Syndication's newest crop of talk shows eschews stars and reaches out to the dead

sonalities: Caroline Rhea (from Paramount), Ananda Lewis (King World), Iyanla Vanzant (Buena Vista) and opinionated radio personality Tom Leykis (Warner Bros.). Add to the lineup an all-male incarnation of The View called The Other Half (NBC), headlined by Dick Clark, Danny Bonaduce, Dr. Jan Adams and Steve Santagati, as well as the issue-oriented talk/relationship hour Talk or Walk from Tribune.
With talk attempting a comeback after a relatively quiet year last year, Paramount is fielding (following the demise of Howie in 1999) Caroline, a new hour of entertainment talk hosted by Caroline Rhea, currently in the cast of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and a popular Hollywood Squares celebrity (where she's known as "America's sweetheart").
"Although comparisons to other existing and former talk shows are inevitable, my show will be an hour of talk and variety when the audience can sit back, kick their feet up and feel like they are part of the show," said Rhea. "If I had to compare this to anything, I'd like to think of it as the old Carol Burnett Show in daytime. When Carol spoke to the audience, which I will be doing regularly on my show, you really felt like she was just one of the girls."
Unlike more new issue-oriented banter, Caroline will offer an hour complete with talk, comedy segments and audience participation. But considering the failure of recent talk/entertainment hours hosted by Roseanne, Martin Short, Donny and Marie and the aforementioned Howie Mandel, Caroline might need some of her Sabrina magic to reverse the negative trend.
Game shows also are making a comeback of sorts. A trio of possible quiz-show revivals—Card Sharks (Pearson Television), Pyramid and The Gong Show (both from Columbia TriStar)—are in the works. There's also a growing heap of late-night relationship game shows, including Elimidate (Warner Bros.), The Fifth Wheel (Universal Worldwide) and Rendez-View (Paramount). Even that genre, however, is being turned on its head, with the likes of interactive game show Bingo Television (John Mansfield/Mark Anthony), which allows viewers to play from home, and Who Wants to Date a Hooters Girl?, a late-night comedy game show from Mercury Entertainment/Lion's Gate.
On the weekend, Xena may be going away but the action hour genre is far from spent. At least six more will be unveiled at NATPE next week: The Adventures of Jules Verne (Promark), Colosseum (Pearson), Hard Knox (New Line), Lean Angle (Pearson), Mutant X (Tribune) and Tracker (Mercury & Lion's Gate).
And, in the world of off-network syndication, six more sitcoms—Everybody Loves Raymond, Just Shoot Me, King of the Hill, Steve Harvey, Two Guys and a Girl and Malcolm & Eddie—and hour dramas Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and The Practice will be joining the fray.
With talk staging a comeback, new court taking a rest, action hours aplenty, and reality/entertainment