Jenny McCarthy debuts VH1 talk show

Jenny McCarthy may have made a home in the Chicago suburbs, but the 40-year-old mom of a 10-year-old son hasn't lost her goofy, party girl-persona.

The former Playboy playmate and TV host says Hugh Hefner's 1970s-era "Playboy After Dark" is the inspiration for her new weekly VH1 talk show, "The Jenny McCarthy Show," which debuts Friday night. She'll commute to New York to film the show from her home outside her native Chicago.

"In a perfect world the dream is to be as close as possible to my little boy so I can be the mom I want to be and to be the person on TV I want to be," McCarthy said in an interview this week with The Associated Press while she was preparing for her new weekly show.

McCarthy was outspoken about autism treatments after her son was diagnosed and wrote a book detailing her search for a cure. She has advocated special diets, supplements, metal detox and delayed vaccines as treatments. She says her son no longer suffers from autism.

If "The Jenny McCarthy Show" finds success, McCarthy wants to ditch commuting to New York and tape in Chicago instead.

"If Oprah was smart enough to do a show in the heartland of America I'm hoping one day this show can be there," she said.