The Morning Show Mysteries

Billy Blessing, owner of the popular Manhattan restaurant Blessing’s Bistro, is a regular contributor on the morning news show, Wake Up, America! Now he’s creating a fresh cooking competition show, but finds himself clashing with Rudy Gallagher, the executive producer. Things get heated in the newsroom, and after exchanging some sharp words, both Billy and Rudy walk away feeling burned.

Celebrity chef and Wake Up, America! cohost Billy Blessing heads to Los Angeles in order to help launch O’Day at Night, a new late-night show hosted by Irish comedian Desmond O’Day. LA brings up bad—and bloody—memories for Billy, but a special request from the head of the network sends him flying across the country.

Before Billy Blessing was a five-star celebrity chef from New York City, before he was ever on TV, he lived another life under another name: Billy Blanchard, wily con man of the Windy City. Billy did time for his crimes, reinventing himself when he got out and leaving that part of his life far behind—or so he thought. But when he and Eddie Patton, a nosy ex-cop, are both guests on a popular Chicago talk show, the off-camera banter turns to blackmail.

Ten years have passed since Billy Blessing’s adventure in Chicago, and a lot has changed. With the advances in television—the vanishing cable news and the flood of streaming channels entering the market—Billy found himself out of a job. Oh, and his restaurant had a fire (maybe suspicious? Billy does have enemies…), but the insurance won’t cover a rebuild.