Harry Connick Jr.’s syndicated talk show is coming to an end. NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution confirmed Friday that Season 2 will be the last for Harry.
Harry Connick Jr. is staying put in daytime. NBCUniversal Domestic TV and Fox Television Stations have renewed the syndicated daytime strip Harry for a second season this fall.
Graphic, Behind-The-Scenes Story About Connick
NBC wasn’t talking Tuesday about potential replacements for Bush. Harry Connick Jr., the musician who launched his own syndicated talk show this fall, filled in Monday and Tuesday. Actors Christian Slater and Eric Dane are booked as guest hosts later this week. There’s no word on whether any of them would be interested in a permanent job, although Today made a point Tuesday of giving Hall a trivia quiz on Connick’s career — a getting-to-know-you step that seemed odd for a short-timer.
The NBCUniversal distributed talk-variety series posted ratings gains of 27% from its year-ago time periods to a 1.4 Nielsen rating/4 share primary run average in the 56 metered markets
NBCU’s ‘Harry’ Could Be Last Of Its Kind
NBCU has a lot riding on Harry with Harry Connick Jr., but so does the broadcasting business. If it fails, I fear that Hollywood may finally give up on the big-budget, first-run syndicated show. And broadcasters need such shows to prop up their daytime schedules. Along with local news and a smattering of network fare, they distinguish TV stations from the great unwashed masses of cable channels that fill daytime with endless repeats of shows.
Exclusives
Harry Connick Jr. and the team making his new daytime talk show all cite Dean Martin as a model. Martin, whose primetime variety show ran on NBC in the late 1960s and 1970s, fostered an air of easy informality in part because the singer had it written into his contract that he only needed to show up when the show was taped each week.
Connick: No Games On His New Talk Show
Harry Connick Jr.’s new NBCUniversal-produced daytime show will feature many of the trappings of a traditional talker — a live band, celebrity interviews. But what’s also notable is what it won’t have. “We’re not going to play games,” Connick said of his guests Wednesday at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour. “I’m not going to put them in dunk tanks.”
Connick Wows Tough Crowd At Station Summit
Harry Connick Jr. On Tap At PromaxBDA Station Summit
The new talker from NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution will be produced in New York City and feature a live band when it debuts in syndication on Sept. 12.
Connick, NBCU Just Wild About ‘Harry’
Where the challenges of daytime TV are concerned, Harry Connick Jr. sounds like a man who is entering the syndication fray with his eyes wide open. In this interview with TVNewsCheck’s Adam Buckman, he says he’s aware of the failure rate of new shows in daytime, and acknowledges that Harry — like any new high-profile syndicated offering — represents a gamble for everyone involved. However, he also emphasizes that he’s well aware of the role that stations play in the success or failure of a show like his. And he’s shrewd enough to express his gratitude to the stations that are picking up his show.
The new syndicated entertainment hour will debut this fall on station groups including Fox Television Stations, Sinclair, Scripps, Media General, Hubbard, Cox, Nexstar, Gray, Bonten, Hearst, Raycom, Dispatch and Quincy.
NBCUniversal’s first-run daytime entertainment show, Harry, is set to debut in national syndication in fall 2016. The comedy duo, the Stangel Brothers, to serve as executive producers.
Syndicators Busy With Shows For Next Fall
Among the new offerings for first-run syndication in the works or being pitched for 2016-17 is Ice & Coco (above), which got a three-week test this summer on Fox-owned stations in eight markets. Another show that just finished a test is Debmar-Mercury’s The T.D. Jakes Show. More projects on the drawing board include a talker with Harry Connick Jr. from NBCU, Daily Mail TV from CBS, and the possible return of two former TV judges, Glenda Hatchett and Joe Brown. There are also two game shows being discussed: Sony’s Chain Reaction and a daily version of Scientific Games’ Monopoly Millionaires’ Club.
Connick Show Heads 2016 Development Slate
A variety-talk show with American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. from NBCUniversal tops the shows being developed for first-run syndication for fall 2016, according to sources. Warner Bros. is prepping the return of Love Connection and a talk show with personal finance wiz Suze Orman. Fox will be testing two or three show this summer, while Debmar-Mercury and partner Gannett work on an interactive show.
