CBS unveils a `Wickedly Perfect' new reality show.

Byline: Ed Bark

A potential new Martha will be born on "Wickedly Perfect" while the real deal simultaneously plots a post-slammer rebirth.

Not to get too cosmic, but consider this confluence. CBS' 10-episode "Search for the Next Great Stylemaker" will end in early March, the network says. That's also when Martha Stewart is scheduled to complete a five-month stay at the federal women's prison in Alderson, W.Va.

She might well emerge fighting mad if jailhouse authorities allow her to watch the weekly Thursday night happenings on "Wickedly Perfect." How dare those amateurs try to replicate my apple compote and festive, embroidered table runners? And those pathetically seasoned homemade croutons aren't fit for a penitentiary mess hall, let alone an endive salad enlivened by yummy, blood red baby tomatoes! I'd like to make fertilizer out of the whole bunch of `em! Except they'd probably just generate more weeds!

There's this, too. The grand-prize winner from a 12-contestant field will be guaranteed at least six guest appearances on CBS' "The Early Show." That used to be Martha's domain. And who can forget the legendary morning of June 25, 2002, when co-host Jane Clayson dared to ask Martha about her stock-trading predicament during a kitchen segment.

"I want to focus on my salad," Martha snipped while continuing to chop cabbage with a dangerously sharp implement.

Post-incarceration, she reportedly will begin work on a series produced by reality baron Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice"). For now, though, "Wickedly Perfect" is pinch-hitting in "Survivor's" prime Thursday night slot, with former "Good Morning America" co-host Joan Lunden giving Jeff Probst a respite.