Rachael Ray's Orphaned Show
Wednesday, November 08, 2006 | posted by Mike
Is the Food Network running a show starring Rachael Ray late at night like some modern-day television Flying Dutchman, destined to live an unnatural existence in a basic cable purgatory, never to become a full-time series? (Nice metaphor, Mike! Your 11th grade English teacher would be proud!)Maybe, according to Madeline over at Everything Rachael Ray.
The show in question is Day to Day, which Madeline says has been airing in that always-popular 4:00 am time slot. (Seriously? I thought they switched to infomercials at that point.)
The ERR post has the full description of the show, so check it out. But, from the sound of it, Day to Day may have been some sort of “dry run” for a Rachael Ray talk show on the Food Network. The thought is that these are the pilot episodes that they decided to burn off by running as specials. Of course, if they were, I think it would make more sense to run them in a more reasonable time slot, considering Rachael is arguably the biggest celebrity on the Network and inarguably the hottest right now thanks to her syndicated show.
Madeline says:
There is a studio audience but it has a definite test show feel to it, mostly because the set looks really pared down. I also found a few forum posts by audience members who said they were told that they were filming pilot episodes, so were unsure when it would air. Oprah's too smart to try something that has never been tested, right?The assumption would appear to be that Day to Day became the syndicated show.
But here’s a thought (warning: complete speculation): What if Day to Day actually “became” Paula’s Party?
If this was an FN-driven attempt to move into the talk show scene rather than something Rachael initiated as a springboard to syndication, maybe it just got repackaged and developed a Southern accent.
If anyone with more knowledge of the situation here would like to share some insight, let me know at tvfoodfan@gmail.com. As always, anonymity for sources is 100% guaranteed.
Labels: Rachael Ray
