"Bethenny’
Title:Bethenny, aka The Bethenny Frankel Show
Host:Bethenny Frankel
Executive producers: Bethenny Frankel, Ellen DeGeneres
Production company: Telepictures, Warner Bros Television Distribution
Format: One-hour daytime talk show
Broadcast Information:Bethenny will be broadcast in first-run syndication starting in the fall 2013. Check your local listings for dates and times.
Premiere Date: June 11, 2012, as part of a summer test run on Fox-owned television stations
Brief History:
It's a bit of a surprise that no one thought of giving reality TV star and business entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel her own talk show before this summer. But a little research suggests that, in fact, there were some who wanted to get Frankel on air and in talk as early as 2011.
After all, Frankel proved herself as a popular personality on a host of reality programs on the Bravo TV network. Before she became one of the most outspoken original cast members of < a href=http://manhattan.D106/od/nycontv/a/realhousewives.htm>The Real Housewives of New York City, Frankel was a chef for Natural Foods and a contestant on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. She made it to the finals before losing to fellow contestant Dawna Stone.
Her strong showing and screen presence led to her casting in Real Housewives, and she capitalized on both the notoriety and her business sense. In terms of notoriety and fan appeal, Frankel turned her success on Housewives into a number of spin-off series. Those series followed Bethenny's personal life.
The first spotlighted Frankel's dating and engagement to husband Jason Hoppy (Frankel was previously married to Peter Sussman), titled Bethenny Getting Married? The next, Bethenny Ever After, followed Frankel as she settled in with her new husband and newborn daughter.
Frankel announced that she was leaving reality TV to pursue other interests, and, soon, it became obvious a daytime talk show became those other pursuits.
Skinnygirl Writer
Frankel capitalized on her notoriety when she launched her own company, Skinnygirl Cocktails, in 2009. The company offers low calorie, naturally flavored drinks and drink mixes. The success of Skinnygirl inspired Frankel to author of series of weight conscious books, including Naturally Thin: Unleash Your Skinnygirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting, and its follow-up, The Skinnygirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life.
Return to TV as a Talk Show Host
During the summer of 2012, Frankel launched a pilot talk show, titled Bethenny. The show was broadcast on select Fox-owned television stations during the summer months to see if audiences would respond to Frankel in daytime.
They did. And to better than expected numbers. As such, the show received a commitment for a nationwide syndication run in 2013. Big news for the small show.
The show, executive produced by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, varies from day to day, showcasing topical news discussions one moment, then diving into the exploits of her family the next. In a way, it's a hybrid of Frankel's reality show background and new presence as a talk show host.
It's also received some criticism for appearing to follow the Ellen formula, but Frankel dismisses all that talk as nonsense. Though both shows are geared toward female viewers and offer celebrity interviews and wild moments, the audiences for each are much different, Frankel alleges.