Indiana teen to star in E! reality series

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- A 19-year-old student who has interviewed Rosie O'Donnell, Jewel and other celebrities for a northwest Indiana cable show has signed a deal for his own reality series on E! Entertainment Television.\nMichael Essany of Valparaiso University has signed a deal with E! for six episodes based on the weekly routine of his local talk show and how he persuades the likes of former President Gerald Ford and comedian Carrot Top to appear.\n"There won't be any writers and it will be pretty limited in production staff from what I understand," Essany said. "We're going to film six episodes, and I've got to prove myself with decent ratings that this is going to hold audience interest."\nEssany and his parents, Ernest and Tina, met around their kitchen table with the show's producer and two other executives from E! on Sunday. Taping is scheduled to begin later this month. Essany said he expects the show to debut in January, following another reality series starring former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith.\nElizabeth Johnson, a publicist for E!, said Essany's show is still in the early stages of development.\nEssany's show, now in its sixth season, is filmed entirely in his parent's living room, and includes a monologue and skits along with interviews.\nThe political science major bills himself as a logical replacement for Jay Leno as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" and appeared on Leno's show last April.\nLeno, in turn, is expected to appear on Essany's show.\nE! is distributed to a potential 76 million cable and direct broadcast satellite subscribers in the United States.