Drew Barrymore Cancels Controversial Plan To Bring Talk Show Back Amid Hollywood Strikes
Drew Barrymore has not had a great week — and for good reason. When she announced that her daytime talk show "The Drew Barrymore Show" would be returning amidst the ongoing Writer's Guild of America strike, people were understandably very upset about this. If you were going to stand in solidarity with your writers, then the notion of bringing back the show should be an immediate non-starter. Even the show's co-head writer, Cristina Kinon, publicly spoke out about the terrible decision. The return stood in stark contrast to her decision to drop out of hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards due to strike solidarity.
Well, after a week of doubling down and tearful apologies, it turns out "The Drew Barrymore Show" will not be returning on September 18, 2023 after all. They did film episodes of the show — which infamously included kicking strike supporters out of the audience — but they will not air until a later date. The host took to Instagram to announce that the show is being put on an indefinite "pause," and once the strike has been settled, then the show will air.
"The Talk," another CBS daytime talk show, was also set to have its premiere the same day, but following in Barrymore's footsteps the decision has been made to delay the new season. However, "The Jennifer Hudson Show" has yet to announce if it too will halt the season's premiere.
Update: A few hours after this article was published, Variety broke the news that "The Jennifer Hudson Show" has also delayed its planned mid-September season premiere and paused production. Original article continues below.
Syndication vs. network
The likely reason behind the plan to bring back "The Drew Barrymore Show" at a time where other talk shows like "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" remaining off the air is an interesting one. Both shows air on CBS, but that doesn't mean they are both true CBS shows. "The Late Show" is a network show with a permanent time slot. Meanwhile, "The Drew Barrymore" show is a syndicated show, meaning it is produced to be delivered to individual network affiliates around the country, and the contracts require a certain number of new episodes every year. This is also how game shows like "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" are made.
Bringing back "The Drew Barrymore Show" would have been an effort to not break those contracts and risk losing the show altogether, but that still doesn't make circumventing the WGA strike any less unsavory. After all, Barrymore isn't alone in facing the threat of having a contract terminated. Studios have now suspended most of their overall deals with creators, including high-profile names like J.J. Abrams, Dwayne Johnson, and Lorne Michaels.
As for when "The Drew Barrymore Show" will make its return, that decision is now left in the hands of the AMPTP, the negotiating body for studios and networks. Whenever they decide to agree to reasonable terms for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, productions can resume.
Below is Drew Barrymore's full statement on the show's pausing:
"I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show's premiere until the strike is over. I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon."