Vieira returns to daytime TV

If it were up to Meredith Vieira, her new talk show debuting Monday would have taken place in her living room with an intimate audience bused in for every episode. Her husband nixed it.

The compromise: hauling one of her oldest chairs, tattered over the years by family pets and kids, onto a set in New York City's Rockefeller Center.

"It's almost symbolic," said Vieira, just days before the first tapings of "The Meredith Vieira Show." "The chair is worn, but it's been loved."

The same might be said of its owner. Vieira, 60, has been a fixture of daytime TV since she started moderating "The View" in 1997, getting out nine years later before it became a war zone. She then took on the challenge of joining "Today," replacing the most popular girl in class, Katie Couric, and keeping the program on top. It's no coincidence that her decision to leave in 2011 marked the beginning of the end of that show's reign.

When asked what programs she'd like her new show to emulate, she mentioned neither "The View" nor "Today." Instead, she talked about David Letterman. Not his two legendary late-night staples, but his 1980 morning show, which lasted about as long as a Stupid Pet Trick.

"I liked it because it was different and had a kind of zaniness. I want to bring some of that flavor," she said. "Of course, Letterman reminded me recently that he did the show out of the same studio, and it bombed."

If she's looking for a touch of craziness, she has the right surroundings. Her studio is next door to "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon." "Late Night With Seth Meyers" and "Saturday Night Live" are just two floors up.

"That's the highest compliment," she said. "We'll be equally insane, but in a different way."

One way she'll keep things light is through games, a strategy that has worked well for Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres.

Early examples include "Touchy Feely," in which celebrities like a blindfolded Mark McGrath grope two objects and try to find a connection (bowl of sugar + stingray = Sugar Ray). There's also "High-five," in which an audience member is suspended from the rafters and will be lowered into something icky if he or she answers questions incorrectly.

"It's always about the audience thinking, 'That could be me having fun with Meredith,' " said executive producer Rich Sirop, who previously worked with Vieira on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." "It allows people to have a range of emotions from fear to laughter. We want the show to cover the full spectrum."

Vieira also will have the chance to show off her emphathetic side.

"It doesn't matter who's on the show; Meredith is genuinely interested," Sirop said. "She can take you down so many roads. When we tested the show, the emotional meter went through the roof."

Authenticity will be key to the show's success. During test runs, producers experimented with a segment in which Vieira would answer planted questions from the audience. The segment was quickly axed.

"It wasn't who I am," she said. "I'm not a comedian, but I'm good in the moment. We can play games and be silly, but we don't want to do shtick. I don't want to do anything inauthentic."

Despite Vieira's savvy strategy and stellar credentials, there's no guarantee that she'll survive the dog-eat-dog world of daytime TV. Just ask Couric or Jane Pauley, who both flopped after successful runs on "Today."

"I don't bother worrying about it. I don't want ulcers. Never had them, don't want to now," she said. "If the audience doesn't respond, I don't take it personally. You're not doing to die. Maybe figuratively, not literally. Even if I bomb, I'm getting paid, and my office is real nice. I'll have a great view of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for at least one year."