Marry Sherri

GSN will run a cute gimmick on its Newlywed Game episodes August 8-12. That happens to be the week leading up to host Sherri Shepherd's qualification for her own show. Yes, Sherri's getting hitched (for the second time) on August 13. So GSN sent her out onto the New York City streets to get marital advice. The pearls of NYC wisdom will run before the final round of play on Sherri's show.

When GSN fired Carnie Wilson and brought on Sherri to host Newlywed Game, I got an unmistakable sinking feeling. I was afraid Sherri would talk and talk and holler and holler and just ruin the interaction with the contestants. By and large, my fears have proven unfounded.

Sherri is still emphatic but does know how to dial it back and let the show breathe. So Newlywed Game generally doesn't get overwhelmed with too much host and too little of everything else. The show has prospered as a result, though an experiment with an early weekday timeslot fizzled badly.

Sherri still spends lots of time in the daily top tens on GSN, though the numbers have naturally softened since her debut. GSN's notorious brand of rerun abuse will grind down the best of 'em. Anyway, best wishes to Sherri for happiness in her second try at matrimony.