After Drew Barrymore’s Decision, More Shows Reverse Controversial TV Returns

What a difference a weekend makes. Ahead of their planned fall premieres today, The Drew Barrymore Show, The Talk, and The Jennifer Hudson Show have all postponed their planned returns to daytime TV amid the ongoing writers strike. These sudden reversals come after intense industry-wide scrutiny and pickets held outside of some shows’ studios.

Given her early support of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and her public statements about why her show was returning, Drew Barrymore weathered the brunt of the backlash. On Friday, just over a week after the controversial return of her talk show was announced, Barrymore apologized to writers—but vowed to resume the show anyway—in an emotional Instagram video. By Saturday, that post, which prompted negative responses and comments from Debra Messing and Bradley Whitford, among others, had been deleted.

The following day, Barrymore said that her show’s return had been scrapped, writing on Instagram, “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.”

Two other dominoes fell shortly after, with both The Talk and The Jennifer Hudson Show delaying their premieres as well. “The Talk is pausing its season premiere scheduled for September 18,” CBS said in a statement to Deadline. “We will continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date.” Hosted by Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood, The Talk was picketed last week as its upcoming fourteenth season was filmed. Sources close to Jennifer Hudson’s syndicated series, which is distributed by Warner Bros., told The Hollywood Reporter that the host herself had also pushed for the postponement of her show’s second season.

Daytime series Live With Kelly and Mark, Tamron Hall, and Sherri, all of which do not employ WGA writers, are still in production. ABC’s The View has also continued filming, although it has been picketed. NBCUniversal’s Kelly Clarkson Show, which is transitioning from Los Angeles to New York, has not announced plans for a return. Meanwhile, Bill Maher’s Real Time will still return to late-night TV later this week, sans WGA writers. A WGA picket outside of the HBO production is scheduled for Tuesday.