Whatever, Martha!

Last night, on the suitably glamorous rooftop of the Hotel Empire, overlooking Manhattan's Lincoln Center, Martha Stewart unveiled yet another venture in her own ever-growing empire. But this new show for the Fine Living Network is not your mother's Martha show. Well, that is unless you're Martha's beautiful daughter, Alexis.

The co-host, with Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, of "Whatever" (Monday-Friday 5-7 PM Eastern) on Martha's Sirius satellite radio channel 112, Alexis has always had a dry sense of humor when it comes to her famous, and famously perfect, mom. Now, as Martha took to the stage on the Empire's rooftop, she showed she has that same sense of humor about herself, too.

An avowed fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (who knew?!), Martha says she watched one episode, where the MST crew took on a flick filled with tin-can robots, just last week. (Which makes me wonder, how does this woman have time to watch TV? At the very least, she must have been multi-tasking, and turned out half a dozen pies in the space of the program, while I merely probably ate as many.) The show gave her, Alexis and Jennifer an idea -- why not give the same irreverent treatment to some of Martha's old clips?

The result is Fine Living Network's Whatever, Martha, debuting this coming Tuesday, September 16 at 9 PM Eastern/Pacific. And it promises to be fascinating. Because as Martha herself pointed out tonight, whereas MST snarked out on silly movies, Martha has allowed -- and yes, I specifically noted that she used the word "allowed" -- Alexis and Jennifer to have at it with her own real self, and with each clip's guests as well. And given that Martha has been a crafting powerhouse for decades now, there are plenty of '80s styles (bad hair, acid washed jeans) to make great comedy fodder.


Scene: Kids in chef hats are using pastry bags to decorate cupcakes.
Martha: You're doing dots, you're doing dashes, and you're doing squiggles!
Jennifer: You're doing crap.
Alexis: Martha would like them to just stop, and get out of her kitchen.

In Tuesday's premiere episode, the girls watch a recent Martha clip in which she welcomes a guest who's a little too into twine. (The shapes of the spools, the roughness of the texture -- it borders on the sexual.) Alexis and Jennifer say out loud just what we're thinking about this rather odd man. And in the process, they create a new genre that's incredibly fun to watch.

Let's call it "Must Ridicule TV."

(Photos: My hubby, Sirius host Frank DeCaro, with three of his co-workers: Jennifer Koppelman Hutt; Alexis Stewart; and at bottom, of course Martha Stewart herself.)

Whatever, Martha

The Fine Living Network

premieres Tuesday, September 16

9 PM Eastern/Pacific