Social Media Changes The Launch of A New Talk Show

RICKI LAKE, HOST  "THE RICKI LAKE SHOW"

By Debbie Mitchell

Last week Dancing With The Stars finalist and soon to be talk show host again, Ricki Lake did something brilliant when she launched an online invitation to viewers to join a production meeting for her upcoming self titled talk show. The Ricki Lake Show will debut in September and is the second  daytime talk show for the lovable Lake.

Having spent 1987-1998 working harder than ever as a talk show producer for newsman Geraldo Rivera it is rare for me to see a new talk show concept that is noteworthy.  I was with Geraldo for his show's launch, the infamou skinhead brawl, several shows on "confronting your molester" and the finale of the talk show's last season.   During those eleven years we producers  did it ALL and trust me it was not easy!

So, when it comes to developing a new angle for a talk show it takes a lot for me to sit up and take notice.  Ricki's video made me take notice. Lake has evolved with the times and plans to make whats old, new again with a social media spin and she is asking her viewers to help. Take your time and watch for an insider's look at what producers do to bring a show to life.

Video streaming by Ustream

With the use of social media viewers are getting a live, up close and personal  look at what goes into the launch of a talk show.  According to one article The Ricki Lake Show is planning to put a session live on Facebook once a month. The goal is to let people get a peek at the series' development and weigh in on it.  Lake and the producers will ask for feedback on program elements including set design, website and music, said Stephen Brown, senior vice president with Twentieth Television. The Internet outreach includes the launch of "Friends of Ricki," a Facebook page aimed at connecting Lake and her production team with followers and experts on various topics. Now viewers can reach producers with your story ideas via Twitter, Facebook and Meetups. Ricki Lake, a self professed Twitterholic has close to 139,000 followers, even wants viewers to contact her directly.  Lake  says she wants her show to be a real " conversation" with her viewers.  A brilliant idea! Television brings a show into a viewer's home, social media makes the viewer a producer by proxy.

Lake now a mother of two is divorced and planning to marry again this summer obviously knows the importance and power of social media. In the production meeting she mentions that she actually got on Twitter about a year ago. But Lake learned the Internet's reach when "Your Best Birth," the 2009 book she co-wrote, received a huge boost from bloggers.  "There's so much power and influence and feedback and information with these women," said Lake.

In the 80's and 90's talk shows were the programming darlings of choice and at the peak of popularity there were at least 26 talk shows on the air during the same television season. If you were famous or had a bit of personality you got a show!  Geraldo a seasoned and charismatic journalist was one of the original shows in daytime along with Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Sally Jesse Raphael and Ricki Lake. Ricki was 23, the youngest host whose show was created to capture the teen audience and it did!  I actually know a few of the producers from the "old" Ricki Lake Show.

G. Rivera, R. Lake, P. Donahue, O.Winfrey, S. Raphael, M. Williams (Oprah Winfrey Show 2011)

Back in the day show producers solicited show ideas by using show plugs, connected with their audience with cold calls, found story ideas and guests via newspaper articles, breaking news stories, family, friends and chance meetings with strangers on the street.  If you were trying to book a guest for a host who was an unknown name it was virtually impossible. We racked our brains, worked late into the night, booked and re booked guests all the while trying to create unusual ideas to make  the  program different. 

Geraldo ended his daytime show in 1998 and gradually most talks shows began to fade away. 

During those years the number of original shows declined drastically leaving the Queen of talk Oprah Winfrey who finally wrapped last year after 25 years on the air.  Suddenly with Oprah gone, daytime talk is back in vogue.  Several shows  including  Nate Berkus, Anderson Cooper, Bill Cunningham and Jeremy Kyle launched in the past two years. Some are still on the air, limping along in the ratings while others are coming to an end. Nate Berkus ends his run in May 2012 and  last week the cable network OWN pulled the plug on Rosie's show after five months.

Talk shows were the first to put "real people" with their sometimes outrageous stories on the air. It was a novelty back then. It's been thirteen years since I left the talk show world and reality television has changed the landscape tremendously.  Today, everybody and anybody can have a television show with to tell their own stories and get paid for it.   So the pressure is on for daytime shows to bring viewers fresh new ideas and deliver it in a way never seen before. 

In September 2012 Ricki Lake joins a slew of new talk shows whose hosts include Katie Couric, Queen Latifah, Steve Harvey in an already crowded daytime market place.  However by using social media so early in the game and including her viewers help in  creating her new show she's already taking steps to make The Ricki Lake Show stand-out from traditional daytime talk shows.

I am excited about Ricki's plans to breath new life into an old television genre and will actually watch to see how it turns out. I think she's on to something and its going to be good.  GO RICKI!, GO RICKI! GO RICKI!

IF YOU HAVE OR HAD A FAVORITE TALK SHOW TELL ME WHAT IT IS AND WHY?

TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).  If you are a personality interested in television placement or connecting with brands follow Debbie Mitchell @TVProducerDeb or email Ready4Airtv@gmail.com .