NOW is not the best time to start your own talk show.
Stations are dropping them like bad habits and no new talkers have broken through in the last two or three seasons.
Then again – it’s a good time to be Queen Latifah.
The rapper-turned-movie star has her own talk show beginning in September, and another chance to show that she can do just about anything she sets her mind to.
“Queen Latifah has a controlling presence, and I think that’s a positive for a talk show,” said industry analyst Marc Berman of Seltel, who has seen a “Latifah” demo tape in which she interviews guests – including Rosie O’Donnell – and jokes with her audience.
“She seems more like a real person than all the other talk show hosts… and one thing that impressed me was that she was very down-to-earth,” Berman said. “It seemed like she was very relaxed and comfortable.”
The talk show seems to make a perfect midpoint for Latifah’s red-hot career arc, which also includes a best-selling book.
Her recently released “Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman,” published by William Morrow to almost universal critical acclaim, has sold more than 60,000 copies – and has made the New York Times online best-seller list.
In short order, the 28-year-old rap artist from Newark, N.J. – born Dana Elaine Owens – has gone beyond hip-hop to star in a long-running sitcom (Fox’s ”Living Single”) and movies, most recently “Living Out Loud.”
“Everybody is going to go through slumps,” she has said. “Things do turn around and do pick up.”
They sure did for Latifah, who – after working in a Burger King for a while – set her sights on a music career.
After appearing on MTV, the singer got her big break when she won a 1995 Grammy award as best rap soloist for the song “U.N.I.T.Y.”
That led to her role as Khadijah James, editor of Flavor magazine on “Living Single.”
And now, Latifah will try to conquer territory that’s proven tough to many wannabes: The daily talk show grind.
“Based on her background, I think ‘Latifah’ has a lot of appeal,” Berman said.
“There is less hype and fewer expectations put on Latifah than were put on Roseanne, Howie Mandel and Donny & Marie last year,” Berman said. “And shows with less hype are the types of shows that tend to survive.”