Versus In The 'Soup' With Sports Comedy
Iseman To Host Twice Weekly Irreverent Takes On Games, Players, Commentators
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 9/15/2008 5:35:00 AM
Versus is taking another stab at sports comedy.
The competition network will begin ladling out two weekly helpings of Sports Soup, beginning next month. Hosted by comedian Matt Iseman, the series will take an irreverent look at the state of sports and the people who play and report on them on Tuesday and Thursday at 10 p.m., starting Oct. 14. Sports Soup will be shot in Los Angeles and produced by the same team behind E! Network's hit series The Soup. Versus and E! are both owned by Comcast.
The show, according to Versus executives, will pull material from sports-pre and post game shows, press conferences, local media and off-the-wall places. In turn, Iseman will call out athletes and coaches, announcers and analysts, anchors and reporters on their comments and actions and make sense of the nonsensical and anything that deserves a closer look.
Last fall, Versus trotted out Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller, a talk show with the funny man.
“This will be the Chad Johnson of sports shows - a little obnoxious, usually hilarious and so fascinating that you just won't be able to take your eyes off it because you have to see what happens next,” said Iseman in a statement. “Imagine having a friend that can watch hundreds of channels, 24 hours a day and then pull the best and worst moments to share with you. Sports Soup on Versus will be that friend, but we won't drink all your beer."
Noted Versus executive vice president of programming production and business operations Marc Fein: “As Versus continues to grow and evolve, it's an important initiative for the network to try out new, original programming that will resonate with our viewers and attract new ones. Sports Soup will offer viewers an undistorted glimpse into sports. It's our way of providing a voice to sports fans as the show will say what we are all thinking but no one is actually saying, until now.”
