There may be a new Kelly coming to daytime. As part of her talent deal with NBCUniversal, Kelly Clarkson has started filming a pilot for her own syndicated daytime talk show. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the show is looking at a fall 2019 premiere date.
If you’ve read anything I’ve written on this site about Kelly Clarkson, you know that I stan. I love Kelly. I’ve produced her on The Social with Lainey twice and she was a delightful guest both times. I think “delightful” is a word I’ve used to describe Kelly Clarkson every time I’ve written about her. I don’t doubt that she’ll continue to be a delight on daytime …but I’m still not sure this is the best idea.
I’m all for Kelly Clarkson hosting one-offs. She killed it at the Billboard Awards and she’s the best thing about The Voice but daytime TV is its own beast. Being a great artist and someone who people genuinely seem to like does not a daytime talk show host make – just ask Harry Connick Jr. (someday I will go deep into my HCJ crush). His show got cancelled after two seasons.
Kelly Clarkson could be as good of a host as she is a guest on a daytime talk show but she’s also best when she’s unscripted, talking about her life and her family. Even on the fake talk show she hosted on Ellen for a segment called “The Kelly Show,” the best part was when Kelly played karaoke essentially by herself. When you’re the host of a talk show, you can’t talk about yourself the whole time (even though Lainey tries). You need to take a backseat to the guest. I’m sure Kelly can do this, I just don’t think I want her to.
Let’s not forget that Kelly’s career isn’t over yet. Doesn’t this feel like a move for someone who didn’t just release the best album of her career? The album didn’t perform as well as Kelly’s team probably hoped so she was trotted out on The Voice and the Billboard Awards, two smart moves from a publicity perspective. Kelly Clarkson as a daytime talk show host feels a little desperate. It feels like they’ve given up on her music. I mean, I get it. I understand that after watching Kelly charm the sh-t out on every screen she’s on, some exec decided that “The Kelly Show” would be a great idea. I just wish they’d opted for a series of annual variety specials instead… or like a podcast where she watches Meryl Streep movies with other celebrities.
Remember when Kelly lost her sh-t meeting Meryl? She recapped it on her web series “A Minute and a Glass of Wine”, which is also a joy to watch. I forgot this web show existed but it just reminded me about the only thing that isn’t great about Kelly as a daytime talk show guest is that she isn’t the best at sticking to time. It doesn’t matter that Kelly is longwinded because you want to listen to her ramble for however long she wants to ramble but again, not very conducive to the daytime format when you only have 8-minute segments.
I feel guilty about sh-tting on my girl Kelly’s new gig so I will say that Kelly Clarkson is not precious about being a fangirl. Putting her in various situations with celebrities she loves will be highly entertaining and dare I say, DELIGHTFUL. Even though I’m not entirely on board, I will still watch every episode. I know this because I just watched the below clip of Kelly and Seth Meyers getting day-drunk for the fourth time. OH, I’m so into Kelly’s talk show if it is called Day-Drinking with Kelly and every episode is just this with different guests. Brilliant. NBC, you’re welcome.
