Spike TV looking to get into late-night

[January 29, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The Spike cable network is looking to get into late-night television, but Conan O'Brien need not apply.

The network geared to young men said Thursday that it was developing a new late-night talk and comedy show with Thom Beers, who helps make the network's "1000 Ways to Die" series. The new late-night entry hopes to scour the country for talent.

Sharon Levy, head of programming for Spike, said she wants the show to go beyond the typical late-night fascinations of movie stars and politics. She said Spike will seek out ordinary people doing extraordinary things, like a convenience store clerk who faced down robbers or a stockbroker who quit his job to fight in Afghanistan.

"We will unearth every piece of talent that is out there and do it in an unconventional way," she said.

The show has no air date, host or even title. It will air once a week at first, although Levy said that if things go right, it could become a daily show.

Levy said she loves O'Brien -- and he's particularly popular with the demographic that Spike is after -- but the network isn't planning to go after for him. O'Brien left the "Tonight" show last week after not agreeing to NBC's request to move the show back a half hour.

"We're looking for unknowns," she said. Spike wants to "create our own faces and start from scratch to build something."

Spike TV, a division of MTV Networks, is available in just under 99 million of the nation's 115 million homes with television.

Levy also said Thursday that Spike had ordered a third season of "1000 Ways to Die," one of the network's most popular series.

[Associated Press; By DAVID BAUDER]

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