Gayle King, Oprah's best friend, likes feedback on her own new talk show

Jet, Oct 6, 1997

It's been several weeks since the debut of "The Gayle King Show" and the newest face to enter the ranks of talk show hosts is feeling good.

"We have gotten great feedback," King told JET in a phone interview from Hartford, CT, where her show is based. "And what's so good about it is that the comments have been unsolicited. People have just been coming up to me and saying things like `I really like your show.'"

"The Gayle King Show," hosted by the Emmy Award-winning news anchor, is produced by Eyemark Entertainment. The show will be coming from a specially-designed studio for King located next door to WFSB-TV where she will continue to anchor the 5:30 p.m. news. She has been a member of the news team there since 1981.

With hosting her own show and still anchoring the news, her schedule is much more hectic. "I'm exhausted," said, "but I also believe it's necessary until I get the show up and running."

"`The Gayle King Show' will explore a single aspect of real life ... with the end result always being entertaining, informative and empowering to the daytime viewer.

"I want people to feel good about watching," King said. "I want people to look forward to coming into Gayle's house every day for a half hour."

King said she wasn't looking to become a daytime talk show host.

"I was very happy, minding my own business, taking care of my two kids and my two dogs," she said. "They came to me."

Although excited about breaking into the talk show ranks where her best friend Oprah Winfrey reigns Queen, it was important for King that her show be based in Hartford instead of a big-market city, because of her children.

She revealed that Winfrey asked her to move to Chicago to be incorporated in the HARPO family. That would allow Winfrey to "pass the baton when she was ready to move on to other things." But King had to pass on that offer of a lifetime.

"I would have loved to have done it," she said, "but it just wasn't the right time."

It is written into King's contract that she will not compete with "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

King added that she was "thrilled" at the recent announcement Winfrey made about continuing her show until the 1999-2000 season.

"She's doing what ultimately she thinks is best for her. Whatever the decision, it was a win-win situation for her."

King also denied accusations that she would have been glad if Winfrey had called it quits.

"I can't imagine TV, without her. There will never be the next Oprah. She is in a stratosphere all by herself. She has the gift and the power change people's lives.."

Having Winfrey as her best friend invites comparisons between the two. But she doesn't mind. "It's not a problem," she said. "There is no rivalry between us."

She added that although she is Oprah's best friend, her show must succeed on its own merits.