• by Ed Martin , November 14, 2013

It wasn't so long ago that the broadcast networks offered compelling news and entertainment programming throughout the daytime hours that was at times more satisfying to watch than the comedies and dramas on their prime-time schedules. That isn't the case anymore. But there are bright spots.

CBS is actually looking better than the others these days, having put together something resembling a satisfying daily daytime slate with a mix of news, game shows and soap operas that hold together nicely -- even if most of them feel somewhat older-skewing. At least it resembles a recognizable daytime lineup.

Thoughtful and informative, “CBS Morning News,” with Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, has become a very welcome alternative to the overstimulating proceedings at NBC’s “Today” show and ABC's relentlessly happy “Good Morning America.” “The Price is Right” and “Let's Make a Deal” seem to deliver whatever it is that people who can't get enough game shows are looking for. In tandem, “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” are daily reminders that networks used to program more than one soap opera each in their afternoons. Soaps have always been stronger in numbers.

And then there's the afternoon chat-fest “The Talk,” which during its first season three years ago came across as a “View” wannabe that would never actually be much of anything. But look what's happened there. “The Talk” changed a few hosts, fixed what wasn't working, strengthened what was and has quickly grown into a solid daytime talk and entertainment franchise that stands as one of the best. It's as much fun today as “The View” used to be.

NBC has an overextended daily edition of the “Today” show and one soap opera (“Days of Our Lives”) floating around in what is otherwise little more than a merry mix of syndicated programming. The first hour of “Today” leans more heavily on news and is on most mornings interesting to watch. But the second and third hours are often filled with so much fluff, and often so focused on the show's multiple hosts and contributors and what they think about things, that they are increasingly difficult to sit through, unless there is a great guest in the mix.

When did morning television programs become so preoccupied with the lives of their talent rather than the experiences of their guests, not to mention the news of the world?

In an illustration of how disappointing “Today” has become, last week Matt Lauer and Al Roker had prostate exams during the show. (The “procedure,” which lasts about 30 seconds, took place in a room off camera.) Now, I think it's highly commendable that “Today” called such vivid attention to a health issue in a way that could potentially save the lives of thousands of men. But I was puzzled by Lauer and Roker's approach to the subject matter at hand. Why so much nervous humor? They wouldn't find anything funny about screenings for breast or ovarian or colon cancer, would they? They were acting like men who had never had a prostate exam. I'm not saying that's true, but they both certainly came off as somewhat wide-eyed about it. Haven't they ever had physicals? Maybe I missed something. Like I said, it's hard paying full attention to “Today” these days.

Thankfully, the fourth hour of the “Today” show remains a frothy, frenzied free-for-all with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. I'm somewhat surprised that NBC has not seen fit to move Kotb up to the 7 a.m. hour, where I think she would thrive as the perfect replacement for Meredith Vieira that the show has never found. (Perhaps Kotb isn't interested?) But in her current position, and in tandem with Gifford, she continues to bring a natural energy and enthusiasm to daytime that is in woefully short supply. Kotb and Gifford make the fourth hour of “Today” the only must-see talk show of the day.

ABC -- for decades the network with the most dazzling daytime lineup, one filled with programs that used to attract more young viewers than most prime-time broadcast shows -- seems almost invisible, except for the current jewel in its crown, the excitingly revitalized soap opera “General Hospital.”

The big news of late at ABC has been the dominance of “Good Morning America” in the arena of morning news and entertainment. While I like all of its hosts, I think they tend to fawn over certain celebrity guests in a manner that calls to mind mindless entertainment news shows. And like the hosts of “Today,” they spend entirely too much time talking about themselves.

Sadly, “The View” -- a show that once brought spectacular new life to the genre of daytime talk -- has become a complete waste of time, utterly devoid of the news value or social relevance that past co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Lisa Ling, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie O'Donnell and Joy Behar brought to the show through the years. The combination of Whoopi Goldberg, Sherrie Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy just doesn't seem particularly effective. Barbara Walters must know this, because she is suddenly on the show almost every day, and she has brought in a number of male guest co-hosts this season, which is completely out of sync with what “The View” used to be. I was as tired of the daily political squabbles fueled by Behar and Hasselbeck as everyone else, but at least they gave the show life and made it distinctive.

Frankly, most of the excitement in daytime these days rests squarely in syndication. The daypart still misses Oprah Winfrey and Regis Philbin, but Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, Billy Bush and Kit Hoover, Ellen DeGeneres, Queen Latifah and Steve Harvey are bringing a lot to the party. (As talk show hosts, Latifah and Harvey are especially good.) The most glaring misfire of late has been Katie Couric, who is much better engaging newsmakers in serious conversation than she is chatting with celebrities. I think she would be a welcome addition to the prime-time schedules of any of the cable news channels, each of which is in serious need of something new. But she is not a good fit for daytime.