Watch My Show: The Revolution's JD Roth Answers Our Showrunner Survey

Will The Revolution still be televised? The ABC daytime makeover show — hosted by Jennifer Ashton, Tim Gunn, Tiffanie Davis Henry, Harley Pasternak and Ty Pennington — has had a difficult time reinventing ABC's daytime lineup, only pulling about half the viewers that One Life to Live previously attracted in the timeslot. The Revolution may have to make way for Katie Couric's new talk show, which launches on many ABC stations this fall. But executive producer J.D. Roth believes in his show's mission and holds out hope that the viewers will come. Roth, best known for hosting TV shows like Fun House before becoming an exec, answered our showrunner survey in the hopes that, say, you want a Revolution.

I'm not at home during the day. Why should I DVR your show?
Everyone on the planet has at least one thing they want to improve. If I can tell you that you can improve that one thing by watching this show, why wouldn't you?

What do you need to improve in your life?
I could improve my balance. I'm trying to figure out how to give the most at work and the most at home.

Give me an algorithm for your show.
The entire self-help section of a Barnes & Noble minus anything that was too preachy, plus a little bit of HBO's In Treatment and The Biggest Loser.

What's the best thing anyone has said about your show?
The reaction has been to what an amazing group of talent we've put together. We spent over a year trying to put this team together.

What's the worst thing anyone has said?
"I can't believe they took my favorite soap opera off the air for this." I want to change that and empower people to feel good about what they're doing. I know that sounds Pollyanna, but I really believe it.

What do you say to the soap fans?
I did not kill Erica Kane. I have a lot of respect for the art of the soap opera and the storytelling. But remember, I make TV shows, I don't program them. I didn't know this was going to replace the soaps until — and this is no exaggeration — five minutes before the press release went out.

Give me an alternate title for your show.
Fat Chance. It has a double meaning: Fat chance that you can lose all the weight and get your life back in order. And it's giving someone who's overweight a chance.

Fill in the blank: If you like (blank), you'll like The Revolution.
That feeling you get when you come out of a movie, and you pull your spouse a little bit closer and you hug your kids a little bit more.

What credit do you prefer people never mention?
I hosted a Jane Fonda video for kids. It's me doing these crazy aerobic dance steps in tights from the late '80s. Once a year someone will pull it out when I least expect it and play it on some big screen. Even my kids make fun of me for that one.

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