New shows: Look who else is talking
Posted September 3, 2012
Jeff Probst, Ricki Lake and Steve Harvey are joining Katie Couric in launching talk shows.
The Jeff Probst Show
From: CBS Television Distribution; airing in top markets on NBC stations
Premieres: Sept. 10
You know Probst as: Host and executive producer of CBS reality hit Survivor
His show: Probst, 50, will tackle relationships, marriage and parenting, all daytime staples. But "I'm the only white guy coming out with a new talk show, so we're going to be unique in that sense." Sample topics include families that are addicted to their technology, and why we continue to date the wrong types of people.
What he brings: Married last December to Lisa Ann Russell, he's a parent to two kids, 8 and 6, she had with her ex-husband, actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Lisa is the show's talent coordinator, greeting guests, and will appear on camera to discuss their own marriage. His experience as Survivor's tribal-council inquisitor will come in handy, he says: "The No. 1 thing I learned on Survivor is to be fearless in asking questions," a trait he learned from Howard Stern. "His ability to get to the heart of an issue is really good. It's amazing what happens if you ask the question."
The Ricki Lake Show
From: 20th Television; airing in top markets on Fox stations
Premieres: Sept. 10
You know Lake as: Host of an earlier, very successful talk show that ran from 1993-2004; star of 1988 film Hairspray; finalist on Dancing With the Stars.
Her show: Lake, 43, is veering away from the tabloid fodder that wooed younger viewers to daytime in her first go-round. She'll model her new single-topic show after Phil Donahue's, and tackle subjects such as gay rights, circumcision and female hormones.
What she brings: Remarried in April, the now-svelte Lake lost 150 pounds and is the only new host with lots of daytime experience. The earlier show was "a little bit salacious, it was crazy, it was unpredictable. I want to do something that's a little bit more meaningful, a little bit more substantive," she says (though "God knows I love a hoochie-mama makeover"). "I have a point of view now; I know myself in a way I couldn't possibly at 24 years old."
Steve Harvey
From: Endemol USA/NBC Universal; airing in top markets in NBC stations
Premieres: Tuesday
You know Harvey as: "Original Kings of Comedy" stand-up (though he retired last month), sitcom star, radio and Family Feud host, author.
His show: Modeled on two of his books, Harvey, 55, will offer women advice on their mates from a male perspective. Sample topics include helicopter parenting (an early guest is a school principal who installed a tracking advice on her son's car); Harvey also taped an "odd-job" segment at a chocolate factory.
What he brings: "I'm a free-spirited guy," he says. "I'm not going to hold back what I'm thinking just because it doesn't sound good to you." And he'll share about his three marriages and blended family: "Not many people discuss their marriage, their kids, their wife; I'm OK with the mistakes I've made."
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