Tuneup While Vehicle’s in Motion

It’s been over a month since “The Caroline Rhea Show” took to the airwaves, the hand-picked successor to the daytime-talk franchise carved out by Rosie O’Donnell. But in these few weeks, the show’s prospects for success have only become murkier.

It’s not so much what has happened in front of the cameras. Rhea, a talented actress and stand-up comic who is perhaps best known as co-star of the TV series “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” has pretty much delivered what was expected. Monologue, celebrity interviews, comedy bits, musical guest--it’s a heavily formatted package with a stridently upbeat veneer, presided over by Rhea’s sunny wit and, when that lapses, sheer energy. And the guest list has been impressive (Goldie Hawn, Ron Howard, Julie Andrews, the TV debut of the new Pretenders).

But a grab-bag of other featured bits--guessing which secret goes with which guest, using a stack of stock question cards a la the Bravo channel’s James Lipton, and audience participation gags have been wobbly.

Even the show’s opening segment is being retooled, and there’s reportedly a lot of nail-biting going on behind the scenes.

The wildly varying time slots for the syndicated program haven’t helped. O’Donnell’s show held down a plum 3 p.m. spot, but despite Rhea’s similarly strong afternoon vibe, she airs weeknights at 11 in Los Angeles on KCAL-TV Channel 9. And even in the show’s home base of New York, it’s on after midnight.

O’Donnell alluded to the problems during a visit to “Caroline” this week. “You’re doing a great job,” she told Rhea, “and I think the only person in this room who doesn’t believe it is you.”

Rhea looked as if she wanted to crawl under her desk, but O’Donnell knows what it takes to survive in these waters. We’ll see if Rhea has what it takes to stay afloat.