Now We’re Talking showcases awful announcing in a comedic way

Imagine hitting the peak of your career in your mid 20s to mid 30s. Your ego is at an all time high and you are the man. Then unfortunately, life comes at you fast and you either suffer from an injury or your job performance is inadequate. Where do you go next?

This is the concept of the Go90 app’s new show Now We’re Talking starring Tommy Dewey and Tug Coker. Dewey and Coker sat down for lunch one day and thought about how they could possibly work together. They each studied sports broadcasting and were intrigued by an article about Jerome Bettis and how he uses an opera coach to become a better television analyst.

“It was inherently comedic and interesting and touched on sports without being too inside baseball,” Dewey said.

This is when the magic happened. Dewey and Coker were also hitting their mid 30s which Dewey said “feels for us like a transitional point.”

“In terms of deeper themes, this idea of where do you go when you’ve been to the mountaintop was really interesting to us. How do you find fulfillment for the rest of your life?” Dewey said.

Coker, who considered filming a documentary on athletes’ transition to broadcasting before this project, said he was most intrigued by how athletes use the ego they’ve built up after they retire.

Interview with Dewey and Coker below

“Its interesting for us to see how you try to live when you don’t have a chance to flex your muscles in front of people anymore and you have to live like a normal person,” Coker said. “A fall from grace can be really compelling no matter where you fall from.”

Dewey’s character is the starting quarterback at Arizona while Coker’s character is his backup. They each retire and have to find second careers and coincidentally run into each other at a sports broadcasting school. The show takes viewers through their comedic journey to finding success off the field.

Dewey and Coker believed in their project so much that they shot several days of material before pitching it to various media outlets. Verizon’s Go90 app and LeBron James/Maverick Carter-owned production company Uninterrupted signed on as partners. Dewey has written pilots in the past and always felt like the tone he was going for got lost in the process while Coker had never done anything like this before.

“This is one of my first forays into the writing and producing world and I loved it. I realize I am built for this. I love the idea of controlling some piece of art and seeing it through the way you want it to be done,” Coker said.

Uninterrupted’s connections helped the show garner guest stars such as Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis, Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster and FOX NFL Sunday host Curt Menefee. Menefee, who made his acting debut, filmed his scenes before the NFC Championship Game within three hours in order to avoid a snowstorm headed towards the east coast.

Despite the recent acquisition of a high profile comedy produced by cable host Megyn Kelly, Go90 is still going through turbulent times. Verizon invested millions into the product but have not received the return they expected via downloads of the app or video views. Dewey and Coker realize the concept of watching premium quality shows on mobile devices might be before its time but they are happy they got the opportunity to try it out.

If season 2 happens, the pair want to add a storyline to the show in which they call obscure Olympic sports. During this year’s Summer Olympics, Dewey and Coker called each other at 11 p.m. doing wrapups of Olympic sports using all of the weird jargon they could think of.

You can check out episode one here.