People were not being fair to Regis Philbin’s new sports show the day that it was initially announced, as Rush Hour back in March. A lot of folks, myself included, said “Regis + Sports Show = NOPE” and wrote it off as a rare speed bump in Fox Sports 1’s largely well put together launch plan. The show has undergone a title change, and announced a format, that will likely win it no further fans, at least among the media.
Regis Philbin to bring sportswriters, ex-NFL players, terrible punctuation to Crowd Goes W!ld
Yep, that’s really the title.
USA TODAY Sports
The show, which debuts Aug. 19, will be titled Crowd Goes W!ld. That’s right, exclamation intended, at least on Fox’s part. The hour-long sports-talk show that Fox is describing as “alternative” will be hosted by Regis Philbin, and he will be flanked by ex-NFL defensive lineman Trevor Pryce, Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay, “former professional tennis player turned comedian” and winner of best byline ever Michael Kosta, and former Sky Sports News host and “Regis does British schtick” correspondent Georgie Thompson.
Crowd Goes W!ld (ugh, make it stop already) will also have a social media correspondent, in Guyism.com personality Katie Nolan, because those things always work on shows like this. Fox promises the show will be lively, but “more entertaining and less argumentative” than other sports shows.
“There are sports news shows, debate shows and shows that present a single point-of-view, but Crowd Goes W!ld is aiming for a fresh approach,” said Executive Producer Michael Davies. “Crowd Goes W!ld is going to live in the moment, presenting multiple points of view, with the conversation often influenced by the audience through social interaction. Regis, Jason, Michael, Trevor, Georgie and Katie will embrace the freedom and spontaneity this free-flowing, less staid, format offers and I have no doubt fans will too.”
So Fox would like a sports show that lives in the moment, and why not, I suppose? It seems like a very nice pitch, but the cast is very strange, and though he was very lovely when I met him on Fox Sports 1’s media day, it’s still confusing as to why Regis is even hosting a sports show. Add in a likely unnecessary social media correspondent, forced attempts at comedy and the consistent fact that these kinds of shows take a while to get good anyway, and I can’t imagine anyone’s going to flip over from Around the Horn or Pardon the Interruption for this.
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