Ray of light
During Rachael Ray’s time on the Food Network, she has burned bread at least 50 times, chopped off the tip of a finger, lit Emeril Lagasse’s set on fire and set her own hair ablaze while leaning over a candle-covered birthday cake. Many of her jeans feature a permanent shiny line across the back created from standing too close to the stove.Those incidents make her a poor choice to run your gourmet kitchen, but they add up nonetheless to the most promising newcomer in the ever-competitive world of syndicated daytime talk shows.
“Rachael Ray,” which premieres today, follows a traditional recipe of celebrity interviews, cooking segments and lifestyle tips. But the wild ingredient is the host, a self-described bobblehead who can’t stay in place long enough to boil an egg and who seems stuck permanently in cheerleader mode.
“Everything I do I compare to being a waitress,” said Ray, 38, who peppers her conversations with words like “groovy,”wuss” and “hootenanny.”I try to figure out what people want and expect, and then I try to fill the order for them.”
That eager-to-please attitude is not for everyone, especially those still wiping sleep from their eyes at 11 a.m., but for those frustrated by Martha Stewart’s stringent guide to living, Ray probably will be welcome relief. In the first week alone, viewers will see her jump out of a plane, challenge an audience member to a “bag carrying” contest and create meals for polar bears — stunts that Stewart wouldn’t do for a million gardenias.
That spirit is what caught the attention of the reigning Queen of Daytime TV. Oprah Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions, is behind the new show and hopes to have the same success it did with its last project, “Dr. Phil.” Winfrey will accentuate her support by making an appearance on Tuesday’s program.
“Oprah got from day one that Rachael knows how to be herself on TV,” said Terry Wood, president of creative affairs for King World, which is partnering with Harpo on the series. “She doesn’t want us to change her. She wants us to take what works and expand it, give her a bigger stage.” more…
