Goofy competition series Game On! starts on CBS May 27. Keegan-Michael Key hosts and Rob Gronkowski and Venus Williams captain Team Gronk and Team Venus, respectively.
Based on the U.K. show A League of Their Own, the series premiere sees the teams attempt to kick a field goal during an L.A. Rams game, battle against the strongest man in the world and run a soccer drill with Mark McGrath, Coolio and Macy Gray.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is a guest on Team Gronk for the premiere and basketball standout J.R. Smith is on Team Venus.
Game On! comes from Fulwell 73. James Corden is an executive producer, and pops up now and then on the show. He said America, which essentially wrote the book on fusing sports and entertainment, was a no-brainer for Game On! “There is no country on Earth more used to mixing sports with entertainment,” he said.
One does not have to be a sports fan to enjoy Game On!, Corden added. “All generations of a family can sit and watch the show together,” he said.
The second episode features guests Ronda Rousey on Team Gronk and Demi Lovato on Team Venus.
Gronkowski, who retired from the NFL after the 2018 season but will reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay this coming season, said of the show, “it’s unpredictable, it’s fun, it’s hilarious. We never took ourselves too seriously.”
(For the record, no one has ever charged Gronk with taking himself too seriously.)
Tennis superstar Williams said it was “fun to get outside of your box. It’s about us getting outside of our comfort zones.”
Keegan-Michael Key teased an appearance from former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz on Game On! “He was effervescent and had a thousand-watt smile coming from every pore of his body,” said the host.
Corden said Game On! thrives on camaraderie. “It’s checking in with a group of your friends,” he said, “and having a great time.”
