Return Man: Dennis Miller Back In Sports Via Versus Show

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

Miller To Host One-Hour Sports Show On Versus

Versus has hired Dennis Miller to host a new, one-hour weekly series called "Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller." The opinion show launches November 6 and will occupy the 10:00pm ET timeslot on Tuesdays, using the network's NHL game programming as a lead-in. Versus execs have not settled on which show it will telecast after Miller's. "The nice thing about Dennis is that his name alone should drive a lot of eyeballs," said Versus Senior VP/Programming & Production Marc Fein.  The show will focus on sports and feature editorials that Versus is calling "rants," a mock sportscast where Miller talks about the sports news of the week, and a combination of in-studio and remote interviews with sports figures. The comedian made his name on "Saturday Night Live," and also did a two-year stint as an analyst on ABC's "Monday Night Football."   Miller said in a Versus press release, "I'll call 'em as I see 'em, and hopefully I'll see 'em better than the home plate ump in the San Diego Padres-Colorado Rockies tiebreaker game."  Fein is not concerned that some of Miller's comments might rankle current and potential partners. "He could rub some folks the wrong way, but it won't cause any huge problems for us," Fein said. The show will be produced in Santa Barbara by A. Smith & Co.