‘Star Jones’ Debuts with Guest Isaiah Washington
Former ‘View’ Cohost’s Court TV Series Courts Controversy for Premiere
I don’t cover daytime television often since it’s all about primetime and late night to me. But, today, things are a bit different. That’s because Star Jones, the attorney and suddenly skinny former co-yakker on The View, has scored a very newsworthy guest for the premiere this afternoon of her new Court TV talk show. Creatively titled Star Jones, the series marketed as featuring “the day’s top stories along with guests from the world of law, news, pop culture [and] entertainment” will welcome former Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington during its first episode. Washington, of course, was deep-sixed from the popular ABC medical drama at the end of last season following his ill-advised decision to publicly utter a homophobic slur in reference to costar T.R. Knight twice. The actor has since gone on to join the cast of NBC’s highest-profile freshman fall series, the modernized and reimagined Bionic Woman, under the auspices of new Peacock bossman Ben Silverman.
The Court TV Web site for Star Jones seems to downplay the heavily publicized reasons for Washington’s recent notoriety while taking care not to ignore the situation outright. The episode description states:
You know him from Grey’s Anatomy and for throwing around that infamous F-word. He’s Isaiah Washington. And he’s got a new show. But that’s not even half his story. Isaiah Washington shares his most personal experiences. And for the first time on television reveals perhaps the most painful episode in his life. One that helped make him the man he is today.
According to an Entertainment Weekly article from last week (subtitled “The fired Grey’s Anatomy actor will sit down with the fired View cohost on Court TV”), Washington is expected to discuss both Grey’s Anatomy and Bionic Woman. And for those who might be scratching their heads trying to figure out why lawyer Jones would want to inaugurate her show on a law-themed network with Washington as a guest—other than to lock in the almost guaranteed good ratings such controversial figures customarily deliver on the talk-show circuit, and to commiserate with someone who’s been even more openly lambasted than she has of late—when asked, the host focused on Bionic Woman, responding that “there are ethical considerations [there] because we in our technology right now are moving to replacing limbs, and we’re moving in the whole area of stem cell research, we’re moving in the area of cloning and whether or not it can actually be done with a human. And in reality, that’s what you’re doing with The Bionic Woman [sic], you’re playing God.”
Well, I don’t know about all of that—it’s just a TV show to me. But, the interview should still be pretty good. In fact, just seeing the two erstwhile pariahs onscreen together sounds worth a quick peek. That is, if I can remember to turn on my television that early in the day.
Related News: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Castoff Isaiah Washington Snares a ‘Bionic’ Gig
Star Jones will air weekdays on Court TV at 3pm EST
Star Jones photo courtesy of WireImage.com
