CBS developing ‘View’-style talk show with Julie Chen to replace ‘As the World Turns’
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CBS is developing several new daytime offerings to take the place of the long-running soap “As the World Turns,” including a “View”-style talk show fronted by “Early Show” co-anchor and “Big Brother” host Julie Chen.
Chen -- who has been on maternity leave since she and her husband, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, had a son in September -- will tape a pilot for the talk show in early May, according a person familiar with the discussions. The news of the pilot was first reported by The New York Post’s Page Six. Other possible candidates for the program, which is being conceived of as a mom-oriented take on topical subjects, are actresses Sara Gilbert, and Lisa Rinna and Bethenny Frankel of “Real Housewives of New York City.”
It’s unclear how the talk show would affect Chen’s post on “The Early Show,” which she has co-hosted since 2002.
Chen, who has been at her home in Los Angeles during her leave, is gearing up to return to the morning show in the next few weeks, according to a network source. Last week, she taped an interview with George Lopez that aired on the program, and she plans to officially come back in mid-May, anchoring for a time out of the New York studio, the source said. Chen is then expected to return to Los Angeles in the summer to tape the reality show “Big Brother,” but will continue hosting “The Early Show” from there.
The “View”-style talk show is just one pilot CBS is considering to replace “As The World Turns,” which is slated to end in September after 54 years on the air. The network is also piloting several other talk shows and game shows. Earlier this month, The Hollywood Reporter noted that CBS had ordered up a pilot of a new version of “Pyramid,” originally hosted by Dick Clark in the 1970s.
A CBS spokesman declined to comment.
Last year, when “Guiding Light” went off the air after 72 years, the network replaced it with “Let’s Make A Deal,” hosted by Wayne Brady.
-- Matea Gold (Follow me on Twitter)