Lebron James’ Barber Shop Talk Show ‘The Shop’ Lands At HBO

By Jessica McKinney

Lebron James’ barbershop-based talk show, The Shop has found a new home. HBO has reportedly ordered the show to its network, and it is set to air in Aug. 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

James’ series previously aired on his Uninterrupted digital site in 2016, before finding a home on HBO. The premium network has reportedly ordered a handful of episodes for its first season, which will feature celebrity guests, including Snoop Dogg, New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr., Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green, Los Angeles Sparks’ Candace Parker, and more. James will not appear in every episode, although he is slated to be in the first three, THR reports.

“This show is real, it’s candid and it’s the essence of conversation,” James told The Hollywood Reporter. “And we know with social media and text being the way people communicate, the form of conversation, actually talking, is kind of a lost art.”

Each episode will keep a similar format, in which it will invite a mix of personalities to a barbershop to have healthy conversations about sports, fashion, politics, music, and more. James suggested the episodes draw a sense of nostalgia. “When I was a kid, being in barbershops meant listening to adults talk about sports, clothing, politics, music, everything happened in the shop,” James recalled. “It was so real and so candid — no one had a sense of, well I can’t be myself here. That’s how The Shop became an idea.”

In a statement, HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler described James as “a transcendent figure, not just in sports but in American culture. ” He also noted that The Shop “creates a vehicle to hear LeBron’s voice on a range of subjects that we know will be engaging and compelling.”

The first episode of The Shop will air on HBO on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

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