Charles Barkley and his TNT co-host, Ernie Johnson, are cooking up a peculiar strategy to give the Chuckster’s new show a ratings boost. CNN’s ‘King Charles’ premiered in late November. However, it fell short of expectations and lagged quite far behind its rival shows. Despite the hype created by it, King Charles pulled in a viewership of approximately 510,000. So Johnson had an unconventional plan up his sleeve that might turn things around for Barkley.

During the latest episode of The Steam Room podcast, Johnson said, “Here’s my one suggestion because I did watch uh King Charles the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it but I think if you want ratings to go up, your socks need to go up.”

As Barkley’s look from the premiere came up on the screen, Ernie added, “Because this is not a good look, Chuckster. This low socks with those pants showing about 4 inches of skin. That is NOT a good look.” Barkley tried to justify his look by stating that it was a rehearsal show but Ernie brought up a picture from the next episode which also had Charles wearing ankle-length socks. 

In the end, the 60-year-old had to agree with Johnson as he said, “I will get loads of socks.” While it may sound unconventional, every idea is worth considering saving the show.

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King Charles significantly lags behind its competitor, Gutfeld! on Fox News, which dominated the time slot with 1.97 million viewers. On the other hand, MSNBC’s The Last Word averaged 1.62 million, leaving the show in the shadows of its rivals. During the same episode, the confident NBA legend openly acknowledged being nervous ahead of the show’s debut, which led to the socks gaffe.

Charles Barkley forgot his shoes due to the nerves

Johnson couldn’t believe that the 1993 NBA MVP was nervous about the debut of King Charles. However, as Chuck recalled, he forgot his shoes. He added, “I was so freaking nervous for the show I forgot my shoes. I got really sh**y shoes on.”

He added that this was the reason behind the low socks, “I had to catch a 7:00 flight, so I was kind of flustered. I was really nervous cuz obviously it’s the premiere it’s a big deal I forgot my shoes and I had these crap a** shoes on and I was so low sock.” However, Johnson ensured that the socks strategy would help save the show.

While the CNN show didn’t have good ratings, there was hope the fans would have liked it due to their love for Barkley. However, that wasn’t the case as it received mixed reviews. Have you watched King Charles on CNN? What are your thoughts on it? Do tell us in the comments below.

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