Hoopah!

Afternoon television watchers, those couch potatoes who reign supreme, will get a little eye candy next fall when Anderson Cooper hosts an hourlong daytime show.

This show apparently is to take the place of Oprah Winfrey, who has had enough and wants to do more in-depth projects, such as movies. Winfrey has been a voice for women all over the world and for all kinds of women. It’s interesting to see what she’ll come up with next.

That would leave Ellen DeGeneres as the only other real afternoon talk show host. DeGeneres is much lighter than Winfrey in a whimsical kind of way, although I do remember her breaking down into tears over having to give up a puppy because she broke the shelter’s rules and gave the puppy to some children instead of returning it to the shelter.

The last time we saw a handsome gray man was when Phil Donahue bounced around guests and his audience, mike in hand with questions and comments from the group. Donahue was the first sort of participatory talk show host. (Although I don’t remember him giving away gifts to the audience).

Now we have Cooper, who by the way, will continue to host his CNN news show, “360.” This program will be in Warner Brothers’ syndication, so I bet we see it locally.

Here’s wishing Cooper good luck and wondering how he’ll flip from funny and sensitive to daring and serious all in an afternoon