Remember when the prospects for Bethenny Frankel's new talk show seemed slimmer than a Skinnygirl cocktail? Well, step aside, naysayers! Sure, Warner Brothers wasn't able to line up enough stations to carry the show this fall, but Bethenny is moving forward, anyway.
"The queen of too much information is coming to DAYTIME," wrote Frankel on her blog. Her show will debut in the form of a six-week, summer try-out on some FOX-owned stations in big markets (including New York and Los Angeles). If viewers like what they see, the show could get its own, regularly scheduled time slot in the fall of 2013.
How did she do it? It helps to have friends in high places, and Ellen DeGeneres clearly believes in Frankel, 41. Not only is she co-producing the show, she's had Frankel on The Ellen DeGeneres Show several times, and those appearances will no doubt continue.
Other reasons Frankel's being given this chance? Well, there's the obvious one, of course. Her straight-shooting frankness and confrontational style made her a breakout star on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York, and it's carried her through three seasons of her spin-offs, Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After.
Not everyone loves her (hello, Jill Zarin!), but she sure gets people's attention. "Bethenny is a lightning rod," Frank Cicha,the senior vice president of programming for the FOX Television Stations, said in a statement. And season 3 of Bethenny Ever After (premiering Monday, Feb. 20, at 9 P.m. ET on Bravo) will wrap up in June -- just in time to lead right into the start of her talk show. "From a marketing standpoint," the statement continues, "we love the idea of her hit reality series dovetailing into this test."
There's also the "real woman" factor. Frankel may be wealthier, more attractive and more powerful than most of her fans, but in her reality show she comes across as the snarky, clever pal in your circle of friends. The one with chutzpah, that is. She has built a business empire and established herself as a celebrity -- all while acting like just one of the girls.
What viewers see in Frankel is huge ambition that's paying off. "She’s had late-in-life success, which I think makes her a real role model for women," said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, the president of Telepictures, which produces syndicated shows for Warner Brothers to distribute.
This perception of Frankel is the essence of her daily, one-hour talk show, which the press release describes as a "no-nonsense perspective on everything from pop culture and current events, to relationships beauty, fitness and lifestyle segments."
Of course, that's what all daily chatfests claim to be. Will Frankel rise above the various other new talk shows, helmed by the likes of Katie Couric and Ricki Lake? Don't bet against her. She's got an uncanny knack for beating the odds.
