TVSquad

Today's New York Post has a gossip item that says King World execs are unhappy with the ratings for Rachael Ray's syndicated cooking/talk show and are not going to renew her contract when it's up in 2010.

Only one problem: the report isn't true and is full of inaccuracies (I know, Page Six inaccurate - shocking!).

The Huffington Post ran a story about it today as well and they were quickly contacted by a rep at King World that says not only is Rachael Ray's show safe, the ratings are actually up from last year, not down.

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek had what is being described as a "mild" heart attack late last night.

The 67 year-old Trebek is still at Cedar's-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He will stay there for a few days so doctors can observe him and do more tests. Of course, whenever they say someone had a "heart attack," it's hard to figure out exactly what they mean, since a heart attack is a specific thing and different than other things that can happen to your heart. And you can tell by my clever use of the word "things" that I have absolutely no medical training whatsoever.

If you're not familiar with the name Roger King then you are most certainly familiar with the company King World Productions and the TV shows that they have produced.

King was the current CEO of CBS Television Distribution. King World merged with the network in 2000. Among the many shows that King World brought to the world: Oprah, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy. Those shows have been so successful that we'll even forgive the company for unleashing Dr. Phil on the world. When he got to CBS, King was responsible for the syndication of shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond and CSI.

King died of a stroke in Florida over the weekend.

King World, the syndication company behind Rachael Ray's new talk show, conducted a survey of 1,800 people to find out who the most likeable TV hosts were, and Rachael Ray came out the winner. The survey was meant to find out a star's "Q" score, which is industry jargon for how appealing a TV personality is to an audience. Ray was followed up by Ty Pennington of Home Makeover, and Food Network stars Paula Deen and Giada DeLaurentiis. Sixth place went to Oprah, with Sean Hannity, Emeril Lagasse and Dick Clark trailing. I'm not really a daytime talk person kind of fellow, nor do I watch a lot of cooking shows, so I can't comment on most of these choices. I don't know if he would count, but if we're going on likability alone, I'd probably choose Jay Leno. I don't care for his show, but he is an amicable personality. How about the rest of you? Who would you have picked?

[via Lost Remote]

Alex Tebek and Pat Sajak in Hi-Def. That's a scary thought, isn't it? Well, if you think it is, then don't bother to watch Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune this season, because both will be offered in HD for the first time ever. According to TV Week, the sets of both shows have undergone extensive renovations in preparation, making them wider, more detailed, and more colorful, and episodes for fall have begun to be shot by both King World-distributed shows. Also, the signature J! gameboard of individual video screens has been replaced by a video wall, similar to what's used when the show goes on the road. They are both the first syndicated and first game shows to go HD.

I still think they should follow Ken Jennings' suggestion and add physical challenges to J! But that's just a personal preference. Oh, and what are the odds Vanna White had some "work" done in preparation for the more-detailed broadcast this season?

King World, the people behind Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy have created two new game shows and will offer the shows to syndication in a one hour block starting in the fall of 2007. NBC Universal is prepping a syndicated version of Deal Or No Deal. So now the show will be on 300 times a week.

The King World news is great, but frustrating, since there are no details at all yet on what the game shows will be. If they're successful, maybe this will mean a little resurgence of game shows (and not just reality show type game shows). But I won't be happy til they come back to daytime.