MIAMI — Imagine a tabloid talk show like “Maury” distilled to its essence: the enduring question, “are you the father?”

That’s sort of what CBS Television Distribution is imagining its next daytime talk show, “The Test,” to be.

The series, the distributor said in a news release Tuesday, “is a one-hour conflict resolution talk show that will use lie detector and DNA tests to settle relationship and paternity disputes among the guests.” It will start in the fall and will be hosted by Kirk Fox, an actor and stand-up comedian.

CBS announced “The Test” earlier this month, but at the time it had only done syndication deals with stations representing about 55 percent of the country. On Tuesday, in an annual syndication conference here, it announced more deals, enough to reach more than 80 percent of the country.

The series will be produced by the company operated by the psychologist and talk show host Phil McGraw’s son, Jay. The same company is behind the successful daytime show “The Doctors.”

Jay McGraw said earlier this month that “The Test” is “a fresh take on a proven genre that has been working in daytime for years.” A competitor, MGM Television, is selling a series called “Paternity Court” to local stations ahead of a planned fall premiere.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/the-test-will-join-television-talk-shows/?partner=rss&emc=rss