Like presidential candidates, potential talk-show hosts are lining up to take their shot in 2012.
NBCUniversal is in development on at least two new syndicated talkers, neither of which is yet ready for market.
The syndicator is working with British talk show host Trisha Goddard, who has guest-hosted several episodes of Maury, on a potential spin-off, according to sources. Like Debmar-Mercury's Jeremy Kyle, who will premiere his own talk show stateside this fall, Goddard is a talk staple in Britain, where she hosted her own shows on ITV and Five from 1998 to 2009. Goddard, 53, previously was a well -known television host in Australia before returning to her native Britain in 1998. She published her autobiography, As I Am, in 2008.
As B&C reported on July 11, NBCU also is in development on a talk show with Jenny McCarthy. In 2008, McCarthy had a talent deal with Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions but both parties decided not to pursue producing a show several months ago, according to Harpo. McCarthy and NBCU are likely to shoot a pilot this summer.
NBCU does not comment on development, said a spokeswoman.
Besides Goddard and McCarthy, filmmaker Kevin Smith this week announced on his Twitter feed that he was looking for fans to be in his audience, reported New York Magazine's Vulture blog. So far, the project, which would probably be more suited to late-night cable than daytime broadcasting, doesn't appear to have a distributor attached.
