Tori Spelling Getting Talk Show Pilot on ABC...May Replace Oprah

[Brian Damage]

Fans of 'Flipping Out' rejoice! In the scramble to fill the Oprah-sized hole in its daytime programming, ABC has turned to straight-talking real-estate speculator and reality TV star Jeff Lewis.

ABC Media Production's been working on a daytime talk show for Tori Spelling for some time, and according to the Los Angeles Times, Lewis has been tapped to be her co-host.

There's been no word yet on what topics will be covered by the show, which is still in the development stage, but word is that it wants to be a talk show version of 'Will & Grace.' Sources say that the openly gay Lewis had good onscreen chemistry with Spelling in the test pilot shot last week.


Although ABC's daytime schedule is busy, with four soaps in the lineup, a new talk show could find a natural home in the late afternoon spot once Oprah vacates it.

Lewis is best-known for his outspokenness on 'Flipping Out,' which follows him and his team as they buy, refurbish and then "flip" houses in and around Los Angeles. A self-confessed Type-A control freak and OCD sufferer, who berates his team for all transgressions, he seems like a great foil for the more subdued Spelling.

As well as 'Flipping Out,' which has aired on Bravo since 2007, Lewis is a regular guest on Bravo's 'Watch What Happens Live,' and has been a -- hilarious yet merciless -- guest judge on reality shows like 'Top Design' and 'Top Chef Masters.'

ABC is also developing a daytime cooking/talk show featuring Danny Boome from the Food Network's 'Rescue Chef.'

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/11/12/to...%28TV+Squad%29

[Rezny@gmail.com]

Just what daytime TV does NOT need.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...her current program is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution (the successor to King World, her former syndicator). However, the five ABC O&O {owned and operated} stations, including her "home base" at WLS, Chicago, and WABC-TV in New York, carry her either at 10am(et)/9am(ct) [when she's fed "live" to her various stations] or usually at 4pm (as Channel 7 does in New York). ABC itself doesn't carry any national programming during the day after "GENERAL HOSPITAL" ends at 4pm(et). But their "ABC Media Productions" is the one considering producing a possible daily Tori Spelling/Jeff Lewis program, which would certainly be syndicated through Disney/ABC Domestic Television, which would give them an advantage in "controlling" the programming on their O&O stations after 4pm, just before the late afternoon news. They already have a syndicated "stranglehold" on most of their affiliates with "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY" at 9am (following "GOOD MORNING AMERICA") and "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?" (scheduled just before 'ALL MY CHILDREN" at 12:30pm). Is this new series a good idea? I wonder...

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by rrezny@usnetizen

Just what daytime TV does NOT need.

Can she stay sober long enough to shoot the pilot?

[cocytus]

Another show....another failure.

[catlover79]