Probst carries a torch for daytime talk TV

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Executive producer Amy Coleman, left, and host Jeff Probst are counting on the survival of the fittest to succeed in fall's crowded daytime talk-show slate. (MONTY BRINTON / CBS)

HOLLYWOOD -- Now, here's a TV topic worth talking about: Jeff Probst, host of prime time's most enduring reality/competition series, believes he can be a survivor in daytime's most crowded and competitive genre.

After 12 years and 24 seasons as Survivor's chief inquisitor and serial torch-snuffer, the guy who tells tribal-council victims "It's time for you to go" is hoping viewers of daytime talk will sample The Jeff Probst Show and ask him to stay.

It won't be easy. Daytime already has an abundance of lifestyle-exploring and advice-dispensing programs, and Probst is launching his show at the same time that news veteran Katie Couric, talk veteran Ricki Lake and standup guy Steve Harvey are joining the chat-show fray.

But if his appearance during CBS's portion of the U.S. networks' semi-annual press tour in Los Angeles is an indication, Probst certainly possesses all the tools necessary to make his show a winner. Smart, funny, frank, engaging and impressively comfortable during a spontaneous discussion, the Kansas-born TV personality was completely in command of an afternoon press-conference session and equally at home in non-stop series of one-on-one interviews and casual conversations at a network-sponsored cocktail party later the same evening.

"We haven't spent any time focusing on those shows," Probst said when asked to compare The Jeff Probst Show (which will launch on Sept. 10 and has been picked up by Global TV in Canada) to its competitors. "It's so much work just to get your own (show) going that we have, for about a year now, been planning this show."

The host and executive producer Amy Coleman offered a video-clip sample of the show's look and attitude, including a glimpse of a rather elaborate party room -- complete with a snack bar, massage chairs, an Internet café area, and even hair and makeup stations -- in which audience members will be pampered and entertained before each instalment is taped.

"We want the audience to feel welcome, and we also want them to spread the word, that if you are looking for something fun to do in L.A., check out The Jeff Probst Show," he explained. .

"The idea of the whole thing is a lot of people (who attend show tapings) are from out of town, and they are looking for a fun Los Angeles experience. So why don't you come in, and how about this? Have a cup of coffee, lay back in a massage chair, and have somebody do your makeup, and then come in and have a fun time at a talk show, because the No. 1 goal on our show is to engage and entertain."

As for the show itself, Probst said he'll take inspiration from a variety of talk-show icons, past and present, as he shapes his personal hosting style.

"I think the two defining role models are Phil (Donahue) and Oprah," he said. "I mean, Oprah has put the biggest stamp on daytime that anybody ever will -- she's transcended beyond a show to become this entity, you know. And Oprah takes a lot of hits, but Oprah has earned her place. She's grown, and we've watched her grow, and now she's very successful, and now she's in the next phase of her life.

"And Phil, I think, was the first that really broke it open and said, 'I'm going to take this microphone, and I'm going to ask you what you think.'

"And to be completely candid, I think the interviewing style of Howard Stern is so underappreciated. He keeps topics moving so quickly -- he knows just when to interrupt, and while he may go a different route than you would go in daytime, his ability as an interviewer is something I've studied for years, and I think he's one of the best that's ever done it."

And while he was explaining what he hopes The Jeff Probst Show will be, the host was very quick to declare what it won't be.

"If you're looking for Jerry (Springer) or Maury (Povich), this is not your show," he said. "I'm not interested in people fighting onstage; I'm not interested in paternity tests."

Interestingly, Probst assigns most of the credit for his landing a gig in daytime to TV icon Regis Philbin and his morning-talk co-host, Kelly Ripa.

"The biggest thank you I owe is to Kelly and to Regis," he said. "I mean, Regis is the one who said yes to letting me sit in his seat. He could have easily said, 'I don't want that guy here. Find someone else,' but he didn't. And Kelly and I had this great chemistry, and I (guest) hosted a lot of times, and it allowed me to play with telling stories and sharing, having this great partner to bounce off of."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @BradOswald

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 2, 2012 D3