Queen Latifah is about to put her hat in the ring of daytime talk show hosts with the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Katie Couric, and most prominently known Oprah Winfrey.
On Monday, September 16, The Queen Latifah Show will add talk show host to her résumé that already includes singer-songwriter, actress, and Covergirl. (You’ll have to check local listings for channel and time.) So what will make Queen Latifah’s show different from all the others? Latifah said, “I’m naturally a bit edgier than typical daytime, but I kind of want to push things a little bit further, as far as I can respectfully, within the daytime space. I want more out of daytime TV. I want more choices, I want more heart, more humor.”
The 43-year-old Latifah is looking forward to everyone seeing her show.
Lovin' life & looking forward 2 everyone watching my new talk show #Monday #Sept16 on #CBS! #CheckYourLocalListings pic.twitter.com/bhdyxiEYCW
— Queen Latifah (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH) September 14, 2013
Latifah will of course have celebrities on her show, but she will also have “regular people who do amazing things” and their inspirational stories to share with the world. Said Latifah, “As much bad news as we see every day, it’s good to see people out there doing positive things that give you hope. I’m an optimist.”
Speaking of celebrities, Latifah’s first week of shows will include John Travolta, Will Smith, Sharon Stone, Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lisa Kudrow.
With her first love being music, Latifah will be featuring musicians from all genres. She already has Alicia Keys, Plain White T’s lead singer Tom Higgenson, and Willow Smith booked for her first week.
The Smith family connection doesn’t just stop at being guests on Latifah’s show, Will and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are also producers of the talk show. Pinkett Smith gives high praise to Latifah, saying, “She’s very funny, she’s very witty, she’s very intelligent and she has a lot of heart, I think what we’re missing [in daytime] today is heart. So Latifah, to me, when we did the research on her – across the board from [age] 3 to 80, people love her; women, men, kids.”
This isn’t the first time Latifah has ventured into daytime talk show host territory. Her original run from 1999 – 2001 has helped her prepare for her upcoming show. “I learned I really have to be true to myself. …I want to go out there and do something that feels like me every day and is something I’m comfortable with and excited about,” said Latifah, adding, “I’m not trying to throw myself out there to get ratings. I’m really more interested in building something that’s entertaining to people. I’ve never had to just share everything about my personal life to entertain people.”
Being seen everyday Monday through Friday can be quite a daunting task, adding stress to one’s life, but Latifah already knows how to calm herself. “I have a drum set in my dressing room and I go in there and play for a few minutes to relax. They can forget about it being quiet around here – I’m going to bang my drums.”
You can view a promo for The Queen Latifah Show below.
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