David Beckham's Soccer USA
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| David Beckham's Soccer USA | |
|---|---|
| Format | Football/Comedy |
| Starring | Tim Lovejoy |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom/United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30-45 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Five/Fox Soccer Channel |
| Original run | 25th July 2007 – 17th October 2007 |
David Beckham's Soccer USA is a football highlights and general discussion show presented by Tim Lovejoy and produced and broadcast in the UK by Five. The show began following David Beckham's move to L.A. Galaxy, and Beckham often contributes to the show in the form of Interviews. Each week there is a special guest in the studio, usually a British sports personality, to whom Lovejoy chats about their career and their views on Major League Soccer. A slightly different version of the show hosted by Natalie Pinkham and completely devoid of any content derived from British studio footage is broadcast in the USA on Fox Soccer Channel.
Several regular features aside from MLS highlights are present in every show. One of these features is a "translation" of American commentary, called "How to speak U.S. Commentator". This provides a definition of slang used by commentators which differs from that used in Britain. Viewers are also invited to choose an MLS team to support and email their choice to the show, from which polls are collected, determining the nation's favourite teams.
As of the beginning of September, the show was cut to 30 minutes due to Channel 5 rescheduling their news.
[edit] Running Gags
The show is presented in a light-hearted manner and contains a variety of running gags which run over several weeks, such as:
1. At the beginning of each show, Lovejoy introduces himself as a Chelsea and Kansas Wizards fan, after which he says 'Go Wizards'. A silver curving flash then appears across the screen and the presenter moves his hand in the direction of the flash as it moves across the screen. The flash and Lovejoy's hand are almost never co-ordinated, adding a comic element.
2. Many of the guests have referred to Scottish player Paul Dalglish, who plays for Houston Dynamo, which has led Lovejoy to suggest the title of the programme is changed to 'Paul Dalglish's Soccer USA'.
3. Lovejoy sometimes gives an update on one of the MLS clubs, and calls it, for example, 'Houston Update' or 'New England Update'. After he is finished, he then goes on to the 'Dallas update', and talks not about FC Dallas, the MLS team, but the hit TV show Dallas.
4. Lovejoy will often comment on and show a clip of player Logan Pause followed by Tim pretending to have been paused by standing very still for around 5 seconds.
[edit] Differences Between the British and American versions
1. The American version is hosted by Natalie Pinkham, who is traditionally out on location at various Major League Soccer related events. The British version is hosted by Tim Lovejoy in a studio.
2. The American version is presented as a serious highlight show, featuring game footage with all English highlight packages narrated by JP Dellacamera. The British version is presented as a lighthearted educational look at Major League Soccer and soccer in the US in general. The British version contains a highlight package featuring the original broadcast commentators, sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish, depending on the source of the original broadcast.
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