Joy Behar to host new show on Current TV

Joy Behar will host a new program on Al Gore's Current TV beginning September 4.It would not be outrageous to assume that Current TV exists solely for conservatives in need of a laugh these days, because that’s certainly what the news that the flailing Al Gore-led cable network has hired Joy Behar to host a show will elicit.

Behar, the longtime left-wing co-host of “The View,” will headline “Joy Behar: Say Anything!” at 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, beginning September 4. The program is said to be structured in a way that allows Behar and her guests the ability to do as the title says and speak their minds. That is to say, it will offer the exact same schtick as the show she hosted on HLN, which she “left” last year.

While Behar did reasonably well by HLN standards during her tenure there, that’s not saying much given that HLN consistently rates below nearly every other cable news competitor. Thus, the fact that Behar is the best that Current could do for this prime time-slot is emblematic of what a farce the fledgling network has become.

After unceremoniously firing Keith Olbermann, who was supposed to be their big hope for ratings, Current has been trying out CNN-dropout Eliot Spitzer as their main attraction. The results have been laughable — Spitzer averaged 46,000 total viewers in his first week on the air. That’s 46,000. As in, less viewers than certain posts here at Critic Speak have received. Ouch.

How Current is able to sustain financially, given the fact that these “talents” can’t come cheap, is beyond our comprehension. But hey, good luck to Ms. Behar, and may she help Current reach that not-so-elusive 100,000 viewer mark so that the network can become competitive with other cable behemoths like “The Knife Show” and Golf Channel infomercials.