Meredith's walkie to the talkie

As a faux tweet noted, in case you didn't hear all the comments when Meredith Vieira walked away from Millionaire, she's got a syndie talk show.

Only now it's official, instead of an endlessly ballyhooed rumor. The show will originate in New York from a set that looks like Meredith's living room, right down to the furniture and family photos. I like those homey touches. They should really help Meredith fool everybody into thinking she's lounging around the house.

Okay, sarcasm off. But if we need another syndie talk show, I need a frontal lobotomy. According to the weekly ratings report from TVNewsCheck, we've already got Phil and Kelly and Michael and Oz and Maury and Ellen and Katie and Wendy and Steve and Rachael and the other Steve and Jerry and the Doctors and Trisha and the Better (whoever that is). How much more chatter can any same human - or even me - possibly stand?

I can understand why Meredith got tired of asking multiple choice questions. After eleven seasons of A's and B's and C's and D's, I'd probably want a new gig, too. But as the linked story points out, in a niche as overcrowded as syndie talk shows, it's not easy for even the strongest newcomer to survive. We'll see if Meredith can beat the odds with those family photos.