Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith

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. It was cancelled on January 11, 2007 because of 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.

Show format

Quite Frankly's format included discussion on topics including the worlds of sports, politics and current events. 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 sportswriters and columnists from across the United States. The "A-List", a Top 5 countdown of the hottest topics in any given sport. And on Tuesdays, the "Football Panel"; a freeform discussion of current developments in the NFL.

Guests

In its first year, Quite Frankly guests included Senator John McCain, President Jimmy Carter, Tim Wise, 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, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, John Thorn, and Jerry Bruckheimer.

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.

Production staff

Quite Frankly's production staff included two-time Emmy Award Winning Associate Producer Spandan Daftary.