The Bill Clinton Show Goes on . . . TV?

Re “Clinton Said to Want TV Talk Show,” May 2: Bill Clinton as an NBC-TV talk show host? I think it’s a great idea, but I just hope reports that Clinton is looking for $50 million are wrong. As great as his political skills are, he is an amateur as the next David Frost or Larry King, and he should be happy to get such an opportunity at a bargain rate.

I’d love to see “Bubba” go toe to toe with the likes of conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and all the Fox-TV motor-mouth nitwits. He can’t help but drive them up the wall with his liberal philosophy, his racial sensitivity and his compassionate (if somewhat hypocritical) view of less-fortunate Americans who struggle just to survive.

Words of advice for the would-be Charlie Rose: Get serious and don’t fudge the truth. If you can’t do this, you shouldn’t consider a career in TV.

Michael J. Gorman

Whitestone, N.Y.

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The Bill Clinton Show? Absolutely! But don’t model it after Oprah. No, the template should be the old Dean Martin Show, complete with Gold Diggers (think sexy interns) and boozy old cronies chatting it up between ribald sketches. Only in 2002, they’ll talk politics, not showbiz, and the host won’t sing and pinch behinds; he’ll play the sax and pinch behinds. I understand ABC might be interested in late-night fare.

Eleanor Harvey-Lynch

Studio City

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I am very disappointed that you placed this story on the front page. The writer’s bias against Clinton is all too obvious in remarks such as “Clinton has been making a handsome living . . . pulling in as much as $15 million a year” and in the quote describing Clinton’s “‘Animal House’ presidency.” Your article is filled with the words “if,” “probably” and “speculation.” Please do not fill up valuable news space with this thinly disguised smear of the former president.

Amy Baker

Sherman Oaks