Whether you've picked up a paddle or not, you've probably heard of pickleball, a sport that has been growing in popularity in recent years. Believe it or not, there is professional pickleball being shown on TV, but the sport is going to get its biggest spotlight with the upcoming CBS special, Pickled.
Produced by Stephen Colbert along with Funny or Die and CBS Studios, Pickled is a two-hour special that is going to see celebrities compete in a pickleball tournament to benefit Comic Relief US and win the first-ever Colbert Cup.
Here is everything you need to know about the Pickled CBS special.
Pickled CBS airdate
The two-hour Pickled special airs on Thursday, November 17, at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS. In addition to airing live on the network, eligible US Paramount Plus subscribers can stream it live as well. It'll also be available on-demand on the streaming service.
Pickled is taking the usual primetime slots of CBS' So Help Me Todd and CSI: Vegas.
Pickled cast
There are eight teams of two that will be competing in this pickleball tournament, which includes the likes of singer Kelly Rowland, Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett, Harry Potter star Emma Watson, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, country music star Jimmie Allen and The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan.
Here are the official Pickled teams:
Dink Floyd: Kelly Rowland and Murray Bartlett
The Paddle Snakes: June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer
Take This Lob and Shove It: Jaime Camil and Aisha Tyler
The Volley Ranchers: Sugar Ray Leonard and Emma Watson
Daniel Dae Luis: Luis Guzmán and Daniel Dae Kim
Dill-I-Am: Max Greenfield and Jimmie Allen
When Harry Net Rally: Dierks Bentley and Phil Keoghan
Party ‘Til You Cuke: Tig Notaro and Will Ferrell
There are no hints who the mystery player is going to be, so you’ll just have to tune in to find out.
In addition, sports commentators Cari Champion and Bill Raftery, along with John Michael Higgins (Pitch Perfect), are going to be calling the matches. Stephen Colbert is also going to sing the national anthem as a duet with Kenny Loggins.
Find out more about the Pickled cast and teams.
How to watch Pickled
Airing on CBS, Pickled is available to anyone with a traditional pay-TV service, as CBS is carried by all cable providers. You can also receive your local CBS station through a TV antenna, if you still rock it old school. But if you’ve cut the cable cord, live TV streaming services like FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV carry CBS as part of their channel lineup.
Paramount Plus subscribers can watch the special and depending on what subscription tier you opted for, you can even watch it live. Paramount Plus Premium subscribers can live stream their local CBS stations, which would allow them to watch Pickled live. If you aren’t paying for the Premium tier, then Pickled is available on-demand as of November 18.
Pickleball rules
If you've never played pickleball but what to follow along with Pickled, here's a link to the official rules from USA Pickleball.
In a nutshell though, pickleball is a lot like ping pong. In the doubles format, which Pickled is going to be, the first server on each team continues to serve until they commit a fault, then their teammate takes over serving until they commit a fault. Once both teammates have committed a fault, the other team gets to serve.
Pickleball also has a two-bounce rule, meaning the team receiving the serve must let the ball bounce once before returning and then the serving team must let it bounce once before returning. After that, they can have a volley where the ball does not bounce on the ground except in the non-volley zone (seven feet within the net on both sides.
Otherwise, rules for scoring are again like ping pong or tennis. Games must be won by two.
Pickled supporting Comic Relief US
In addition to being a celebrity pickleball tournament, Pickled is meant to raise money for the non-profit Comic Relief US organization. Here is an official statement about the goal for the special:
"Stephen Colbert’s Spartina, Funny Or Die and CBS are joining forces with Comic Relief to re-ignite the magic of creating change through comedy with Pickled. Calls to action during the broadcast will raise funds to support Comic Relief’s safety programs, which address the life-altering impact of homelessness, rootlessness and lack of safety often experienced by children and families living in poverty."
Pickled is raising funds from both the broadcast event and at ComicRelief.org/pickled.
