Thomas' Talk Shows Blog

If you hadn’t heard, former talk show host Star Jones (The View, Star Jones) and her husband of three years, Al Reynolds, are calling it quits. This after an incredibly public marriage (remember all the hullabaloo on The View when Star was selecting her dress, her caterer, her choir and guests?).

Still, the couple are taking the high road – and Reynolds wishes everyone else would as well.

The former Mr. Star Jones says as much on his MySpace blog, calling the time since the couple announced their trip to Splitsville “Dump on Al Month.”

NBC has officially named Jimmy Fallon as Conan O’Brien’s successor to the Late Night throne. The Saturday Night Live alum will start delivering monologues and interviewing guests in Summer 2009.

Rumors that Fallon was the top choice to succeed O’Brien have existed since NBC signed him to an exclusive television deal in February 2007. No other names surfaced as possible contenders, either, unlike the search for Rosie O’Donnell’s successor on The View. For at least the last half year, Fallon was pretty much the given selection.

Late Night executive producer Lorne Michaels, also executive producer of SNL, officially announced Fallon as TV’s newest talk show host at a Monday press conference. The press conference took place on the observation deck of 30 Rockefeller Plaza – the same place Michaels introduced Conan O’Brien in 1993.

Fallon will have to cut his teeth in an increasingly tight late night race – and space. The increasing popularity of Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show, which is growing organically much like David Letterman’s early Late Night, the NBC predecessor to Conan’s iteration. Plus, the second half of Jimmy Kimmel bleeds over into Fallon’s territory, as well. How will he fair? Time will tell.

But at least we have a year to speculate away. How do you think Fallon will fair as a late night talk show host? Post your thoughts in the comments below!

Though there’s much going on in terms of interesting, fun and funny guests on many of our favorite talk shows this week, the show to watch is Montel Williams.

This week marks the last five original shows for Montel, one of a handful of recognizable daytime talk shows and a survivor of the daytime talk show wars of the mid 1990s. After 17 years on the air, Montel is signing off.

So, this week, tip your hat to one of the greats, Montel Williams.

• Monday: Celebrating 17 Years: Montel’s Favorites
• Tuesday: Most Outrageous Guests
• Wednesday: Sylvia’s Farewell
• Thursday: Our Most Memorable Guests
• Friday: Montel’s Grand Finale

Make sure to check out this week’s schedules!

Turns out The Daily Show has more in common with the shows it pokes fun at than one might think.

Researchers at the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism analyzed a year’s worth of Dailys and determined that its content was similar to that of Hardball and The O’Reilly Factor.

They clarified, lest you think they were saying Jon Stewart was like Bill O’Reilly, that to understand the infotainment both programs share (one disguised as a news program), you have to understand the news and the stories they are making reference to.

That puts a damper on the often cited claim that young people get most of their news from The Daily Show.

Said one researcher, “You can't get the jokes if you're not watching the news. The jokes are designed to make you think more about the news.”

Another interesting note; though perceived as anti-Republican, bookings on the show are surprisingly balanced – nearly as many conservative guests and liberal.

If you love Barbara Walters and The View, you may want to pick up Barbara Walters recent memoir, Audition. In it, she spills the beans about the show – including some morsels about Star Jones and her weight battle.

And Star isn’t too happy about it.

According to Babs, View cohosts were ask to fudge about Star’s gastric bypass surgery. She made the same claim when she recently visited The Oprah Winfrey Show.

(She also chatted about her alleged affair with Senator Edward Brooke. But that’s another post, isn’t it?)

Star went on the war path, telling US Weekly that the stories “speaks to her true character.”

Pilates and healthy eating habits was the explanation Star offered during her View stint. A year after leaving the show (in 2006), Star gave up the goat and said she’d had the procedure.

Caught this little number online. I guess Oprah wasn’t paying attention when Mariah Carey made a recent visit to her show.

It was a week before Mariah’s wedding to singer Nick Cannon, and the couple had kept it all a big fat secret.

Except Mariah had a tattoo scribble across her bod that read: “Mrs. Cannon.”

Oprah didn’t see it and didn’t hear about it until after Mariah’s recent appearance on her show.

