Will Jennifer Hudson be the next Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah Winfrey when she begins hosting her daytime talk show this fall?
The Oscar-winning actor (Dreamgirls) and two-time Grammy Award winner (best musical theater album for The Color Purple and best R&B album) will premiere her nationally syndicated Jenner Hudson Show in September on WLWT-TV, other Hearst stations and Fox-owned stations.
WLWT-TV could use Jennifer Hudson Show to replace DeGeneres' show,which stops airing new episodes in May (3 p.m., Channel 5) after 19 seasons. Jennifer Hudson and Ellen are both produced by Warner Bros.
Channel 5 also lost the syndicated Dr. Oz talk show in January, when Dr.Mehmet Oz ended his show after 13 seasons to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Dr. Oz was replaced in January by The Good Dish (11 a.m., Channel 5) hosted by his daughter, Daphne Oz, formerly of ABC's The Chew, and Top Chef judge Gail Simmons.
"I have experienced so much in my life; I’ve seen the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows, and just about everything in between, but as my mother always told me, ‘Once you think you’ve seen it all, just keep on living,’ " said Hudson in a statement announcing the show had enough affiliates to start production.
Hudson, 40, is arguably the biggest star who failed to win American Idol. She finished seventh in 2004, the third season, behind Idol winner Fantasia Barrino. After touring with American Idol that summer, she appeared in the movie version of Dreamgirls, beating out Barrino and 700 other actresses for the role of Effie White.
Her TV and film credits include starring as Aretha Franklin in Respect last year, plus Empire, Smash, Sex and the City, Hairspray Live!, Black Nativity, The Secret Lives of Bees, RGB, Winnie Mandela and Cats. The Chicago native also has appeared on Broadway in The Color Purple, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Hair.
Her memoir, I Got This: How I Changed My Ways, Found Myself and Lost Everything that Weighed Me Down, was a New York Times bestseller in 2012.
But TV executives know that movie or film success does not automatically translate into big daytime talk show ratings. Just ask David Letterman, Jane Pauley, Megan Mullally, Mark Walberg, Anderson Cooper, Queen Latifah, Wayne Brady, Kathy Griffin, Tempestt Bledsoe, Martin Short, Magic Johnson, Caroline Rhea, Meredith Vieira, Gordon Elliott, Orlando Jones, George Lopez, Carnie Wilson, Gabrielle Carteris, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Katie Couric, Harry Connick Jr., Danny Bonaduce, Bethenny Frankel or Tony Danza.
“People from around the world have been a part of my journey from the beginning — 20 years ago — and I’m so ready to join their journey as we sit down and talk about the things that inspire and move us all," Hudson said. "I have always loved people and I cannot wait to connect on a deeper level and let audiences see the different sides of who I am, the human being, in return."
