By Tom Dorsey
The Courier-Journal

"The show will only be successful if I do it well," says Jane Pauley.

She isn't exactly sure what her new TV talk show will be, but she's pretty sure what it won't be.

For starters, don't expect to hear her talking about her kids, as Kelly Ripa and Kathie Lee Gifford have done.

She won't be offering a peek inside her closet, as Oprah Winfrey would do. Movie stars? They'll need more than a new movie to get on Pauley's syndicated program, which airs this fall.

Pauley hasn't started taping her show yet, but she has a framework.

"It can't be generic," Pauley says. "It's got to be taking a topic and filtering my life experience, my value system, my interests, my sense of humor and my passion."

Will she be going after George Bush and John Kerry?

"I don't see doing politics. I don't think it makes much sense," Pauley, 53, says. She thinks TV viewers have lots of opportunities elsewhere to see politicians.

But wouldn't she love to interview Brad Pitt?

"I'd be thrilled to talk with Brad Pitt if I can think of another reason (besides a movie) that he and I would want to appear together and talk about something of interest to the audience," she says. Stars will have to have something new to say.

Will she do weddings and weight-loss shows as Dr. Phil or Oprah do?

"I am not in any danger of looking like I'm copying Oprah, Dr. Phil or Ellen (DeGeneres)," Pauley says. "If I do weddings, it won't be like Oprah does them. If I do weight loss, it won't be like Dr. Phil does it. I would have to have a reason (to do it). There would have to be a specific point to it."

Pauley spent nearly three decades on television, arriving on Today as a co-host at 25. Her last assignment, NBC's Dateline, lasted 15 years, ending last May.

Despite her years in the public eye, she has a reputation for being a private person, although that's a label she rejects, saying it's a misunderstanding that's grown out of her efforts to protect her children.

"I don't think being a celebrity parent is ever a healthy thing in the life of a child," Pauley says.

Pauley and her husband, "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau, have three children - twins Ross and Rachel, in college, and Thomas, in high school. While she doesn't talk about them much in interviews, Pauley says her children did play a part in her decision to do the talk show.

"I wanted my children to see me saying yes to something scary and new, even if it turns out, God forbid, not to be a success. I thought it would be an opportunity for my kids to see how I deal with success or failure," she says.