Tv, Talk Show | featured news

Katie Couric’s triumphant return to daytime TV Monday snagged the biggest ratings for a syndicated talk show launch in a decade. 
The “Katie” unveiling tied “Dr. Phil’s” premiere back in September of 2002 and --  because we know you’re going to ask – there have been 25 daytime talk show debuts since the unveiling of “Dr. Phil.”

Katie Couric’s return to daytime TV began with Katie in bed, having a nightmare. She woke up with a jolt and said to someone in the next twin bed, who was buried under the covers: “Wow! I just had the weirdest dream! I left ‘Today’ to anchor the evening news and did it for five years, and then I dreamed I was going to be hosting my own daytime talk show!”

Following a flurry of rumors, the network confirmed Tuesday that it will move "Jimmy Kimmel Live" earlier by one half-hour, to 11:35, starting Jan. 8. That will put it in direct competition with NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" for a three-way ratings brawl.

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC's flagship late night program, has laid off 20 staffers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline reports that Leno himself took a "tremendous" pay cut as well. Details of the departments that will be affected by the downsizing are currently unknown, nor is it known why the layoffs took place.

The opportunity for a live, on-air phone interview with George Zimmerman, the man currently awaiting trial for the fatal shooting of teen Trayvon Martin, might be reason enough for some TV talk hosts to change their plans and take Zimmerman's call -- but not for Barbara Walters. Zimmerman called into “The View” Thursday morning only to be rebuffed by the veteran journalist.

The Dog Pound will woof again: Arsenio Hall is returning to late-night TV. Two decades after his self-titled show rebuilt the talk genre for a new generation, the 56-year-old comic and recent "Celebrity Apprentice" winner will attempt a major comeback with a nightly syndicated offering starting in September 2013.

Jack McBrayer from "30 Rock" and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog are insulted at a famous Chicago hot dog stand.
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Ellen DeGeneres, the award-winning comedian and talk show host, has been selected by the Kennedy Center to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to debut a talk show, "The World Tomorrow," on Russia's state-funded television network next week.

Sarah Palin helped "Today" maintain its winning streak against "GMA," even with the appearance of its own guest star Katie Couric. NBC's "Today" widened its advantage over ABC runner-up "Good Morning America" by 23,000 viewers Tuesday, compared with the day before, according to the Nielsen Co.