The Wendy Williams Show

I was totally surprised when it was announced that Wendy Williams would be getting her own television talk show based on her radio show. I knew if it was as weak and frantic as her radio broadcast it was going to be short lived. She would become just another slightly famous person that mistakenly though they were interesting enough for TV.

Wendy Williams is an amazon. She's tall and thick (not fat but curvy). She wears large over the top wigs and tight dresses. Everything about her is big; her hair, her jewelry, her personality. If not handled properly all that is a disaster on camera. So she was going to need a skilled and competent production team. The talk show had a short test run to see if their was an audience for this kind of show. There must have been because it's broadcast all over the country and then reairs on BET at night.

Ok let me get to it. The Wendy Williams Show is actually good. Wendy is entertaining and I like listening to her deliver celebrity gossip. Her celebrity interviews, however, are hit or miss. I mean she's not Oprah so her guests aren't A-list celebs. She tends to have D-listers and reality TV personalities, but hey that's not necessarily a bad thing. She also has an "Ask Wendy" segment where the audience gets to ask her for personal advice. My only criticism of this part is the questions always seem fake or the person is trying way too hard to appear interesting and...well they're not. Producers get the participants in line. They are extras and should act accordingly.

Just like on her radio show, Wendy likes to eat and drink while broadcasting. She frequently has to pause and gather herself because she has food in her mouth. This would normally drive me up a wall, but somehow, and I'm not sure why, it comes across just like when I'm talking/having coffee with my friends.

Now my biggest problem with The Wendy Williams Show is the commercial breaks. During the "Ask Wendy" segments she often doesn't have time to talk with the participant, because she has to toss to commercial. I tend to flip through the channels while I'm watching this show. Every time I do a channel loop and get back to Wendy's show she's tossing to commercial again. They need to space the commercial breaks out better so they don't interrupt the show's flow.

So to my surprise The Wendy Williams Show is a success. It fills the niche left open by the end of The Ricki Lake Show. Just work on the commercial thing.