ABC finds man for Tori Spelling and is developing show for Food Network's Danny Boome

November 11, 2010 | 1:56 pm

Looks like ABC has found its man to partner on the daytime talk show it is developing with Tori Spelling.

Tapped to co-host and share the desk with Spelling is Jeff Lewis, according to people close to the project. Lewis is best known from the Bravo reality show "Flipping Out," which is about real estate. Lewis, who buys homes and then fixes them up for resale, has been on the show since its debut in 2007.

In the test pilot show with Spelling last week, the two had good chemistry. The show, which is still in the development stage, wants to be a talk show version of "Will & Grace."

The program is being developed by ABC Media Productions, an arm that creates shows not only for ABC and its parent Disney, but also other non-Disney outlets as well. In other words, if ABC passes on it, that doesn't mean the show couldn't resurface elsewhere.

Also in development at ABC is a cooking/talk show featuring Danny Boome, who stars in "Rescue Chef" on Food Network. Think "The View" meets some cooking show that's not "The Galloping Gourmet" because that would be a really dated reference.

Finding a home in ABC's daytime lineup may be a challenge for both projects. The network currently has four shows in daytime -- soap operas "General Hospital," "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," and "The View." If ABC is going to launch another show, it will need to get a green light from its affiliates.

One opening though may be late afternoon, where many ABC stations will likely have a hole to fill next fall when Oprah Winfrey departs to cable.

Of course, ABC could also make the shows for syndication or try to sell them to cable if there is no network home. Or they could go nowhere, which is often what happens in the development process.

-- Joe Flint

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/11/abc-finds-man-for-tori-spelling-and-is-developing-show-for-food-networks-danny-boome.html

Interesting.

I wonder how Tori would fare as a talk show host...as a guest she's not exactly spontaneous, on her reality show she's likeable and lively. A woman of contradictions. Hmmm.

Jeff Lewis is hilarious, I could see the chemistry.

Oy. Each new talk show pilot that comes down the pike sounds much worse than the last. You can't have a talk show answer to "Will & Grace" between two people who don't have a prior relationship. It isn't like casting a sitcom, for God's sake! W&G worked well (at least in the beginning) b/c Debra Messing and Will McCormack convincingly portrayed two friends who'd known each other since college. That's what ABC/Disney should have been looking for: a straight woman and a gay man who just happen to be good friends IRL, not this b.s.

I am excited for this. I wish i had been able to attend the taping, and if i had known tv life of my life #129 Jeff Lewis was going to be on it i might have tried a little harder to go.

I love Jeff. I love Tori on her reality shows. I can see this being a daytime version of Chelsea Lately, i wonder how that would work.

Wow. One of the four ABC shows is so f*cked.

I am excited for this. I wish i had been able to attend the taping, and if i had known tv life of my life #129 Jeff Lewis was going to be on it i might have tried a little harder to go.

I love Jeff. I love Tori on her reality shows. I can see this being a daytime version of Chelsea Lately, i wonder how that would work.

I can't see anyone on daytime getting away with the nasty stuff Chelsea says.