Katie Facing Cancellation

[Chris B]

Poor thing...just kidding! This never made any sense. Why would they spend so much money on her when she had flopped at CBS? It's obvious that ABC wanted a big name and over-paid, but it made no sense. It's crazy to see that Prospect Park has shown that they can produce a good-looking soap at a reasonable cost. I wish ABC had considered the Prospect Park format of half-hour shows before pulling the plug. The market is too over-saturated with talk shows and as a result they will NEVER have another Oprah.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/katie-courics-talk-show-teetering-645257

[VirginiaHamilton]

Not that I'm any big fan of Katie Couric (nor do I understand the overwhelming hate for someone who is as ann on the nose on Plain's face), but I will never for the life of me understand why some folks become hateful towards the prospect of a (new) talk show and talk show host - especially since the nonexistence of both won't save the comatose soaps that should've been cancelled years ago. IMO, this kind of talk makes said folks look and sound batshit crazy as hell.

[Chris B]

I don't agree with what you're saying. My issue is with Katie in particular, who I didn't even like on Today, but who I could tell was well liked and fit that position. She's never been the type that would work in a format by herself. Throw in her CBS Evening News stint and it makes no sense to create such an expensive talk show for her. Especially when then main reason for canceling the soaps is due to high costs.

As for talk shows in general, I don't find it an issue with soaps either. I think there is room for everything, but right now I do think there are far too many talk shows premiering or being shopped around. There are good hosts getting lost in the desire for everyone to have their own talk show. Just look at how many knockoff's of The View are out there, including a new one in development starring Star Jones. It's just unnecessary and is diluting the market.

[SFK]

I've only watched maybe twice, but she has a sleepy tone to her voice that sucks the energy out of the space. I remember thinking, "Here you've got a huge star like Sally Field on your sofa and you're determined to make this boring."

I was really surprised to see how well Steve Harvey's show is doing as I think it's kind of unfocused and mediocre, but yes, I would watch his show over Katie's (not that they compete in my market).

[YRBB]

I had no idea about all of these backstage issues (I did wonder about Terry's leaving, though)! Wow, they really seem to have exercised some questionable judgment with all of this. It's funny--there are quite a few times that I enjoy the show, but that is mostly despite of Katie, whose attempts at a news-type of distanced professionalism really does not work in the daytime talk show format. It makes her come off fake and hard. The rare moments where she lets go always seem more interesting.

And I totally see the issues with how they format the show. Too often, issues have been presented only through experts, which means that you get some valid facts but you don't get the emotional connection. And what else is daytime if not emotional connection? Also, it's very jarring when you have the first half of the show on abuse and the second half a celebrity comes out and it all gets silly. If you are determined not to do full-hour subjects (which I don't understand why not), at least do stuff that won't be so opposite in tone and content.

[DRW50]

I agree with Chris. I never understood how she got a talk show. Perky Katie who made Bryant Gumbel seem a little less like he was going to throttle Willard Scott live on-air and who briefly made Matt Lauer less of the lizard creature intent on taking over the world left a long, long time ago. She comes across as cold and hard, and trying to hide it behind giggly girlishness doesn't work. Look at Oprah. I think she is probably hard as nails - she has to be to survive - but she can fake it like nobody's business, even today. Katie never could.

The thinking of syndicators and execs about talk shows is still really behind the times and is essentially, "Hey, someone once liked you? Talk it up!" The flops of Kris Jenner and that sour wasp Bethenny are just another reminder.

[Khan]

Me neither. "Today" wasn't successful because of Katie Couric. Katie Couric was successful because of "Today." She lucked into a gig on a show with a ton of history and prestige within daytime television. Compared to "Good Morning America" and whatever show CBS had at that time, "Today" looked like the superior operation. Anyone could have stepped into that slot and become a "name" (the Deborah Norville/Jane Pauley situation notwithstanding).

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Now, maybe, AMC and OLTL can be put back on in that time slot.

[quartermainefan]

This article is funny and sort of exposes what is wrong with so many of these shows. "Katie wanted to bring on experts, but the audience wants to see kids crying on camera about their mothers. Joan Rivers won't come back because Katie asked her a tough question. Barbra Streisand was allowed to talk about a topic important to her but our audience just doesn't give a [!@#$%^&*] about that stuff. Our audience has a limited attention span and we told Katie not to do a single topic show for an hour but she just wouldn't listen. Now that we recognize our audience can only keep up for 15 minutes our ratings have stabilized"

I would have contempt for this audience too.

[dragonflies]

Please tell me you aren't serious, that will never happen

[Delia]

Well, it looks like Bethenny's talk show is near cancellation as well. And she's feuding with Ellen.

[YRBB]

Can OPRAH please come back?

KThanxBye

[Gray Bunny]

I have NO problem with Katie. In fact, I like her. Always have, always will. But the talk show is like everyone elses. Bethenny and Katie have a crazyass format of hosting about 5 different topics throughout the course of their hour. It's all random hodge-podge messiness. And the thing is, Katie doesn't even want to do that. She would rather do the hard-hitting topics, similar to Oprah. But the big network heads want fluff.

Oh well. Just slap another entertainment news show together so another blonde bombshell and ken doll can talk ad nauseum about Miley or Justin Bieber's latest antics.