| SportsCafe | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sport, Comedy |
| Created by | Ric Salizzo |
| Written by | Ric Salizzo |
| Starring | Ric Salizzo |
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Brian Neal Ric Salizzo |
| Running time | 60 min (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TV2 |
| Original run | 1996 - November 23, 2005 July 9, 2008 – ??? |
| External links | |
| Website | |
SportsCafe is a New Zealand Sports TV show. The shows original run was hosted by Lana Coc-Kroft, Marc Ellis, Leigh Hart, Graeme Hill, Ric Salizzo and reporter Eva Evguenieva. In 2001 Leigh Hart was added to the cast under his persona of 'That Guy'.
The show first screened on New Zealand television in 1996 on Sky Sport, however those without a Sky subscription could view Sports Cafe without a UHF Sky Decoder by tuning their TV to the Sky Sport UHF channel, as the signal was not scrambled during this show. In 2002, Sports Cafe moved to Sky 1 and in 2003 to TV2.
It featured interviews with current sports stars and comical skits about sports. Each episode lasted 60 minutes, including commercials.
The show was pulled at the end of 2005 after the 'Celebrity Drug Scandal' but it is understood that this was not the reason for the show going off the air. The grand final screened November 23rd, 2005 and at the end of the show the presenters actually destroyed the set on the air, as The Exponents played their hit song "Why Does Love Do This To Me?".
On Sunday June 22nd, 2008 it was announced in the Herald on Sunday newspaper that SportsCafe would return for a final season, to begin on July 9th, 2008. The show featured most of the original cast, and aired on Wednesday nights at 9.30pm on TV2.
In 2011, SportsCafe returned for 3 exclusive online episodes, in order to celebrate the fact that New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup later in the year. 3 shows were confirmed, and broadcast on July 8th, 15th and 22nd. Recordings of these episodes can be found on You Tube. It is unknown whether any further episodes will be made.