Mom’s the word on new daytime talk show

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This article was published 16/10/2010 (5849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — Sara Gilbert was a new mother when she conceived of the idea for The Talk. It came from “a really organic place for her.”

“I was feeling overwhelmed,” Gilbert said. “Was I giving the baby enough? Was I giving my son enough attention? I started going to this moms’ group, and I thought, ‘Wow, people need this kind of support.'”

And the idea for The Talk was born.

“It was like a light bulb went on.”

The Talk, a daytime talk show similar to The View but with the emphasis on mothers, motherhood and child-rearing, premieres Monday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. on CBS.

The program will feature hosts Gilbert, Leah Remini, Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne and Holly Robinson Peete talking about the day’s headlines, “through the eyes of mothers.”

Broadway actress and recent mother Marissa Jaret Winokur will contribute reports from the field. Winokur was diagnosed with cervical cancer; her son, Zev Isaac Miller, was born using a surrogate mother. Winokur has since made a full recovery from the cancer.

The Talk will include celebrity interviews, how-to tips and lifestyles features for mothers.

Gilbert has been in a relationship with her life partner, Allison Adler, since 2002. She came out as a lesbian earlier this year.

“I don’t ever really think of things as being ‘out’ or ‘in,’ ” she said. “I just think I am who I am. When topics come up that are appropriate, I’ll talk about them.”

Gilbert grew up in the public eye: She starred on the sitcom Roseanne as Darlene Conner-Healy from 1988-’97. She decided she wanted to act from the age of six, after her older adopted half-sister, Melissa Gilbert, was awarded a plaque on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Little House on the Prairie.

As it happened, being an everyday mother — Gilbert’s son, Levi Hank, was born in 2004; her daughter, Sawyer, was born three years later — proved more challenging than a career in movies and TV. There were times when Gilbert was at a loss as to what to do.

“I thought, ‘What if there were a talk show where a group of women sit together and talk about the world through that perspective?’ “

The Talk borrows its format from The View, Gilbert acknowledged, but no more so than the way the late-night talk shows borrow from the original Tonight Show.

“In the same way David Letterman or Jay Leno sit at a desk, there are certain formats that people use for talk shows. We’re using one of those formats.”

— Postmedia News