Martha Stewart could return to TV after spell in prison

by Jules Grant,, Brand Republic 21-Sep-04, 14:00

NEW YORK - Mark Burnett, the reality TV guru who created 'The Apprentice' and 'Survivor', is in talks with Martha Stewart about remaking her US TV series once she ends her prison term.

The news of the TV show talks sent shares in Stewart's battered media company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, soaring 5% yesterday.

Burnett, who has admitted being friends with Stewart, has said that the show would have nothing to do with her time in prison and would be more related to the home cooking and decorating advice that was the basis of her earlier show. Stewart has yet to begin her jail term.

"The fundamental core will have to be the same... There's a lot she has to get through in the short run, so I look forward to working with her in 2005. Right now she needs space", he told The New York Daily News, alluding to Stewart's five-month jail sentence for conspiracy and obstruction of justice conviction, which stemmed from an insider trading investigation.

Burnett is widely regarded as one of the creators of the reality TV format in the US, having produced CBS show 'Survivor' and NBC show 'The Apprentice', which saw property magnate Donald Trump firing a different contestant each week after attempting to gain a job with his company.

His latest reality series, 'The Contender', about the lives of 16 boxers, is due to air in November on NBC, to rival Fox's boxing series 'The Next Great Champ'.

Stewart was sentenced to five months in federal prison in July, to be followed by five months of house arrest relating to her sale of ImClone Systems stock before damaging news about the company was made public.

She had planned an appeal against her conviction but last week said at a news conference she was dropping the appeal and wanted to get her sentence over and done with, so she could plant her garden next spring.

In the wake of her conviction, Viacom, which owns CBS and UPN Networks, pulled Stewart's show 'Martha Stewart Living' off the screen.

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