuss the intersection of sports and celebrity. He was sorry Lange took time away from actors Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis of SNL. But Buck said there was little he could do to control the invited guest without “kicking him off the set” or hitting a “trap door.” He added, “It’s a thought. A gigantic hook,” said Buck.

A pile of cocaine might have lured him offstage.  Heh. Just sayin’…

The people at HBO are fronting like they are also stunned and unhappy with Artie’s appearance, but with all the buzz about it, you know they are secretly smiling.

Standing nearby, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said Lange “bordered on bad taste” with his “mean-spirited” tone.

“Look, live television is all about risk-reward. We know who Artie Lange was when he was booked,” said Greenburg. “We knew there was a certain degree of a risk factor in where he would go and where he would take us. I think at the end of the day, we’ll let the public decide. Much the same way the public decided on the appearance of Will Leitch and Buzz Bissinger. … The public will have the last say in what they thought of Artie Lange tonight.”

Are you a fan of Artie’s – or is he a fat rude pig?