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Michael Davies (television producer)

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Michael Davies
Born (1966-03-03) March 3, 1966 (age 58)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Other namesDavo
Michael "Positive" Davies[1]
OccupationTelevision producer[2]
Known forMen in Blazers
SpouseSelena Richards (December 28, 1989-1992; divorced)[3][4]
Children4

Michael Davies (born March 3, 1966) is a United States-based British television game shows producer.[6]

As president and CEO of Embassy Row, a New York-based television production company that is a unit of Sony Pictures Television, he is best known as the executive producer of Wife Swap (U.S. TV series). He also produced ESPN's 2 Minute Drill, VH1's World Series of Pop Culture, CBS's Power of 10, and the GSN originals: Chain Reaction, Grand Slam, and GSN's remake of The Newlywed Game as well as the U.S. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He created Lifetime's Debt, and Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's Money.[7]

He wrote a blog about the 2006 FIFA World Cup for ESPN.com.[8] He and Roger Bennett form the duo Men in Blazers, who produce podcasts, blogs and a television show about soccer on NBCSN.[citation needed]

Early life and education

Born in London on March 3, 1966, Davies grew up in Blackheath[5] and attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, graduating from the University of Edinburgh. Davies is the younger brother of opera singer Rebecca de Pont Davies and screenwriter William Davies.[citation needed]

Men in Blazers

Beginning in 2011, Davies and co-host and ESPNFC.com writer Roger Bennett, brought the Men in Blazers podcast to Grantland.com, a website owned by ESPN covering sports and pop culture. The weekly podcast includes analysis of recent matches in the Premier League as well as coverage of the UEFA Champions League and various international fixtures, specifically the United States men's national soccer team games. Frequent topics of discussion are Bennett's beloved Everton F.C., Davies' Chelsea F.C., the growth of soccer in the United States, and commentator Ian Darke. The analysis is sprinkled with offbeat, quirky similes, World War I poetry, and a steadfast belief that "soccer has been America's sport of the future since 1972".[citation needed]

The two have built up a small but passionate cult like following in the United States whom the two call "GFOPs" or Great Friend of the Pod. GFOPs created a wikispace for the podcast to help new listeners understand inside jokes and track the history of certain references.[9]

Davies and Bennett refer to the United States men's national soccer team as The Von Trapps.[10] The pair have coined a number of phrases such as adopting the hockey term "shass" to refer to a shot that is so poor it turns into a pass. The most notorious "shassmasters" in the Premier League are Gervinho (at the time, part of Arsenal F.C.) and Liverpool F.C.'s Daniel Sturridge.[citation needed]

The duo then were invited to provide analysis and humorous segments for ESPN live from Rio de Janeiro during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, especially from Bob Ley's "Panic Room", and became a phenomenon as Team USA and the World Cup went over exceptionally well with American audiences.[11] They got to do a live show from Portland for the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, interviewing the likes of Clint Dempsey and Alex Morgan while raising money for MLS Works and the Wounded Warrior Project.[12]

In September 2014, they also conducted a New York City FC exclusive interview with Frank Lampard - Davies' favorite Chelsea player of all time - after Lampard joined NYCFC from Chelsea.[13]

Fox Sports announced that they cancelled the Davies-produced program Crowd Goes Wild, a daily sports talk show from the national sports network Fox Sports 1, which featured Regis Philbin, in April 2014.[14]

Ahead of the 2014-15 Premier League season, NBC Sports signed Davies and Bennett from ESPN for its English Premier League coverage and has confirmed that Men in Blazers will have its own half-hour television show on Monday nights at 10pm EST, starting September 22, 2014.[15][16]

Davies and Bennett host the Men in Blazers channel on EA Sports Talk Radio on the official 2014 FIFA World Cup video game, with Andy Goldstein of TalkSPORT and Darke hosting the only other channel. If users tune into their station, they comment on the user-controlled teams' progress and, following a usual tradition, answer e-mails "by raven" (a Game of Thrones reference.) [17]

Personal life

Davies lives in New York City with his wife, Claude, and their son. Davies is a fan of Chelsea F.C.

References

  1. ^ "Men In Blazers - Positive". Meninblazers.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  2. ^ "Men In Blazers - Michael Davies". Meninblazers.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  3. ^ Burke, Cathy (1999-12-15). "Golden Boy Tarnished – Abc Tv Exec'S Ex Drags Him To Court Over Child Support". New York Post. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  4. ^ "Hitched, Hatched, Hired". Hollywood Reporter. 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  5. ^ a b "With Abigail Savage". Men in Blazers. June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  6. ^ "The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  7. ^ ABC Quiz Show Asks Million-Dollar Question, lubbockonline.com; accessed November 11, 2016.
  8. ^ Davies, Michael (2002). "Blog of the 2002 World Cup by Michael Davies". Page 2. ESPN. Archived from the original on June 9, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2003. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Men In Blazers - home". Meninblazers.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  10. ^ "Men In Blazers - Von Trapps". Meninblazers.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  11. ^ Men in Blazers Boot Room Extra - 2014 FIFA World Cup, Day 5 (immediately after United States 2-1 Ghana), YouTube.com; accessed November 11, 2016.
  12. ^ Men in Blazers at the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, YouTube.com; accessed November 11, 2016.
  13. ^ NYCFC Exclusive Interview - Frank Lampard (by the Men in Blazers), YouTube.com; accessed November 11, 2016.
  14. ^ Fox Sports 1 cancels Crowd Goes Wild, awfulannouncing.com; retrieved July 4, 2014.
  15. ^ Connors, Will (August 10, 2014). "Men in Blazers Jump to NBC". Online.wsj.com.
  16. ^ Prince-Wright, Joe (September 17, 2014). ""The Men in Blazers Show" set for kick off on NBCSN". Prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com.
  17. ^ Seven Reasons To Start Your 2014 FIFA World Cup Early, Easports.com; accessed November 11, 2016.
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