CBS ORDERS “GAME ON!,” A NEW SPORTS COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT SERIES

11.06.2019

CBS ORDERS “GAME ON!,” A NEW SPORTS COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT SERIES FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JAMES CORDEN AND BEN WINSTON

The Series Is Based on “A League of Their Own,” the Two-Time BAFTA Award-Winning U.K. Series Currently in Its 14^th Season

Emmy^® and Peabody Award-Winning Actor, Writer and Producer

Keegan-Michael Key to Host

Tennis Champion and Entrepreneur Venus Williams and

New England Patriots Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski to

Serve as Team Captains

Actor and Comedian Bobby Lee and Emmy Award-Winning

Writer Ian Karmel to Appear as Comedian Panelists

CBS has ordered GAME ON!, a sports comedy entertainment series based on “A League of Their Own,” the BAFTA-winning U.K. series currently in its 14^th season on Sky. The U.S. version will be hosted by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning actor, writer and producer Keegan-Michael Key, and will feature tennis champion and entrepreneur Venus Williams and New England Patriots Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski as team captains. Actor and comedian Bobby Lee (“Mad TV,” “Tiger Belly”) and Emmy Award-winning writer Ian Karmel (THE LATE LATE SHOW with JAMES CORDEN) will serve as comedian panelists.

GAME ON! is produced by Eye Productions Inc. and Fulwell 73 Productions with CPL Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company. Executive producers for Fulwell 73 Productions are Ben Winston, James Corden and Emma Conway with David Taylor, Murray Boland and Danielle Lux serving as executive producers for CPL Productions. Rob Gronkowski, Elle Key, Keegan-Michael Key, Henry Penzi and Venus Williams also serve as executive producers.

Equal parts comedy and game show, the genre-busting GAME ON! pits two teams of three, captained by Williams and Gronkowski, with comedians Lee and Karmel and a rotating mix of sports stars, comedians and celebrities, against one another. The teams will go head to head in over-the-top physical challenges, from seeing who can dunk the most basketballs over a tank of water while harnessed on a bungee cord, to taking on a sumo wrestler in the ring. They will also have their sports-related knowledge tested with trivia questions, such as “Which football player cried the longest after winning a championship?” and “Which of these athletes was the largest baby when they were born?”

“We are so delighted to be making this show with CBS,” said Executive Producer Ben Winston. “We couldn’t have found a better host and partner in Keegan, and I can’t wait to see Gronk and Venus as we’ve never seen them before, going head to head in some epic yet ridiculous battles.” 

The “A League of Their Own” format is distributed globally outside of the U.S. and Canada by Red Arrow Studios International.

About GAME ON! Host and Panelists: 

(Photo Credit Art Streiber) Host Keegan-Michael Key	Emmy and Peabody Award-winning actor, writer and producer Keegan-Michael Key is known for his extraordinarily diverse skill set, and wide-ranging talent, in both comedy and drama. Key redefines what it means to be a multi-hyphenate in the worlds of film, television and theater. Currently, Key can be seen opposite Eddie Murphy in Netflix’s “Dolemite Is My Name,” and will next be seen starring in Paramount’s “Playing with Fire,” alongside John Cena. Key can be heard in Disney’s tent-pole blockbuster films “Toy Story 4” and “The Lion King.” The in-demand actor will soon begin filming Netflix’s adaptation of the Broadway musical, “The Prom,” starring alongside Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman. Key came to worldwide attention as co-creator and co-star, alongside Jordan Peele, of Comedy Central’s groundbreaking sketch series “Key & Peele,” which won the 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
(Photo Credit Nick Mele) Team Captain Venus Williams	With seven Grand Slam titles, five Wimbledon championships and four Olympic gold medals, tennis legend Venus Williams is one of the most accomplished and inspiring women in the history of sports. Beginning her rise to the top at the age of 14, Williams quickly took the world of tennis by storm, rising to the top-ranked position, breaking countless records and winning numerous championships. True to her bold spirit, Williams parlayed her healthy competitive spirit and fine-tuned business acumen into two successful design ventures and founded V Starr Interiors, a full-service commercial and residential interior design firm, as well as activewear brand, EleVen by Venus Williams. Williams’ achievements throughout her legendary career have merited her a plethora of additional accolades, including New York Times best-selling author, Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year, ESPN’s WTA Player of the Year and Forbes’ Celebrity 100, among others.
(Photo Credit Joseph Viles) Team Captain Rob Gronkowski	Rob Gronkowski, best known as an American football player for the New England Patriots, won three Super Bowl championships and was the all-time single season touchdown leader for a tight end. Rob recently joined the cast of “FOX NFL Sunday” to serve as an NFL analyst alongside Terry Bradshaw, Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long and Michael Strahan. He has appeared in feature films including “Entourage” and “American Violence” and will be seen in the upcoming “Boss Level” with Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo. Rob’s youngest fans have seen him in special appearances on “Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports Awards” and “Crashletes” (Nickelodeon). Behind the scenes, Rob has partnered with longtime manager Henry Penzi to executive produce “Shark Week 50 Best Bites” (Discovery), “Unsportsmanlike Comedy” (SHOWTIME), “MVP” (Verizon), and their latest project, GAME ON! (CBS) along with James Corden and Ben Winston. Rob is represented by UTA.

