NBC next week will launch the "Steve Harvey Show," a daytime talk show which Harvey envisions will focus on "everyday people" rather than celebrities. The variety-show will also feature singing contests and variety acts with an overall feel Harvey described as like" 'Oprah' with a sense of humor."
"I think it's going to get absolutely crazy," he predicted.
Harvey, 54, has been a working comedian for half his life, ever since he quit his job after performing at a Cleveland club's amateur night. He toured as one of the "Kings of Comedy" with the late Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley, an act featured in the 2000 Spike Lee film "The Original Kings of Comedy." He starred in "The Steve Harvey Show" on the WB from 1996 to 2002, and his radio show has lasted more than a decade.
"It was something I've always dreamed of doing," the veteran comedian told Savannah Guthrie on the "Today" show last week. But he didn't know daytime television would end up being his forte." I thought it was nighttime TV a while back. But my life changed, and I evolved as a person. And so daytime — with the empowerment angles I've taken in my book for women and everything — just seemed like a pretty natural fit," he explained.
That long personal evolution involved penning the 2009 bestseller "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man," later given the Hollywood treatment.
His new syndicated daytime show, which will focus on ordinary people's relationships emerged from that and from his background, he told "Today."
"I've had an interesting life. My life has been full circle," he said. "You know, I've been a parent, a husband, unemployed, homeless and successful."
He said he has another thing going for him, too: "I smile harder than anybody on TV, and I'm funnier."
Harvey stressed that his one-hour show would focus on the relationship travails of ordinary people, not celebrities, because he wants viewers to relate to them.
