Will Talk Show Serve Miller Light? : Profile: When the former ‘SNL’ star goes mainstream, he may have to consider softening his blows--or maybe not.

From his spot on the “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update desk, Dennis Miller could pick his targets and fire his stinging salvos with impunity.

In January, though, when he starts hosting a scheduled entry in the late-night talk-show sweepstakes, Miller may find himself having to make nice.

If Miller--who performs Friday and Saturday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano--is worried about having to temper his approach, he’s not saying.

“I tend to be optimistic,” he explained in a phone interview. “Where you see problems, I see opportunities.”

Viewers familiar only with his Weekend Update duties, Miller feels, have seen only one carefully crafted side of him. (“I decided to sit there with a point of view and a bit of an attitude.”)

But, while leaving “Saturday Night Live” was not easy (“this show was the best thing that ever happened to me”), he said he is looking forward to taking on a new approach and interacting with guests. “This opportunity (to do his own talk show) was pretty good, and I think I wanted to test my parameters. I do think there’s another side of me.”

Though the details have yet to be ironed out, Miller said the new show will not stray too far from traditional talk-show format. The syndicated program, which will air weeknights, will be the first late-night foray by the Chicago-based Tribune Co., which produces daytime’s “Geraldo” and “The Joan Rivers Show.”

The company owns KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles, and Miller figures his show will run there locally.

“At least, I assume so,” he joked. “I guess that would be a bad sign, if they couldn’t even get one of their own stations to run it.”

Meanwhile, Miller is back on comedy stages this summer--just as he was long before “SNL” came along. At the Coach House, he’ll be trying out material for a new HBO special, to be taped in the fall.

His first two HBO specials gave viewers a taste of that “other side” that he mentioned. The first, “Mr. Miller Goes to Washington,” won an ACE (the cable equivalent of an Emmy) for best comedy special of 1988.

His stage act highlights his skills as one of the sharpest comic writers working, one who isn’t afraid to take a substantive stab at topical issues while at the same time putting a fresh spin on some well-trod ground: relationships, flying, game shows, televangelists.

He describes his material as “heavily reference-laden”; his jokes often work on more than one level, and can include some sparkling throwaway tags that demand greater-than-usual attention from audiences. Miller can come across as something of a too-smooth hipster, but he is the first to deflate his own image.

Dennis Miller performs Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10:30 p.m. at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Tickets: $25. Information: (714) 496-8930.