Anderson Cooper is interested in showing different sides of his personality on “Anderson,” his new daytime talk show debuting Monday.
“There’s a formality to news; in daytime, you can have a lot more fun. I went to a spray-tanning with Snookie. That was one of the odder things I’ve done. It was surreal, to say the least.”
The CNN anchor has taped eight or nine hours of his syndicated show so far, including one with “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
Really, Anderson? From Afghanistan to “Real Housewives” without missing a beat?
“We want the show to be a mix of entertaining but also informative,” he said. He claims his will be the only show in daytime this year that can cover a broad range of topics, from social issues to pop culture.
“I’m not going to do anything I’m embarrassed about — except giggling, I can’t control that.” (See the viral clip from his CNN “Ridiculist” to share the contagious laughter.) He promised he won’t do anything “icky.” But as a longtime viewer of “Real Housewives,” he felt there was lots to talk about that wasn’t repellant.
“We spent half the show talking about Russell’s suicide,” he said. (Russell Armstrong, the husband of one of the “Housewives,” took his life last month.)
“The news, which I love &mdash people feel it doesn’t connect to their day-to-day lives. It doesn’t resonate,” Cooper said. “Topics you can cover in daytime do.” He spoke of his brother’s suicide 20 years ago as a continuing source of bafflement.
While the shift from CNN newsman to talk-show host is considerable, Cooper claims “30% of the DNA is similar” in terms of doing research and using information in real-time to make an interview better. “In news, the interviews are not about me. In daytime TV, it’s much more a two-way conversation.”
He’s doing a full hour on his 87-year-old mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, the heiress. “She comes from a time and a place that no longer exists.”
“Anderson” begins Monday, locally at 9 a.m., on KTVD-Channel 20, with a replay at 4 p.m.
