Charles Barkley is teaming up for a new show with the King.
Gayle King.
The NBA on TNT analyst and the CBS Mornings co-host are uniting for “King Barkley,” a weekly primetime show on CNN that will cover the social and cultural topics of the day.
The duo made the announcement Saturday on TNT’s NBA Tip-Off with King joining Barkley and the usual crew, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal.
“What I think is so great for the both of us is that it’s live TV,” she said. “To me, live TV is like working without a net. Whatever happens, happens.”
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Neither one was looking for another job to add to their already full plates, but the idea of working together made sense.
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“When they said something, I said, ‘Hell, no, I don’t want to be on TV more,'” Barkley said. “This is when they first brought it up, that’s what I said. Then, ‘What about Gayle?’ I said, ‘Gayle who?’ ‘Gayle King.’ I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll work with Gayle. But that’s the only way.'”
The two got on the phone together and had a similar vision of what they wanted to do, so they decided to commit to the show.
“We had a great conversation and that’s how the whole thing came about,” Barkley added.
“I just think that we’re both very curious people,” King said.
“King Charles” will debut this fall and air on Wednesdays. CNN and TNT are both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
