Bill Simmons’ HBO Show, ‘Any Given Wednesday,’ Arrives in June

Bill Simmons’ big HBO deal comes full circle this summer. The pay cable net announced Tuesday that his new series has both a title (Any Given Wednesday With Bill Simmons) and a premiere date (June 22).

The initial 20-episode season, part of Simmons’ exclusive multiyear, multiplatform agreement with HBO, kicks off a few weeks before the deal’s one-year anniversary. The half-hour show will air weekly, on Wednesday nights, at 10 p.m. — simultaneously becoming available on both the HBO Go and HBO Now platforms.

“I’m excited about the show, I’m excited about the title and I’m really, really excited to drop my first F-bomb on TV,” said Simmons in a statement. “We are going to figure out nudity down the road, as long as it’s tasteful.”

The first TV fruits of Simmons’ HBO deal came about on Sunday with the digital launch of Game of Thrones post-show After the Thrones. The new weekly show is hosted by The Ringer (the editorial arm of the Bill Simmons Media Group) collaborators Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan — both of whom followed Simmons after his Grantland/ESPN departure.

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“Bill Simmons represents a unique and distinct voice with a proven track record of challenging the norm and igniting debate and discussion on a wide range of topics,” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. “We are excited about the concept Bill and his team have developed for this show, which takes advantage of Bill’s intelligence, talent and insights.”

Any Given Wednesday, which will cover pop culture and sports, will also feature intimate conversations with guests, field segments and Simmons’ signature commentary. It marks another entry in HBO’s growing roster of news-based programming that will soon include a second entry from Vice, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight and Real Time With Bill Maher.

As previously announced, Any Given Wednesday‘s creative team includes The Daily Show‘s Stuart Miller and BSMG president Eric Weinberger as executive producers, fellow Daily Show alum Jason Ross as head writer and TV vet and essayist Kim Gamble on board as co-executive producer.