"The View," one of the more talked-about daytime talk shows, is actually going to be seen during daylight hours in Utah -- only about a year and a half after it debuted on ABC.
Local ABC affiliate KTVX-Ch. 4 has been airing the show in the wee hours of the morning -- 2:05 a.m. Monday-Friday (early Tuesday-Saturday), give or take some time depending on whether the late news runs long or Ch. 4 suddenly decides to stick in an extra infomercial.But that changes on Monday, Jan. 4, when "The View" switches to weekdays at 11 a.m.
The show, which won three Daytime Emmy Awards this year, employs tag-team hosting. Barbara Walters (who is also an executive producer) is one of five hosts -- the others are Meredith Vieira, former prosecutor Star Jones, twentysomething Debbie Matenopoulos and comedian Joy Behar. Sometimes the mix works really well; sometimes it's a bunch of people with very little to say all competing for air time.
What prompts this move is the departure of the syndicated "Ricki Lake Show" from Ch. 4's daytime schedule. Not that fans of the smarmy "Ricki" (and I know you're out there) will be deprived of their daily fix -- the show is moving up the dial to KJZZ-Ch. 14.
As of Monday, Jan. 4, "Ricki Lake" will be seen weekdays at 11 a.m. on Ch. 14 -- providing direct competition for "The View." And it will be interesting to see how that shakes out in the local ratings.
OTHER CHANGES: To make room for "Ricki," Ch. 14 is making some other adjustments to its daytime schedule.
As of Jan. 4, "Grace Under Fire" moves to 10 a.m., "NewsRadio" moves to 10:30 a.m., "Step by Step" goes away and "Judge Mills Lane" is being exiled to a middle-of-the-night time slot.
IF ONLY: Now, if only Ch. 4 could find room for the other ABC daytime show it relegates to the middle of the night -- the soap opera "Port Charles."
Not only is that half-hour becoming one of the more talked-about soaps on TV, but it has storylines that overlap with "General Hospital" -- a show Ch. 4 does air in the daytime hours.
"Port Charles" deserves better than the 3:05 a.m. (give or take) time slot it occupies on KTVX.
GET READY FOR "THE PJ'S": Fox has scheduled the debut of its new "foamation" series "The PJ's" for Sunday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. before moving to its regular time slot on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
(Fox has canceled "Holding the Baby," and will fill the time slot with "World's Wildest Police Videos" until Jan. 12.)
This isn't exactly a show aimed at kids, but that shouldn't be much of a surprise given that Eddie Murphy is one of the executive producers. Set in a ghetto public housing project (thus the title), it's about a cantankerous building super (voiced by Murphy), his wife and their neighbors.
The presentation film, screened for critics some time ago, was full of racy humor and gunfire -- both of which will supposedly be toned down before it makes it on the air.
CBS SCHEDULES "TURKS": "Turks," which might have been hailed as one of the fall's better new dramas -- had it actually made it on CBS's fall schedule -- has finally found a time slot on the network. It debuts Thursday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m.
William Devane ("Knots Landing") stars as a Chicago cop who is also the father of two cops -- and his third son is involved with the less savory elements of the city.
That move will slide "Diagnosis Murder" up an hour to 7 p.m. And move the made-in-Utah "Promised Land" off the schedule -- temporarily. "Promised," which has received a full-season order from the network, returns to its old time slot on March 25.
VIDBITS: Look for Debbie Reynolds in an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace." Sometime in February, she'll be seen playing Grace's mother -- who suggests that Will and Grace should marry despite the fact that he's gay and she's not.
-- David Letterman's mom, Dorothy, will be in the Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1 -- she'll be riding the Kiwanis Club's Children of the World Float. (And CBS will have some taped advice from her son in its coverage of the event.)
-- Jamie Luner, who's currently starring in "Melrose Place," has signed a deal with the WB that will put her in either a drama or a comedy on the emerging network. It will be a bit of a homecoming -- in her pre-"Melrose" day, Luner played a vixen for two seasons on the WB's "Savannah."