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Martha keeps it real
Details of Martha Stewart TV show are revealed. Martha working a hamburger stand?
May 2, 2005: 4:26 PM EDT
Martha Stewart, convicted of lying to government investigators will star in a new daytime talk show simply titled, Martha.
Martha Stewart, convicted of lying to government investigators will star in a new daytime talk show simply titled, Martha.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Martha Stewart is bringing her upcoming daytime talk show close to home -- literally.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia wooed advertisers Monday with a detailed presentation about Stewart's heavily-hyped return to television in September.

In it, producers promised a new Martha -- one who offers cooking and other homemaking tips just like before, but who isn't afraid to roll up her sleeves and get a little dirty in the process.

"Don't be surprised to see Martha cooking up a storm with a member of her studio audience or working the local hamburger or hotdog stand," said the show's co-executive producer Rob Dauber in a press release describing the presentation.

Even the newly-announced name of the show, "Martha," suggests the lifestyle maven is keeping it real. It's a persona that Stewart and her public relations handlers have been projecting ever since she emerged from a West Virginia prison in early March and spoke warmly of the inmates she lived with for five months.

Stewart, 63, is now serving the second half of a 10-month sentence following her conviction last year on charges she lied to government investigators about a personal stock sale.

Not long ago Stewart appeared both reserved and defiant in public. She has denied throughout her three year-old legal case that she broke the law. A court is expected to rule soon on her appeal.

As part of a multi-pronged strategy to revive Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (Research), Stewart is set to star in two television shows this fall, both of which are co-produced by Hollywood producer Mark Burnett. One, the daily syndicated show that was the subject of Monday's advertising pitch. The second is a spinoff of "The Apprentice" reality show. Details of the second project were not revealed in Monday's press statement.

The talk show has been billed as an hour-long program in which Stewart will advise viewers on cooking, gardening and crafts. The series, which will also feature celebrity guests and segments shot outside the studio, will be filmed in New York City.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced too that 90 percent of the country's television markets have agreed to air the show, including the 50-largest.

The company will pocket advertising and licensing revenues from the show. It does not have a financial stake in "The Apprentice" spinoff.

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