Rachael Ray

Picks and Pans Review: Look Who's Talking

By TOM GLIATTO, RENNIE DYBALL

UPDATED 10/09/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 10/09/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

Our critic's take on The Rachael Ray Show and The Megan Mullally Show
TALK
September 18 saw the birth of two syndicated talk programs, one with promise and punch, the other ... oh, not so good. The Rachael Ray Show, produced by Oprah Winfrey, showcases the Food Network queen in an hour devoted to quick meals and improvised entertaining. Ray's indifference to presentation means that the results aren't always pretty—one viewer showed how to make a floral centerpiece using frozen peas instead of gravel—but Ray's pugnacious energy drives her on. She and Oprah share the same power to command people to have the time of their lives—or else. The Megan Mullally Show is less compelling. Stripped of her nutty, oversize Will & Grace character, Mullally seems at first like a child afraid to enjoy herself at a birthday party. (How excited would any host be about a segment on grandmas who shoot hoops?) It may just be that her humor is drier than expected. Ray is doggedly franchising a successful persona, while Mullally is trying to start over with a public face that's new, casual and authentic. She'll need both grace and will.