More bad news for Megan Mullally. The Will & Grace star-cum-talk show host has just seen the "competition" gain on her. Why the air quotes? Because when you're dealing with a trio of syndicated talk shows barely registering on the Nielsens, it's actually less embarrassing to mimick Britney Spears' trademark gestures than pretend there's an actual race going on.
Mullally, who's been holding third place along with Greg Behrendt's self-titled show, saw the He's Not That Into You host pull ahead from a 0.8 rating to a 0.9, while Megan remains lurking with her staid 0.8, for the pre-sweeps week ending Oct. 29. (Meanwhile, Rachel Ray leads the pack with a 2.0, and Keith Ablow's Telepictures endeavor holds second with a 1.0.)
As we exclusively told you late last month, Megan's show is rumored to be on NBC Universal's chopping block. We've been hearing a tentative pull date of January, but with results like these, it wouldn't be surprising to see Mullally disappear from daytime even sooner.
Megan Mullally's time slot changes (and, ahem, impending cancelation) is just the bedrock for more bad news in daytime talk. While Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres sit comfortably on their respective studio couches and chairs, Sony Pictures' The Greg Behrendt Show and Warner Bros.' The Dr. Keith Ablow Show are suffering the same fate as Mullally: low ratings. And with low ratings (Behrendt pulled a 0.7; Ablow a 0.9) comes undesirable time slots. While neither are losing their major major market placements (for now), Orlando, Seattle, West Palm Beach, and Knoxville are among those moving the syndicated chat fests around. But why should any of that put a damper on their production companies?
According to Sony Pictures Television, the "Behrendt" shifts were not downgrades but efforts to improve the show's delivery, and initial results are positive. For instance, in Orlando "Behrendt" was moved out of a court block and into a talk block, where early ratings are three times its former performance.
This is about the point where Jeff Zucker walks into the room, denounces talk shows, and insists reality television during the day is not just good for the bottom line — it's what viewers clearly want.
Behrendt, Ablow Receive Slot Shifts [TV Week]
When we mentioned earlier today that ABC's canceled John Mark Karr interview sent the fake killer to the new Dr. Keith Ablow Show, Intern Wendy got the brilliant idea to hunt through Karr's recent press appearances and figure out where, exactly, the programming worth watching was hiding. The results aren't pleasing, as evidenced by these found press clips. Karr's attorney Rob Amparan on Greta Van Susteren last night:
At the end of last week, Mr. Karr was wined and dined by a production company, taken around New York City, taken to dinner, taken to "Phantom of the Opera," taken back to an office for wine and cheese.
All that wining-and-dining was sure to produce results, yes? Fast-forward to Dr. Keith's "exclusive":
Ablow: Your first wife, she believes she was drugged by you.
Karr: I think that was said of Michael Jackson as well, about that druggie thing.
And by the time Karr got to Larry King's creampuffs, all he had to offer was respect:
Karr: I'm of sound mind and I'm sitting before a person I respect and I consider this to be my first true interview.
If only Nancy Grace had scored some airtime, perhaps she could've convinced Karr to do what the rest of us hoped the legal system would do: disappear.
It's time to check in with the three newest talk shows out of the gate: The Megan Mullally Show, The Dr. Keith Ablow Show, and The Greg Behrendt Show. Clearly, you have to be good with names to give a shit. Times TV scribe Alessandra Stanley clogged up her TiVo – or, quite likely, simply asked friends if they'd seen the shows – to offer today's review, which firmly places her allegience with Greg Behrendt (he of the "He's just not that into you" fame). The Sex and the City hanger-on's gimmick? "Minor celebrities promote their latest projects by helping people overcome petty problems." Almost like The Tyra Banks Show, except with Behrendt, the minor celebrities are the guests, not the host. Over at Megan Mullally's set, things aren't going so well, as viewers are trying so hard to identify with Will & Grace's Karen, not this sweet-voiced commoner whose mug is, most likely, filled with virgin coffee or water. And at Keith Ablow's circlejerk, where real people have real problems, you've got a discount Dr. Phil interviewing the likes of faux JonBenet Ramsey killer John Mark Karr, otherwise known as ABC's failed get. Which all makes for a lovely way to spend an afternoon — if you don't get SOAPNet.
Being Chatted Up, With the Whole World Watching [Alessandra Stanley, NYT]
