Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 25, 1995 TAG: 9503290020
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG NYE KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Ever since she walked off the University of South Carolina campus with diploma in hand 17 years ago, her career has been in high gear.
First up were news anchor stints at Spartanburg's WSPA-TV and South Carolina public radio. That was followed soon by a high-profile spot on New York City's WCBS-TV. By 1984 she was often anchoring the nationally syndicated ``Entertainment Tonight'' and along the way there was a parenting series on cable's Lifetime Network, hosting beauty pageants and appearing on the Jerry Lewis Telethon.
Now she has her own Monday-Friday television show, ``Leeza,'' on NBC (airing at 10 a.m. on WSLS-Channel 10). And there's more, but you get the idea.
During her fast-paced rise to TV fame, she has never stopped to think about how far she has come, Gibbons says.
``There really hasn't been time for reflection,'' Gibbons said. ``Things have moved logically. I've always been ready for the next step. I've always had a certain amount of ability to control my situation. One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the permission to think big and the permission to be happy.''
No matter how successfully the career is going, she says, there are always a few bumps along the way.
One of those bumps occurred early in 1994 when she and John Tesh teamed up for ``The John and Leeza Show'' mornings on NBC. After a few weeks, it was obvious that the format wasn't working.
Gibbons said the problem was that she and Tesh had so much respect for each other that they ended up protecting each other on the show. Neither wanted the other to fail. Eventually Tesh left, and the result was the current ``Leeza'' show.
``John and I are still good friends,'' Gibbons said. ``We had a tremendous amount of pressure on us. We had a nationwide audience right from the start. Even Regis and Kathie Lee didn't have to contend with that.''
Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford, co-hosts of ``Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee,'' one of the most popular daytime shows, spent their first two years together strictly as a local New York TV attraction. By the time they went national, most of the bugs in their show had been worked out.
Gibbons and Tesh didn't have that luxury. But Gibbons isn't one to dwell on what didn't work. She set about trying to make ``Leeza'' as absorbing and informative as possible.
``When we made the transition, I wanted to make it the kind of show with topics that fit me,'' Gibbons said.
And that meant staying away from the kind of wacky subjects that often show up on ``Geraldo'' and ``Ricki Lake.''
``Some of those shows are incredibly entertaining, but they're not me,'' Gibbons said. ``We have consistently built our ratings by not going down that road and being trashy. It's really gratifying that we don't feel we have to talk down to viewers.''
As if all this was not enough, Gibbons also has her own production company that's involved in producing specials and pilots for television series. Would Gibbons be interested in being the star of such a series, say a sitcom?
``Who knows,'' she said with a laugh. ``I can see that there could be a perfect such project that comes up. But that hasn't happened yet.''
When she's not in front of the cameras or behind the mike, Gibbons tries to spend as much time as she can with 51/2-year-old daughter, Alexandra, 3-year-old son, Trey, and husband, Stephen Meadows.
``It's a daily struggle,'' Gibbons said. ``That's true for any married couple where both parties work. I'm in the position of being spoiled. I have more autonomy over my schedule and my husband does a lot of work at home.
``If that were not true, I would not have made a lot of choices I have made. When I'm not there, I know that he is. We're in a unique position.''
by CNB