Topics and Guests for Jan. 24

This weekend:

Gov. George Pataki (search) has led New York since 1994. And he wants to make the Empire State the safest one in America. He's here to tell us what steps need to be taken.

How to revive a dead marriage? Dr. Laura Schlessinger has the answers with her most provocative book yet ... "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands."

Plus, Column One, a special Cal version of the State of the Union address.

About the Show:

If you prefer conversation to confrontation, something new and different to the same old same-old, After Hours with Cal Thomas is your kind of show.

Each week Cal will sit down with some of the most influential people in entertainment, government and politics — from both sides of the aisle.

A show as original as the host himself. Where ideas and interesting people meet and the unexpected is always welcome.

At the corner of news and opinion, you'll find After Hours with Cal Thomas.

Straight From the Source:

The Balance Sheet:  You are the most widely syndicated political columnist in the country. What makes you want to do a television show talking to newsmakers who are not necessarily politicians?

Cal:  My life is diverse. I originally wanted to be in show business and am a frequent patron of Broadway. There's a certain synergy between New York, Hollywood and Washington — politicians, actors, and actresses. I thought it would be fun to have both on every week — a politician and an actor, liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat. We're going to have conversation instead of confrontation. Not that confrontation's bad, but this is late-night from New York, off the clock, no coat and tie (for me anyway), laid-back conversation that people might expect to see in their homes.

The Balance Sheet:  This is a different approach from most of the shows on FNC — It's going to be a little softer?

Cal:  Yes, a little softer, but entertaining as well. I'll ask Vice President Cheney (our first guest) some obvious news-of-the-day questions, because those are important. But I am also going to ask him some other more personal questions. The same with some of the celebrities. We'll ask them show business questions, but we'll also ask them — many of whom will be political — for some political answers. I think it's going to be, as we say at FOX, fair and balanced.