NBC Confirms Clinton Meeting

NBC officials confirmed Thursday that they met with Bill Clinton this week in Los Angeles to discuss various TV ideas, although a spokeswoman for the former president downplayed a Times report that he was pitching himself as a talk show host.

NBC executives met with Clinton on Wednesday for lunch at the offices of producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason who, sources say, orchestrated the meeting to pitch the former president as host of a talk show similar to “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The price tag for Clinton was set at $50 million a year, sources said.

Among other ideas discussed was a weekly political talk show, according to an NBC source.

“[The] informal meeting was one of many meetings President Clinton has had with many people over the past year,” said Julia Payne, a Clinton spokeswoman. “President Clinton did not demand a talk show. He went to listen.”

Payne confirmed the meeting at the Thomasons’ offices, but said, “We don’t have a second meeting [planned].”

Privately, an NBC source said it was unlikely that Clinton would go beyond the talking stage and actually do a TV show.

A key figure in the discussions with NBC was Harry Thomason, an Arkansas native who has known the former president since he was governor. Thomason and his wife, who are best known in Hollywood for the hit 1980s comedy, “Designing Women,” had been advisors to Clinton at various times during his presidency.

Hollywood sources say Thomason arranged the meeting with Ed Wilson, who is president of NBC Enterprises, the network’s syndication division, and an Arkansas native. NBC President Andrew Lack also was at the meeting Wednesday, sources said.

The idea of a former president hosting a talk show was the hottest topic in Hollywood on Thursday. Most television executives dismissed the idea because a 39-week, daily program schedule would trap Clinton in New York or Los Angeles and keep him off the lucrative speaking circuit.

“If Clinton has a need to go against tradition, the perfect forum is for him to go on PBS once a month and hold a town meeting with opinion makers and world leaders,” said Larry Lyttle, president of Big Ticket Television, a Viacom Inc. company that produces “Judge Judy.”

“To be a great talk show host, you have to ... let guests take center stage. When you are the former president of the United States, you are always going to be the center,” Lyttle said.