(Photo Credit Frankie Leal) Comedian Panelist Bobby Lee

Bobby Lee is best known for his numerous years as a cast member on “Mad TV” and for his podcast “Tiger Belly,” one of the top comedy podcasts in the world. Bobby starred on ABC’s “Splitting Up Together” and also starred on the NBC show “Animal Practice.” He has also been touring the country year-round with his hilariously unpredictable stand-up. Lee’s film credits include “The Dictator,” “Pineapple Express” and “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.” On TV, Lee was a regular guest on E!’s “Chelsea Lately,” has appeared in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and has performed stand-up on both “Premium Blend” as well as “The Tonight Show.” Lee also voiced Tim/Sumo in the Hulu original series “The Awesomes,” was a recurring guest on “DVDASA” in addition to CBS’ NCIS: LOS ANGELES, MAGNUM P.I., Netflix’s “Love,” and starred in several national commercials, such as Bookings.com.

(Photo Credit Nicolle Clemetson) Comedian Panelist Ian Karmel

Emmy Award-winner Ian Karmel is an L.A.-based stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is currently co-head writer for the Emmy Award-winning THE LATE LATE SHOW with JAMES CORDEN, of which Ian was one of the founding writers in the show’s 2015 re-creation. Previously, he was a staff writer and round table regular on E!’s “Chelsea Lately.” Ian's stand-up has been featured on “Conan,” THE LATE LATE SHOW with JAMES CORDEN and Comedy Central, and was most recently showcased on Netflix’s “The Comedy Line Up.” He is originally from Portland, Ore.

Cast and Crew on Social Media:

	Twitter	Instagram
Keegan-Michael Key	@KeeganMKey	@keeganmichaelkey
Venus Williams	@Venuseswilliams	@venuswilliams
Rob Gronkowski	@RobGronkowski	@gronk
Bobby Lee	@bobbyleelive	@bobbyleelive
Ian Karmel	@IanKarmel	@IanKarmel
James Corden	@JKCorden	@j_corden
Ben Winston	@benwinston	@mrbenwinston
Henry Penzi	@henrypenzi	@henrypenzi

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About Fulwell 73 Productions:

Fulwell 73 is a television and film production company, set up in 2005 by lifelong friends Ben Winston, Leo Pearlman, Ben Turner and Gabe Turner. In March 2017 James Corden joined the company as a fifth full partner.

Fulwell 73’s television slate is extensive. As producer of multi Emmy award-winning, THE LATE LATE SHOW with JAMES CORDEN, which currently has over 7 billion views online, their other productions include, “Drop the Mic” (TBS), “Sounds Like Friday Night” (BBC1), “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” (Apple), “Sunderland Til’ I Die” (Netflix), “Stand Up To Cancer,” and “Gavin and Stacey” for BBC1 coming Christmas 2019. Their shows were nominated for 13 Emmy awards in 2019, with partners Ben Winston and James Corden gaining the most nominations of any individuals with eight and seven respectively.

The company first came to the public’s attention in September 2007 with the release of its debut feature “In the Hands of the Gods” (Lionsgate). The film received great critical acclaim, opened on more screens than any other UK-made documentary and appeared in cinemas around the world. Since then, Fulwell’s theatrical film releases include: the most successful sports documentary of all time, “The Class of 92” (Universal Pictures), and the huge box office hits “One Direction 3D: This is Us” (Sony/Columbia) and “I Am Bolt” (Universal). They were also behind the recent documentary SHOWTIME feature “Hitsville: The Making of Motown” and are currently in production on “Cinderella” for Sony Pictures. 

Fulwell 73 prides itself in making shows with some of the top music and sports talent in the world, making broadcast specials for artists including, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes and Kacey Musgraves. They recently produced the live Global Citizens event from South Africa to honor Mandela’s 100^th birthday, with artists including Beyoncé, Jay Z and Oprah.

About CPL Productions:

CPL Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company and Edinburgh TV Festival’s 2018 Production Company of the year, is one of the most successful independent TV and radio production companies in the UK. An impressive roster of hit shows includes Sky One’s double BAFTA-winning series “A League of Their Own,” the second series of Sky One comedy “The Reluctant Landlord” written by and starring Romesh Ranganathan, “There’s Something About Movies” for Sky 1, Channel 4’s multi-award winning “Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds,” “The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes” (C4), “Married At First Sight” (C4) and the return of “Harry Hill” to our screens in NIT Television’s “Alien Fun Capsule” for ITV. There is also more of “Harry Hill” to come with new show “Harry Hill’s Clubnite” (C4). The company have recently entered into a collaboration with Ranga Bee Productions to create “Romesh Presents” a series of comedy shorts for Sky One curated by Romesh Ranganathan.

Additional programmes include, Sky One’s A League of Their Own US and European Road Trips, “Rob and Romesh Vs,” ITV’s popular drama “Brief Encounters” and NIT TV's comedy sketch show for BBC “Three, Ellie & Natasia.”