ABC
Before ringing in the holiday season with the 10th annual CMA Country Christmas showcase, have some musical fun with country superstar Brad Paisley and his friends during his musical variety show, Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special. The show airs on Tuesday (Dec. 3) beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
The hour-long special will “showcase the energy of Music City from Nashville’s iconic War Memorial Auditorium through a combination of Paisley’s signature humor, unexpected surprises, heartfelt field pieces, and rousing musical performances,” according to the press release.
On hand to help Paisley are Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker and band Hootie & the Blowfish, the Jonas Brothers, Chris Harrison, Peyton Manning, Tim McGraw, and more.
On hand for this prime-time special are some of Paisley’s friends and the biggest names in entertainment including country sensation Kelsea Ballerini, iconic musical group Hootie & The Blowfish, GRAMMY®-nominated multiplatinum powerhouse trio Jonas Brothers, host of ABC’s “The Bachelor” franchise Chris Harrison, NFL legend Peyton Manning, superstars Tim McGraw and Darius Rucker, seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning country superstar Carrie Underwood and more.
“Wait, I thought it was called the ‘Brad Paisley Special.’ Who added the ‘Thinks He’s’? Oh well, I’m still psyched,” said host and executive producer Paisley in a statement.
“I am so excited for Brad to be able to turn this fun, down-home country idea into a reality on ABC,” said Rob Mills, senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials & Late Night, ABC Entertainment. “We all know him as an award-winning country superstar, and now we get the chance to see his comedic talents as he brings this variety special to life with the help of an incredible roster of A-list talent.”
Holly Jacobs, EVP of Alternative & Syndication Programming at Sony Pictures Television adds, “We’re so excited to be working with one of our great Sony music artists on such a distinctive new format. Brad has brought so much creativity, heart, comedy and celebrity wattage to this hour, we can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
This will certainly help those who were missing Paisley as host of the 2019 CMA Awards in November. He had hosted the awards for over a decade alongside Carrie Underwood, but for 2019, the CMAs decided to go with Underwood, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton as hosts, celebrating the “year of the woman” with the nominations, since, for the first time in history, there was a woman nominated in every category except Male Vocalist of the Year.
Paisley was very supportive of his country music colleagues, writing on Twitter that “as a fan of all three of these amazing women, [he couldn’t] wait to watch.” And he got his own special to boot!