Though the excitement seems to have waned for NBC’s “The Weakest Link,” the network is rolling out a syndicated daytime version Monday, January 7.  The host is American-born George Gray, 34, who coincidentally a year ago was living in England where the show began. “Little did I know when I was in my little flat watching “Weakest Link,” I’d ever host the show,” said the 34-year-old University of Arizona graduate, who was hosting The Learning Channel’s “Junkyard Wars” at the time.   For a guy whose biggest previous credit was the host of a remake of “The Gong Show” called “Extreme Gong” on The Game Show Network a couple of years ago, Gray is “happy, happy, happy” to follow in Anne Robinson’s footsteps.  Like Robinson, Gray will be dressed in black.  Unlike Robinson, he doesn’t wear glasses, and sports a soul patch.  The daytime version of the show has the same set, but is scaled down from the prime-time version, it’s only a half hour long, with only six contestants instead of eight with a grand prize of 75-thousand dollars compared to one million dollars.  “The Weakest Link” will air weekdays from 4 – 5 p.m., replacing “Sally Jessy Raphael” and her “out-of-control” teens on KYW-3.  Its main competition will be “Oprah” on 6ABC and the “News at 4” on NBC 10.  KYW-3 hopes “Weakest Link” can provide a stronger lead-in for its 5 p.m. news show, which has been the “weakest link” of KYW-3’s weak lineup.   In a related note, the prime time version (Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m.) is looking for Anne Robinson look-alikes (female and male) for an upcoming show.  Go to www.nbc.com/weakestlink for the address to send a video.

Note to CN8 news:  news is a 365-day-a-year job.  It isn’t an option to take New Year’s Day off.

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