Charles Barkley and Gayle King are uniting to headline a new prime time show on CNN, the network announced on Saturday.
Titled "King Charles" as a way of combining their names, the show is slated to debut in the fall and will air on Wednesdays in prime-time slots. The show is expected to run into 2024.
King, currently an anchor on "CBS Mornings," joined Barkley -- NBA and college basketball analyst-- and the "NBA on TNT" crew to discuss what the show will entail.
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Barkley said he wants the show to be non-political, though it will touch on politics.
“You know [Gayle King] is going to be a straight shooter. I’m going to be a straight shooter,” Barkley said on the politics aspect. “I know she’s going to be fair and honest and you know I’m going to do the same thing.
“We don’t want to say, ‘We’re a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat,'" Barkley added. “That’s one of the things that’s already ruined television in general.”
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On keeping an open discussion on current topics, King said: “I think that decorum and courtesy and kindness always work. But everybody I know has an opinion on something. We just need to figure out a way to have a good conversation without tearing each other down. And I think we can do that.”
Topics will range from tough situations like gun control to lighter discussions on food and pop culture.
“I want people to tune in to see ‘What are Gayle and Charles going to do?”’ King said. “I think it will be fun to watch the dynamic between the two of us.”
More information on what the show will supply will come in future months, but both King (CBS) and Barkley (Warner Bros.) will continue their respective roles while working with CNN.
