MICAH RICHARDS has revealed the magic behind CBS Sports’ “
Despite being broadcast in America, the show’s clips regularly go viral – with fans loving the interaction between host Kate Abdo, Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Richards.
The show has led to many iconic moments, including the presenters’ reaction to finding out Kate Abdo used to work at Greggs and a hilarious festive feature which saw Richards dress as Santa.
The Athletic today interviewed Richards, Abdo and Henry to find out why it has become so loved – despite many in the UK not being able to watch it.
For all of them, they said it is because they have the freedom to say things unscripted – and draw comparisons between the show and Inside the NBA, which features Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.
The show’s supremo, Kate Abdo, said the show differs massively to doing UK television when asked why it works.
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She said: “The freedom to be off-script [is why it works], the freedom to be our authentic selves. We’re all very different personalities and bring different assets to the table. But I think as a whole, we all complete each other in some way.
“Working in television, it’s such a source of frustration to me because so often you go into a show and have every single minute accounted for, knowing exactly what’s going to happen over the next hour.
“It takes all the air out of the room for anything to happen spontaneously. We go into segments knowing that we have an overall vision for each segment, but if we go totally off that vision, that’s OK.
“Everyone wants to look polished and clean and glossy, and there’s something to that. But you have to find that balance with also just being real and living in a moment.”
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Richards said: “Trust is the key for me. I think we’re comfortable in our own skin. Take Thierry Henry. He’s a legend of the game and he loves football. You got Carragher, the No1 pundit in England. But he has to sort of be a different Jamie on our show to make the show work.
“We have producers who allow us to do things that other companies probably wouldn’t allow. We trust and respect each other.
Arsenal legend Henry also agreed the show is what it is because of its authenticity, saying: “They [The viewers] see that you are real. People respond to that. It is a fun show to watch, but I also think we are good at what we do when we analyse the game.
“We can switch from Micah or me or Kate or Jamie saying something funny to talking about the war in Ukraine. There is something for everybody in the show, and we are real.”
One question that has been on the mind of viewers, and the presenters it seems, is the future of Henry.
His legendary status within the game allows him to play the straight man role incredibly well, but viewers have loved seeing him joke around too.
His status as coach of the France U-21s and occasionally U-23s has seen his future at CBS thrown into doubt however.
Henry said: “Obviously, having the opportunity to coach the Under-21 and the Under-23 for the big games, I made sure that I could do both. So that tells you something because I would have stopped CBS if I didn’t see a value of it.
“What’s going to happen after my two years with the Under-21 (which ends in summer 2025)? I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“All I know is right now I’m happy to be here and don’t want to miss anything. I don’t know where my mind is going to be in two years. Do I still want to coach? I don’t know.”
Abdo said she could understand if Henry left, but insisted the show would not be the same without him.
She added: “I think you can’t help but think about [how] it could end. The nature of television is short-term contracts. We want to keep the family together.
“I think that we’re all looking at Thierry. I think for Micah and Jamie, TV is the chosen career. It’s the one they’re really pursuing. The same for me.
“But in Thierry’s position, there’s another passion that he has that burns just as strong if not stronger. I mean, essentially, he’s already proven what he can do in TV.
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“We all know how good he is. So there’s still that area where he still wants to be able to prove that he was not only a great football player but how well he can lead other men to play football.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
