Look Who’s Talking

By Colleen Cleary, Thursday, August 30, 2012, at 10:13 am.

Fall is just around the corner and with it comes a whole new batch of talk shows, plus big changes to some of the old favorites. No doubt PR and advertising professionals are paying close attention to which will sink and which will swim.

Evergreen darling “Live! with Kelly” is returning on Sept. 4 with a big announcement. Speculation on who will join Kelly as a permanent co-host has been high ever since Regis Philbin announced he was leaving in January 2011. Rumors are swirling that the “Live!” team will finally announce former NFL star Michael Strahan as Kelly’s new partner.

The Silver Fox, Anderson Cooper, is also making big changes to his daytime talk show. Now called “Anderson Live,” his show will return on Sept. 10 with a brand-new set as well. Taking a page from the “Live!” book, Cooper’s show will also feature rotating daily guest hosts (is he nursing some wounds from not being named Ripa’s tablemate?). Actress Kristin Chenoweth is expected as co-host for the season opener.

After stints at NBC’s “Today” and “CBS Evening News,” Katie Couric joined ABC News as a special correspondent, lending her talents to “Nightline,” “The View” and “Good Morning America.” Couric begins her own ABC daytime show, “Katie,” on Sept. 10. Executive producer Jeff Zucker (former NBC Universal chief) says: “What we’re going to do is take Katie back to the Katie that everyone knew and everyone fell in love with. Our goal is to let Katie be Katie.” Couric announced a big debut lineup, scoring the first interview with Jessica Simpson since the birth of her daughter. For more information about the show, click here.

Ricki Lake, who is back on the talk-show circuit after an eight-year hiatus, told People that her show will deal with “[a]nything that women 25 to 64 are talking about. Now that I’m a mom with an 11- and 15-year-old and I’ve gone through a divorce and remarried in my 40s, I want to talk about what we’re all going through and what we’re trying to figure out.” Lake’s nationally syndicated show will premiere Sept. 10. Click here for more information about the show.

Newcomers to the talk-show game include “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, whose daytime talk show will also debut on Sept. 10—same as the three above, plus veteran Ellen DeGeneres, who has filmed a series of hilarious promos for the season with big stars like Justin Bieber and Jennifer Aniston. And comedian and author Steve Harvey will kick off his own daytime show on Sept. 4.

Rachael Ray will be last of this pack to return, on Sept. 17. Her first guest is, appropriately enough, first lady Michelle Obama.

[photo: creativecommons.org/josette]

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