Sep 25, 2006 5:28 pm US/Pacific
Rachael Ray Show, Weekdays At 9 a.m. On CBS 5
(CBS 5 / AP)
Rachael Ray has come to CBS 5 with a blue-ribbon recipe for a winning talk show: no crying, no couch talk, no lecturing.
You'll see Rachael's high energy and signature food dishes, but that's just the beginning. The "Rachael Ray" show is more than just cooking. Think of it as a talk show set in a kitchen.
"We're limited by the host," Ray says with the trademark effervescence that has helped to make her one of the food world's most ubiquitous personalities. "No one in their right mind would take me talking about anything serious seriously. So there is no crying."
Ray, who frequently bemoans her audience-free Food Network shows as "talking to vegetables," said her show on CBS 5 is about real people.
Celebrities have their place, but much of the show -- which feels like one part Martha Stewart lifestyle lessons and two parts Jay Leno-style gags -- focuses on audience and viewer participation.
When the stars are on, don't expect much pimping of their latest projects. Ray says she isn't interested. When Diane Sawyer visited, she discussed the contents of her purse (which includes lipstick with a built-in flashlight for night applications).
That's one way Ray distinguishes her program from that of other talk show hosts. She says she wants the sort of light chatter you have at the kitchen table, not the serious couch talk of other shows.
"We just don't sit on the sofa and show like a book and a clip and be all serious about stuff," she says. "We can have kitchen table talk even if we're on a sofa. We like people to have a more relaxed conversation," she says.
Ray is adamant that the point isn't to tell people how to live their lives, but to help them deal with and laugh about them.
"I'm not an authority on anything and I think that's why people will watch our show," Ray says. "We are very, very average and they can totally see themselves doing anything we do."
Ray is particularly proud of her show's set, which resembles a massive loft (complete with service-style elevator from which she enters the show each day). Audience members sit on a giant Lazy Susan that swings them around to wherever the action is -- since each show covers plenty of ground.
"I am the 30-minute girl," she says. "I'm not very patient. I don't think I could stick with any one topic for a whole hour."
"Rachael Ray" can be seen each weekeday morning at 9 a.m. on CBS 5.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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