"The Nate Berkus Show" Is a Go as Gay Men Finally Break the Daytime Talk Barrier in the U.S.

American is about to fall in love with this gay.

With Martha Stewart on her way to The Hallmark Channel and Oprah eyeing retirement or her own Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in two years, daytime TV on the broadcast channels was starting to look a little bleak. But last week a new talk show deal was announced that should spruce up the airwaves, especially for us 'mos.

Interior designer Nate Berkus, a frequent contributor on The Oprah Winfrey Show, has sold his own show to the top ten markets on NBC. With major markets locked down in a sweet cash-plus-advertising deal, Berkus is free to move into syndication sales with smaller markets across the country looking to fill airtime.

But the deal is more significant that it seems as this marks the first time an out gay man is hosting a talk show on broadcast television. Lesbians have previously crossed over into the daytime chatfest arena successfully with Rosie O'Donnell having shot Koosh Balls into her audience years ago, while Ellen DeGeneres currently places a reliable second behind Oprah in the ratings.

But for all of the success of gay males on primetime scripted programming and daytime soap operas, we've never had a daytime talk show host other than Jim J. Bullock briefly co-hosting a short-lived show with Tammy Faye Bakker back in 1996 on cable.

Nate is a softer touch, much like Oprah herself.

Nate is likely to succeed based on a couple factors besides his devastating good looks. He not only has the backing of the Oprah brand, which is producing the show, but he also has a great deal of experience on day time television. While the format hasn't been decided, he'll likely do a mix of celebrity guests and heartstring  tugging stories that has worked so well for Oprah, maybe with a little decorating thrown in. 

Berkus he also has a compelling story that has already helped him connect with viewers. He and partner Fernando Bengoechea were vacationing in Sri Lanka in December 2004 when the tsunami that devastated the region struck. While Nate survived, Fernando didn't, and Nate's emotional story of loss and healing was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show many times.

So count this as one more barrier broken as a gay man sets up shop in daytime syndication. We look forward to seeing The Nate Berkus Show in fall 2010.