Thursday, September 7 ESPN'S 2-Minute Drill to debut on Monday, Sept. 11
	ESPN's 2-Minute Drill game show, hosted by Kenny Mayne, will debut on Monday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, the first of 26 episodes. The tournament-style series will continue weekly on Mondays, with Thursday editions added beginning Oct. 12. The program, created and produced by Michael Davies, executive producer of ABC's Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, and Andrew Golder, creator of Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's Money, will culminate with the final on Christmas, Monday, Dec. 25. Following are some thoughts from Davies and Mayne about ESPN's 2-Minute Drill. On the development of the show format: Davies: "The whole format of the show is based on my personal experience applying to Oxford University when I was cross examined by a group of seven professors in every subject that I had ever studied. We're doing the same thing with sports. For the first show alone, we had Marcus Camby, Tony Dorsett, Kenny Mayne, Robert Wuhl from Arliss and Rich Eisen cross examining our contestants. By the way, my application to Oxford was unsuccessful, and I happily enrolled at Edinburgh, which had no such cross examination." On the competition: Davies: "ESPN's 2-Minute Drill champion that we will crown on Christmas will have beaten 50 other players who have all proven that they know an incredible amount across a wide range of sports. The competition has been fierce. These contestants really know their stuff." On his host wardrobe: Mayne: "My wardrobe is probably somewhere in between Dick Enberg on Sports Challenge and Regis on Millionaire. One benefit for this show is that we did have a wardrobe allowance and we got the suits at the same place where Regis went to start his show. They are nice suits and I'm happy to be wearing them, but we're not going to start any fashion trends." On contestants' reactions versus Millionaire: Davies: "What struck me most about the first week of taping ESPN's 2-Minute Drill is that I watched contestants winning $5,000 and giving a bigger reaction than I've ever seen on Millionaire, including when people have won $1,000,000. These Drill contestants are so passionate about proving what they know that when they get a chance to sit in our hot seat and they win, it's phenomenally fulfilling." On the selection of Mayne as host: Davies: "The whole show was conceived with Kenny Mayne in mind. However, when Kenny mentioned my favorite team, the Chelsea Football Club, during SportsCenter one time, that basically sealed the deal for me." On panelist pressure: Mayne: "In addition to the contestants, there is also pressure on the panelists and on me when it comes time to read our questions, because we never want to take away from the contestants' time. We have to try to read the questions as quickly and as clearly as we can, knowing that if we delay, we've taken away some time from the contestants' two minutes." On a successful game show: Davies: "Being my first project since Millionaire, it's obviously very important that this show works and I think it will. This is a quality show. We respect sports and sports fans. Also, it incorporates star athletes and focuses on individuals under enormous pressure. The reason why Millionaire works for me is because the format inevitably comes down to a point of risk or reward. ESPN's 2-Minute Drill has that quality as well." On contestant's poise: Mayne: "The rounds fly so quickly, you will be amazed at the poise and recollection ability of the contestants. My wife and I watch Jeopardy and we always claim that we knew the answers afterward, but it's so difficult when you are sitting in the contestant's chair." On contestant's specialties: Davies: "When they apply for the show, each contestant has to tell us what their expertise in the world of sports is. That becomes their specialty. It can be a team, a game, anything. It's the contestant's chance to show how much they know about their area of expertise by answering a difficult, multi-part question to double their money. The most bizarre specialty so far was the 1990 German Soccer Team." Mayne: "In one case, one of the contestants who answered the specialty question wrong stayed after the show and argued with our researchers that he was right and we were wrong. It came down to a certain Mets' pitcher in the 1960s and he was actually recounting their rotation day by day and trying to figure out his answer. In the end, he finally agreed with us."