‘Pickled’: How to Watch CBS Celebrity Pickleball Event

Pickleball is arguably the fastest-growing sport in the country, and celebrities are starting to get heavily involved. And because of that, fans have a chance to see their favorite stars take the court for the CBS event Pickled. The action will start tonight (Nov. 17) at  9 p.m. ET on CBS. It will also stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ 

Pickled will feature 16 celebrities competing in the two-hour sports comedy special. Stephen Colbert of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will host the show, and the celebrities competing are Jimmie Allen, Murray Bartlett, Dierks Bentley, Jaime Camil, Max Greenfield, Luis Guzman, Phil Keoghan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tig Notaro, June Diane Raphael, Kelly Rowland, Paul Scheer, Aisha Tyler and Emma Watson. The announcers for Pickled will be Cari Champion, John Michael Higgins and Bill Raftery while Colbert will perform the national anthem with Kenny Loggins.   The 16 celebrities will play in teams of two and fight for a chance to win The Colbert Cup. 

“If you love pickleball and you love celebrities and you love helping people, you’re going to love watching these celebrities help people by playing pickleball,” said Colbert who is producing the event through Spartina. Funny Or Die and CBS Studios are also producers and joining forces with Comic Relief to raise funds to support its safety programs, which address the impact of homelessness, rootlessness and lack of safety often experienced by children and families living in poverty. 

“Comic Relief US is thrilled to be a part of this special entertainment event to support the millions of children and families living in poverty. Thank you to the amazing Stephen Colbert, Spartina, CBS, Funny Or Die and all of our celebrity friends who will now get to play Pickleball for a good cause!” said Alison Moore, CEO of Comic Relief US.

Pickleball is a sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, as mentioned by USA Pickleball. Like the sports mentioned, pickleball can be played indoors and outdoors and played as doubles and singles. Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, which is located near Seattle, Washington. Three dads — Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum — are credited for creating the game which grew consistently over the years.