PASADENA, Calif. -- One of the more intriguing -- and rather iffy -- new daytime talk shows coming our way this fall features the talents (such as they are) of Martin Short.
The man, whose credits include everything from "SCT" to "Saturday Night Live" to "Father of the Bride" to "The Three Amigos," will be competing with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell and Sally Jessy Raphael. The major question is whether viewers will be able to sit through five hours of Short every week.Short himself oozes confidence -- confidence built on "doing all these talk shows endlessly, promoting endless things released from 1980 on.
"The form seemed an easy for me," Short told TV critics. "There would be times when I'd walk away, and I'd say, 'You know, if only that movie (the one he was promoting) was as funny as that 11 minutes with Rosie O'Donnell.' Oh, well."
But it's a lot easier to be funny and charming in an 11-minute segment on someone else's talk show than it is to carry your own chat fest five hours a week. Just ask Chevy Chase, who thought his success as a guest would translate into success as a host -- but the short-lived "Chevy Chase Show" went down in flames and stands as one of the worst talk-show abominations in TV history.
Not that Short doesn't recognize what it takes to succeed in the genre.
"My analogy is -- would you want to go out to dinner with that person? Would you want to go on a cross-country drive with that person?" he said. "Some people are remarkable talents, but they're spices. You know, we want to see them, but we want to see them once every five months.
"And some people, like, shall we say, Rosie O'Donnell, is someone we just say, 'Aaahh, that's a nice face. Nice to see her today and I'll see her tomorrow.' Part of that remains to be seen."
Oddly enough, Short seemed oblivious to the fact that he was describing himself. He's always been most successful when he has been a supporting player or a member of an ensemble.
When he has taken center stage, well, things haven't gone as well. His NBC sitcom, "The Martin Short Show," was a huge bomb, both creatively and in the ratings. No movie he has ever had a lead role in has been big at the box office.
Perhaps his most successful role, as wedding planner Franck in "Father of the Bride," was a relatively small part -- the "spice" that he was talking about. (And the character faired less well in "Father of the Bride II," in which he had a larger part.)
And Short seemingly isn't oblivious to the fact that he fares best as part of a comedic company.
"We're going to have a regular troupe of players so we can create a family," he said. "I'm not a stand-up comedian. I come from an ensemble. And I think that the more you can share your show, the more you have a chance to have different elements of it that are interesting."
(At this point, only "MAD TV" cast member Mary Scheer has signed on, but Short and his producers intend to fill out the troupe by the time "The Martin Short Show" premieres in September.)
And Short will need all the help he can get. The crowded daytime talk-show field hasn't produced a single big hit in several seasons, and even recognizables like Roseanne, Donny and Marie Osmond and Howie Mandel have struggled to find viewers. (The first two were renewed despite marginal ratings; Mandel's show was canceled.)
If confidence means anything, however, Short could well succeed.
"Not everyone can feel relaxed on television," he said.
"And I think that if you are relaxed on television and if you're yourself and they believe that that's who you really are at a party or over dinner or at a picnic, then I think that that's maybe the key to them wanting to see you every day."