Amid the young stars of the NBC Network party at the TV Critics Press Tour the other night, the familiar face of Meredith Vieira stood out.
The longtime “Today” and “I Want to be A Millionaire” host is joining the field of daytime stars that has been a minefield of many.
After cancellations of recent attempts by Katie Couric, Bethenny Frankel, Jane Pauley, Sharon Osbourne and Ricki Lake, it’s quite a tough arena.
“Maybe I’m just putting my blinders on,” the ever-optimistic Vieira said, “But I’’ve launched shows before. ‘West 57th’ was a launch, ‘The View’ was a launch. ‘Turning Point’ was a launch. I’ve been in the trenches. I know it’s hard. But if you believe in what you’re doing and you’re surrounded by like-minded people, it’s fun. Because you’re creating something that’s uniquely yours. if you’re lucky.”
She was asked to do a syndicated talk show as soon as she quit the “Today” show in 2011, but was against it. “No,” she said. “I didn’t want that grind. And as much as I enjoyed doing ‘Today’ I couldn’t stand the hours. Oh my god, I’m much more of a night person, so I was staying up to 11:30 and then getting up again at 2:30, which was no way to live.”
But, she said, “When the camera goes on, I’m sort of a trained monkey, I know what to do. And it’s fun. Live TV is fun.”
And enough time has passed for her to take up the offer when it came in again more recently, she thought about creating the show she wanted.
“It’s a culmination of all the things I’ve done in my career,” she said, above the din of the party, “so it’s got a lot of storytelling, a lot of inspirational work, conversation. It’s not a talk show per se, but I’m certainly going to give my opinion on things ,as I did on ‘The View.’”
And yes, says the former host of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” it will have a game show element as well.
She’s got a band, led by E Street Band percussionist Everett Bradley, and there will be dancing — on Fridays.
“Every Friday is House Party Day,” she says. “Because I love ‘Dick Van Dyke’ and I loved when they rolled up the carpet and she’d dance in capri pants. So I’m wearing capris on Friday, it’s going to be more music oriented.”
Also on Fridays, rescue dogs that will have spent the whole week on the show will be given to deserving people. “We’ll have inspirational stories of people who are getting the dogs, which is a nice way to end the week,” Vieira says. She tried to use her own dog but it was too protective and might bite somebody. She also tried to do the show in her own home, but her husband objected. So she’s using a lot of the same, beat-up furniture from her own family room, along with paintings on the wall that are actually paintings once done by her own children.
But she’ll be in Studio 6A in famed Rockefeller Center, alongside 6B, used for “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
“Jimmy said he’s going to make bomb appearances, and I think he will. And Seth [Meyers of “Late Night”] is around and ‘SNL’ is there. There’s so much energy in those halls.”
More than that, there’s history. “My favorite show in daytime: Letterman’s original show” was shot there, Vieira says. “I loved it because it was so crazy and I remember thinking there is nothing like this in daytime.
“I love that he thought outside of the box, which is what we’re attempting to do: not one more talk show.
But, she adds as a cautionary tale, “Do you know how long that show lasted? A matter of weeks.
“I thought it was years. That’s what’s scary. Because it had a big impact on me.”
“The Meredith Vieira Show” starts in September in syndication (check local listings).