With Jay Leno doing his 10:00 show, other talk show hosts are sweating. That doesn't scare Wanda Sykes though. She's launching The Wanda Sykes Show on Saturday, and she plans to make her weekly show the final word on the week's news.

"When we have Barack Obama running for President and this past campaign, I was like, 'Wow, I really wish I had an outlet where I could go out there and just speak on this on a week-to-week basis and be current,'" Sykes said. "That seemed like what they were getting at, what they wanted. And so I'm like, 'This is the time. This is the time to jump into it.'"

Sykes will be hosting a panel discussion show, and she'd welcome any topic on the table. "We're going to run the gamut. I think we're going to go from Bill Maher all the way to Chelsea Handler. Nothing is off limits. It's just going to be funny. It's just going to be funny. That's what we're going for."

This show will make Sykes the first woman hosting late night talk since Joan Rivers. One issue Sykes avoids though is gender. "I just try to focus on the job and being funny more so than 'Ooh, I'm a female.' I put funny first and I just happen to have boobs."

The Wanda Sykes Show airs Saturday nights at 11 on Fox.




Story/Interview by Fred Topel

Starpulse contributing writer

(Starpulse in Hollywood): Every week, Hollywood's biggest stars are meeting in the hot spots and Starpulse is there.