lets make a dea

There's no doubt that Wayne Brady is quick on his feet, but what I found out when I spoke to the 'Let's Make a Deal' host earlier this month was that he's also quick to make sure his career isn't pigeonholed.

Mention that an improvised rap he did on the CBS daytime game show reminds you of one he did on Drew Carey's version of 'Whose Line Is It, Anyway?' and he'll take pains to mention that he's been honing these skills in his stage show and elsewhere for years. Ask how the chemistry between him and announcer Jonathan Mangum came about and he'll make sure to tell you that the two of them have been performing together for close to two decades.

But, most of all, Brady refuses to define himself as a game show host. "In my head, a game show host is the guy that stands there and just goes, 'And now, what are you doing, Jim?' And that's not me. I was hired to bring something else to it," he told me.

Brady and I spoke about the show's second season, its move from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and what he thinks of Carey's recent weight loss.

CBS programming chief Nina Tassler held court this morning in the CBS executive session. Her network is in an extremely strong position, so there wasn't much in the way of controversy to report, but here are some interesting tidbits from the session:

• Laurence Fishburne's character of Dr. Langston on CSI will assume a more take-charge position this year, he'll also be given a "wardrobe makeover" so he seems, as Tassler put it "more comfortable in his own clothes."
• Jorja Fox will be back for the first five episodes. And one of the main characters will get promoted. I won't spoil it for you, but you can probably figure out who it might be.
• A new Let's Make A Deal with Wayne Brady as host, will be taking the place of Guiding Light. Tassler wouldn't go so far as saying this is a trend towards the return of daytime network game shows, but she did say she wanted to get a new LMAD on the air for a while.
• No plans to bring back Flashpoint right now, though they can. More Canadian cross-production deals on the way, including The Bridge.
• On NBC's late-night / Leno strategies: "Whatever numbers they get, they'll declare victory anyway, so it doesn't matter."
• On the departure of Ben Silverman of NBC: "I'm really just a D-girl, so I wouldn't comment."