Ah well. It was probably all that Tom Cruise that went to her head.

Probable Republican presidential candidate John McCain intimated that his running mate could be Dwight Schrute, the shrewd and borderline psychotic middle manager on NBC’s The Office. Only one problem. Schrute’s a fictional character. I just don’t see that working out for McCain.

Jokes just as bad as that one – and including that one – were traded when McCain made visit to The Daily Show Wednesday. The wily senator poked fun at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, surprise, surprise, and stormed off the set in mock anger when host Jon Stewart asked him if George W. Bush was as much of a monkey on McCain’s back as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was on Obama’s.

McCain used the time to do some politicking, too, but we’re more interested in the jokes here at About Talk Shows. We’d like to point out, too, that it’s been awhile since McCain has popped up on The Daily Show. And his casual friendship with the show should make for interesting episodes in the near future. I have a feeling Stewart will be as much a factor in this election as any other news outlet.

Stephen Colbert is not going to let this go. I’m sure of that.

The host of The Colbert Report was named “Person of the Year” during the 12th Annual Webby Awards. The awards honor excellence on the Internet and are doled out by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Joke prediction! Webby Awards are presented June 9th and 10th and winners are limited to five-word acceptance speeches. I think Stephen will be spending the better part of this month selecting his five words. Stephen, if you’re reading this, I’d like you to include “flabbergasted”.)

”Person of the Year” is tantamount to winning the Oscar for Best Picture, and Colbert received it for his innovative use of the Internet to interact with fans of his show.

So much going on last week that I didn’t get a chance to blog about! I thought I’d catch up with this short news roundup.

Did you see the item about Rachael Ray giving a tribute to Rosie O’Donnell on her show last Friday? She saluted the former talk show host, who once fronted her own program, The Rosie O’Donnell Show and turned The View around last year, by showing some classic moments from her talk show.

But the folks at Telepictures, who own the footage, said such a maneuver was a no-go for them. Why? Turns out Telepictures produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Ellen competes with Rachael in some markets. So Telepictures, understandably, didn’t want to compete against itself.

The show went on as planned, and Rosie spent the hour tawking with Rachael Ray. She gave kudos to Barbara Walters, called Keanu Reeves one of her worst interviews (he wouldn’t talk – on a talk show), and said things work best when she’s the boss. (Surprise, surprise.)

No word yet on whether Telepictures is going to put up more of a stink. Guess we have to wait until ratings come out.

In other Rachael Ray news …

Ray held a fundraiser for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Ray’s Yum-o! organization (which teaches children healthy eating habits) and invited Carly Simon. Simon attended – and gave an impromptu, four-song mini-concert.

Other guests in attendance included Bill Clinton, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and Michael Symon, and The View’s Joy Behar. The event was catered by five teenage chefs (with Symon’s guidance), and each received a $10,000 scholarship for their work.

The event raised more than $200,000 for Ray's charity. Ray also showed off her new cookbook, "Yum-o! The Family Cookbook.” Proceeds from the book will benefit her foundation. Oh, that and Ray’s own $500,000 advance.

You can catch highlights from the show on the Wednesday, May 7, show!

I wish it were Sunday. And one without the nine-month-old. I’m sleepy!

Okay, of course I don’t wish that – well maybe the sleep – but I am using it as an excuse, as I deliver, to you, faithful reader, only a short “What to Watch” – Basically, what to watch on Monday. I’ll follow up later today/tonight with a full “What to Watch.”

But no fear, schedules are posted!

And expect a mammoth blog post today, as well. I have to catch up on all that happened at the end of last week! And that means you, Barbara Walters!

Monday

• Tom. Really, are you going to miss the second part of this – interesting – interview? Tom Cruise checks in live in studio with Oprah Winfrey Show. It’s all about Tom and Oprah celebrating his 25 years in the film industry. An all-star lineup that includes Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Dustin Hoffman, Renée Zellweger, Steven Spielberg, David and Victoria Beckham, Dakota Fanning and Jamie Foxx, will make appearances (live and via tape).It promises to be a couch jumper! (I Think that’s like a barnstormer.)

Don’t forget to check out this week’s schedules