ABC developing daytime show for Tori Spelling

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Tori Spelling is looking to get a day job.

ABC is creating a daytime talk show for Spelling and a co-host to be determined. The daughter of late legendary television producer Aaron Spelling, Tori Spelling first came to prominence in her own right playing Donna Martin on the teen soap ‘Beverly Hills 90210.’ Always a tabloid favorite, Spelling has since turned her own life with husband Dean McDermott into a reality show for Oxygen. ‘Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,’ one of the cable network’s highest-rated shows, recently started its fifth season earlier this month.

The program, which is in the very early stages of development, would feature Spelling and a male co-host who would basically serve as Spelling’s best friend forever. The network is looking for a ‘Will & Grace’ vibe between Spelling and her as-yet-undiscovered BFF.Who knows, maybe finding a co-host can be its own reality show for Spelling.

Of course, it is a long road from development to an actual show. But news that ABC may be looking to create another daytime talker will certainly raise eyebrows. The network currently has four shows in daytime -- soap operas ‘General Hospital,’ ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’ and yenta fest ‘The View.’ If ABC is going to launch another hour-long show, it will have to get that time from its affiliates. One possibility could be late afternoon, where many ABC stations will likely have a hole to fill next fall when Oprah Winfrey departs to cable. However, getting the ABC affiliates to give an hour back to the network may prove to be a challenge. Even the ABC-owned stations may resist such a request because many are planning to replace Winfrey with another hour of local news.

Another scenario is that one of its current daytime shows is, uh, going away. We’re pretty sure ‘The View’ is staying put, so that leaves one of the soaps as potentially heading to the exit. But don’t panic yet, soap fans, there is no guarantee that the Spelling show will get off the ground. ABC could also try to sell it to a cable network or syndicate it to local television stations.
Remember the good old days when former TV stars became game show contestants? Do you think if there were reality shows in the 1970s, we’d have been watching Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly?

-- Joe Flint