In this issue::
- Remembering Steve Irwin
- Chris Behrendt Show Debuts
- Letterman Sticking with CBS
‘Croc Hunter’ was Good Mate to TV Talk Shows:
Throughout his career, Steve Irwin and his animal menagerie sat across from Jay Leno on The Tonight Show set 11 times. Leno made it an even dozen when he paid tribute to television’s “The Crocodile Hunter” via highlights of those appearances.
Irwin was killed Monday when a stingray barb pierced his heart and sent him into cardiac arrest.
Leno paid tribute to Irwin Tuesday with a sweet introduction to a montage of The Croc Hunter’s antics on the show. “He was probably one of Australia’s greatest ambassadors, he was a friend, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” Leno said.
Two talk show parents – Rosie O’Donnell and Kelly Ripa – noted Tuesday that Irwin’s death presented them with an opportunity to discuss life’s greatest events with their children. Rosie said, for her 6-year-old son, it was almost the same as Superman dying. Ripa’s on-screen response was much more emotional.
“The hardest thing for me was telling Michael,” Ripa said, speaking of her 9-year-old son. He had become pen pals with Irwin’s 8-year-old daughter, Bindi Sue. “Michael said, ‘I’m trying to picture it Mom, but I can't picture him dying. He’s like more than Superman’.”
Larry King Livespent two nights talking about Irwin and his exploits. Monday night felt like a retrospective news hour. On Tuesday, Larry spoke with Irwin’s friend and manager, John Stainton.
Irwin’s appearances on programs like Leno’s, as well as Live with Regis and Kelly, The View and The Today Show, continued a tradition of zoologists and animal experts visiting TV talk shows. Joan Embry of the San Diego Zoo and Jim Fowler from Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom frequented Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show set. The Columbus Zoo’s Jack Hanna regularly appears on Late Show with David Letterman, Larry King Live and Good Morning America.
He’s Just That Into Talk Shows:
Tuesday will herald the debut of the first of four new TV talks shows. The Greg Behrendt Show carves a spot in the daytime talk show landscape on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The three other shows – The Rachael Ray Show, The Megan Mullally Show and Fox TV’s TALKSHOW with Spike Feresten – hit the airwaves the week of Sept. 18 (TALKSHOW actually debuts on Saturday, Sept. 16).
Behrendt, comedian and best-selling author of He's Just Not That Into You and It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken, hosts the one-hour talk show that – and this is saying it without seeing it – seems to be a cross between The Man Show and Dr. Phil.
Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the show will tackle everyday issues from romantic relationships to parental relationships and everything in between. If Behrendt doesn’t have an answer, he’ll go looking for one.
This could be a fresh approach to a familiar format, one that won’t go stale on the shelf. I question whether someone who would appeal to the Comedy Central set can pull off a daytime talk show (will his guests be women or men or both? I’m not sure). But then, Behrendt has fantastic cross-over appeal.
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PS: Want a little cross talk show comedy action? Stephen Colbert and Greg Behrendt give viewers advice in this clip from The Colbert Report. And ignore the poster’s title for the clip. Behrendt is in on the joke. Trust me.
Four More Years for Letterman Adminstration
Now wouldn’t that be a fantastic presidency! Alas, it’s not White House tenure we’re talking about.
But it should be news to make most of us smile. Dave will remain in his Ed Sullivan Theater digs – as well as his CBS time slot – through 2010. Letterman is close to finalizing a contract extension with the “Eyeball Network” that stretches through the 2009-2010 TV season.
Reports indicate that negotiations have been smooth and relations with the network never better. Tension was a hallmark of Dave’s recent years at CBS.
