Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith
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Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith was a nightly one-hour television show on ESPN2 hosted by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and ESPN reporter, Stephen A. Smith. The show premiered on August 1, 2005 and was cancelled on January 11th, 2007 due to low ratings. Smith called the cancellation a "failure" on his part. "Remember, it was 'Quite Frankly With Stephen A. Smith.' The buck stopped with me," Smith states. "This was not ESPN's fault - it was mine." The final episode aired on January 12, 2007.
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[edit] Scheduling
Quite Frankly began between 11:00 and 11:08pm most nights. Often, the show followed a live college football or Major League Baseball game and began as late as 12:30am.
[edit] Show Format
Quite Frankly's format was a departure from typical ESPN fare, touching on controversial topics from across the worlds of sports, politics and current events. The episode that aired on July 31st made waves, using a 5-man panel to discuss William C. Rhoden's book, "$40 Million Slaves," which contended that highly paid athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have a "plantation mentality," perpetuating the "black slave, white owner" trends that have existed in American society since before the United States Civil War.
Regular features on Quite Frankly included Wednesday's "Front Page Panel"; a forum for figures from outside the sports world to discuss athletes' impact on popular culture. Friday's "Back Page Panel" was a roundtable discussion among Stephen A's preferred sportswriters and columnists from across the United States. The "A-List" was Stephen A's Top 5 countdown of the hottest topics in any given sport. And on Tuesdays, Stephen A. hosted the "Football Panel"; a freeform discussion of current developments in the NFL.
[edit] Guests
Quite Frankly hosted a number of high profile guests in its first year, including Senator John McCain, President Jimmy Carter, Allen Iverson (the show's first guest, appearing for an hour-long interview), Shaquille O'Neal & Deion Sanders (who are the only two guests to have appeared three times), Kobe Bryant, Pete Rose, Wayne Gretzky, Donald Trump, Dennis Rodman and Jerry Bruckheimer.
[edit] Studio Location
The studio was located at the Hotel Pennsylvania, across the street from the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The audience was frequently recruited from Manhattan's 6th Avenue, 7th Avenue and West 33rd Street, where passersby would often run into people handing out free tickets to a taping (free tickets were also advertised during the show). The area of West Midtown Manhattan is also home to ESPN2's morning show, Cold Pizza.
[edit] Production Staff
Quite Frankly's production staff included 2-time Emmy Award Winning Associate Producer Spandan Daftary. Spandan was responsible for most of the show's high-profile segments, guests and music-driven montages.
[edit] External links
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