Kathy Griffin debuted her new show 'Kathy' on Bravo, Thursday night (April 19, 2012), with the format closely echoing that of a rival show on E! Griffin began proceedings with a few minutes of stand-up, before introducing her panel of three guests.
Reviewing the show, Zap2It pointed out the similarities between 'Kathy' and Chelsea Handler's late night talk show, saying, "The format of the show started off very "Chelsea Lately." Kathy did stand-up for a few . It was pretty amusing, Kathy Griffin's stand-up is usually pretty sharp". A 20 minute segment saw Griffin discussing the "hot topics" of the week with her guests, including the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' reunion, the Secret Service sex scandal, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's engagement and the Tupac Shakur hologram at the Coachella Festival. Unlike most shows, 'Kathy' tapes the day it airs, so television critics are generally in the dark in terms of early reviews. During an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Griffin conceded that even she couldn't pin down the concept of the show, saying, "The Bravo people call once a day, 'What the [expletive] is this show? What will happen?' Gosh, I wish I could tell you. I think this show is going to have the unpredictability of the New Year's Eve show [I do] with Anderson Cooper where we're just standing in Times Square, shooting the breeze for 90 minutes and yet every year something happens".
So the jury is out on Griffin's latest venture, but as Zap2It asked, "Do you think it's just an hour-long version of "Chelsea Lately"? Will you be tuning in again?"