Source : Globe & Mail

Global is hoping that a veteran producer -- and a rewrite -- will draw the brand-name stars, and lead the late-night host out of the ratings pit, GAYLE MacDONALD writes

Over the holidays, Mike Bullard took a few weeks off to cool his heels and rethink his late-night talk-show strategy.

He reviewed his first-month ratings for The Mike Bullard Show, which debuted on Global on Nov. 24 after he switched networks from CTV. They were not, uh, stellar. "I was beaten by my lead-in show [Global Sports]," says Bullard, during an interview at his downtown Toronto studio. "That's not something anyone would choose to say or brag about."

Indeed, Bullard and his new CanWest Global bosses have recognized the latest incarnation of Mike Bullard, live at midnight, needs a quick fix. But rather than whine or point fingers (which critics of Bullard have complained he has, at times, been prone to do) the acerbic talk-show host is grabbing the bull by the proverbial horns. And giving himself a mini-overhaul.

When Mike Bullard resumes this Monday night, it will look lighter, follow a less stringent format, and basically be less about Mike and more about the talent he interviews. Under the thumb of a new producer, veteran TV-show maker David Rosen, the set will be less cluttered (two of the distracting plasma screens will be gone), and hopefully there will soon be more big-name celebrities mixed in with the show's mainstay guests -- in other words, talented Canadians who deserve (and need) a place to be showcased.

While he makes no excuses for his lacklustre debut, Bullard is determined to set things right. "We've only been on the air for four weeks," he points out. "Let's wait until the people know where I am. This is all new to Global [the late-night talk-show shtick] but I've never been treated so well and I truly believe they're behind me.

"I would hesitate before I buried me," Bullard can't resist adding. "The thing I need is a level playing field."

That, of course, is a back-handed reference to Bullard's late-night rival, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on CTV. "Look, I love The Daily Show," says Bullard, "but I don't consider it a talk show. It's a parody of news shows. It's got a big machine behind it. But I'm going to carve out my niche here, just like I did at CTV. I have confidence I will, especially now David Rosen's here. This is a guy that knows TV."

Only five days at the helm, Rosen (whose curriculum vitae includes PSI Factor, Foreign Objects, and CBC's Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui) has made some preliminary changes, but recognizes he's got his work cut out.

CTV's The Daily Show, based in New York and produced four nights a week by the U.S. cable channel Comedy Central, debuted Nov. 3, attracting an average audience that week of 210,000 people (aged two plus), according to the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement. The Mike Bullard Show on Global hit the airwaves three weeks later, when Stewart had an average audience of 214,000, compared with Bullard's opening week of 87,000.

To Dec. 15 (the last week BBM figures are available, before Bullard went on holiday hiatus) the average audience was 261,000 for Jon Stewart and 62,000 for our homegrown comedian.

Disappointing figures to be sure, acknowledges Rosen, but numbers he believes can be shored up. The late-night crowd just has to be patient, he urges, and give them a little time.

Bullard hosted Open Mike on CTV for six years. The two split this summer, and it wasn't pretty. In countless interviews prior to the launch of the new Mike Bullard show on Global, the comedian took many swipes at his former employer, saying he was offered a miserly deal of one year, with no real financial support, and little creative control. He complained of being treated shabbily -- of getting no respect. CTV said Bullard snuck out of his contract. And many in the CTV ranks were reportedly tired of Bullard's griping.

The mudslinging continued, with rumours this past month that CTV's senior management was so enraged by Bullard's public venting that it banned any talent associated with CTV from appearing as guests on Bullard's show. CTV has denied that, and indeed, in Bullard's guest list this week there is a CTV personality, Dylan Walsh, from the drama, Nip/Tuck.

These days, the two sides appear to be trying to bury the hatchet. "My whole thing was, I was off the air for five months. Then CTV put The Daily Show on at 11:59. And I went on at 12:05. I think it was very clever on their part. I commend them for it. I would have done the same thing if I was in their shoes. I don't like how the media has been portraying it: 'I hate CTV, CTV hates me.' That's simply not the case. My contract was up and I left. When someone offers you a partnership, you don't turn it down."

Prior to joining Bullard, Rosen had a two-year contract as director of production for arts-and-entertainment programming at CBC. In his new role, he sees himself as something of a "batting coach."

Adds Rosen, "I'm not here to oversee a complete overhaul. Rather, I'm making certain adjustments to the swing, the stance, the eye contact, the speed of the pitch. At this point, that's what we're doing. If we need to go deeper we'll do it later."

The show currently has four talent bookers, and he plans to increase that team by at least two more. Rosen realizes his team can't compete with the guest lists of Leno, Letterman and Stewart (who regularly pull down the Cruises, Kidmans and Myerses) but he recognizes he has to bolster the program's reputation to attract more brand-name stars.

As for loosening up the format? "We want to change it from the Mike Bullard talk show to a late-night variety show starring Mike Bullard, which gives us the opportunity to put more musical elements in, more comedy.

"The talk show format is extremely competitive, when you've got the old standbys out there -- Leno on NBC and Letterman on CBS --plus all the others, Jimmy Kimmel, Sharon Osbourne, etc.," adds Rosen. "They all have their own little strengths, but we can't go head to head. We're going back to the late-night variety programming that worked."

This week, Bullard's guests include Sarah Cornell (The Producers), Walsh (Nip/Tuck) and David Carradine (most recently in Kill Bill). There are comedians (Chuck Burn, Darryl Lennex, Jim Gaffigan) and musical guests such as Denzal Sinclaire and Billy Talent.

Hugh Dow, president of media buyer M2 Universal, agrees Bullard has some "very serious competition running up against him, not only with The Daily Show but the fact both Leno and Letterman start ahead of him at 11:35.

"What Bullard has to do is assemble as impressive a guest list as possible, and then merchandise and promote the heck out of it. It's still early days as far as Bullard is concerned. Nevertheless, the competition he's up against locally, nationally and from the U.S. is pretty formidable."

Sunni Boot, president of Toronto media buyer Zenith Optimedia Canada Inc., says the battle of wits and words between CTV and Bullard will, in the end, probably help the late-night time slot, overall.

As for Bullard's growing pains at his new network, adds Boot: "They're a bit of a mystery to me. But I think it'll do what every show does, go into rewrite and rebuilt. And I think they've got the talent to help it."

Bullard says Rosen, whom he has known for a decade, was his first choice for producer last August. But at that time, Rosen wasn't ready to change jobs. The Aspers, apparently, made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Rosen says he would not have taken the job if Bullard had not convinced him he was open to making format changes. "The show got off to a rough start, and so I wanted to see what Mike's feelings were; if he was still excited about the program. He was absolutely on board, and he was just as enthusiastic as he has always been."

Bullard and Rosen make an interesting team. Careful and contemplative, Rosen thinks before he speaks and considers every syllable. Bullard, on the other hand, shoots from the hip and the lip. It's a study of contrasts that could make for a better TV show.

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