New Robert Irvine Talker To Debut Sept. 12

Tribune today set a Sept. 12 premiere date for its new talk show starring Robert Irvine, the burly star of a series of shows on The Food Network.

The Robert Irvine Show is being produced and distributed by Tribune Studios. It’s been cleared to run in afternoons five days a week on all of the affiliates of The CW. The CW stations formerly ran Tribune’s Bill Cunningham Show until Cunningham announced last May that he had decided to quit the show.

Irvine’s show is described as a “conflict-resolution talk show.” The British-born Irvine is a career chef whose shows on the Food Network include Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible. On the latter show, he seeks to turn around failing restaurants. Many of them are family owned-and-operated, and the shows require that Irvine navigate the thickets of family relationships and fix them first, before addressing the problems with their businesses. 

Irvine’s experience in managing relationships will now be expanded outside the restaurant space on his new talk show.

“Every phase of my career has had a service component,” Irvine said. “That is by design. I never wanted to just cook; I wanted to help as many people as I could. Specifically, helping people resolve personal conflict is the aspect of Restaurant: Impossible that sets it apart and makes it so popular. My new talk show allows me to help people resolve conflict and move forward in their lives with renewed focus. I’m thrilled that Tribune,The CW and Irwin Entertainment saw the value in a show like this. It’s going to make for a great show and allow me to do what I love most.”

Irwin Entertainment, the production company of TV producer John Irwin, is co-producing the show with Tribune. Andrew Scher (The Doctors) is executive producer.