Vieira’s new show built around her

Published 5:00 am Monday, August 12, 2013

Q: After having several runs in daytime, I’m surprised Meredith Vieira would try it again. Why is she doing it?

— Margaret Cain, Daytona Beach, Fla.

A: We can’t purport to speak for her, but we can say it’ll be a different situation for her when she starts a daily talk show in the fall of 2014.

The syndicated program is being built around her, to the degree that the set is being designed to resemble her actual home.

That’s a big difference from being part of an ensemble of hosts as she was on ABC’s “The View,” or from joining a long-established program such as NBC’s “Today.”

Or even from being the host of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” where the game itself really is the “star.”

The new venture will have Vieira’s own stamp on it from top to bottom, and that’s a big lure for anyone.

Q: I recently watched “The World Is Not Enough” on BBC America. Was that the first James Bond movie that had John Cleese as Q?

— John Porter, Baltimore

A: It was, though technically, he was “R” in that film — we’re not kidding — since longtime “Q” Desmond Llewelyn still was present.

Sadly, that actor died in a car accident shortly after the release of the adventure, in which the weapons master told Bond (Pierce Brosnan) he was retiring.

Three years later, in “Die Another Day,” Cleese graduated to the full “Q” designation … but that would turn out to be his only round with it.

That was Brosnan’s last Bond movie, and Q wouldn’t reappear until last year, when there was a new one for a new Bond as Ben Whishaw assumed the part opposite Daniel Craig in “Skyfall.”

Q: I’m enjoying the Johnny Carson segments Turner Classic Movies is showing, but why is Conan O’Brien needed to host them?

— Paul Marks, Buffalo, N.Y.

A: Devotees of Carson during his years hosting NBC’s “Tonight Show” may prefer the segments to speak for themselves, but having O’Brien provide introductions is a way to frame them for viewers who might not have watched — or been born yet to watch — Carson while he was the king of late-night television. It’s a contemporary link for them.

Also, it’s not bad synergy to have O’Brien in that role. He’s already a member of the Turner “family” through his weeknight TBS show, “Conan,” and any time he turns up to present the Carson interviews, it’s unspoken (or sometimes spoken) promotion for his own program.

Q: If they’ve been canceled, why have “Zero Hour” and “Do No Harm” still been shown this summer?

— Steve Walsh,

Boulder, Colo.

A: Those who enjoyed those shows, brief though their runs were, likely have been happy for the chance to see them play out … though, admittedly, that’s happened on lower-in-viewership Saturday nights.

“Burning off” (as the industry term goes) the remaining episodes is a way for the network to recoup at least some of the price it paid for them.

And it’s really an acknowledgment to those who did watch the shows, since profits can be bigger simply from running repeats of popular series instead; witness CBS’ frequent Saturday use of reruns of such mystery programs as “Hawaii Five-0” and “Elementary.”

Q: I’m intrigued by the start of a new “Ironside” series this fall. Was the original show Raymond Burr’s last one?

— Arthur Sloan, Reading, Pa.

A: After that police drama ended in 1975, Burr returned a year later as a media tycoon in the short-lived “Kingston: Confidential.” And in a way, the many “Perry Mason” TV movies he made after that (26, by our count) could be considered a series of a sort … or more specifically, a revival of a series.

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