Male hosts find right chemistry in talking about ‘Other Half’

It’s the morning after election day and the winners and losers are busy poring over the results, gloating about what went right or agonizing over how it all went wrong.

But for the syndicated daytime gabfest “The Other Half,” the results were in several days ago, and the vote of confidence couldn’t have been clearer: The second-year show received a commitment through the remainder of the 2002-03 season while also earning a shift locally from noon to a plum 3 p.m. weekday start time on KNBC-TV Channel 4.

It’s a rather remarkable achievement for a premise that had to sound dubious at best at the pitch meeting: A show aimed at women, but hosted by an all-male quartet that included former cast members of “The Partridge Family” and “Saved by the Bell.”

But when the latter two -- ex-tabloid poster boy Danny Bonaduce and “Bell” heartthrob Mario Lopez -- took the stage with TV mogul Dick Clark and actor/musician Dorian Gregory (“Charmed”), an odd thing happened: The chemistry worked. Clark is as smooth as ever in the elder statesman role, Lopez shows surprising versatility in jumping from goofy bits to moderator of serious-minded discussions, and the charismatic Gregory knows how to bob and weave through it all. But it’s Bonaduce who’s the strongest presence, providing the glue that holds it all together with his sheer energy and self-deprecating wit. Sure, the bits sometimes fall flat, but hang in there, something more interesting is usually right around the corner.

The foursome can dress in drag (Clark as “The Wizard of Oz’s” Dorothy on Halloween was a sight to behold), interview a nursing audience member and campaign for breast cancer all within an episode or two, and the show’s gears make scarcely a sound in handling the shifts.

Tune in and see how “The Other Half” lives.