What the hell is going on in daytime syndicated talk shows? Specifically, do the hosts truly believe that their gentle take on topical events is what’s needed now more than ever? That so deep is their unabiding belief that soft-focus human interest stories are what society needs that they’re willing to scab the WGA strike? Drew Barrymore, what have you wrought?!
Yes, that’s right, there are more scabs to pick at in Hollywood, and it gives me no pleasure to share that Jennifer Hudson’s show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, as well as The Talk have all decided to resume production without writers despite being WGA-covered shows. This comes after Drew Barrymore announced over the weekend that she was bringing her show back without writers and crossing an active picket line to do so—a.k.a. scabbing—collectively breaking the hearts of every single millennial who got those Ever After promotional postcards mailed to them from Seventeen Magazine in the summer of 1998. Here are some details courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:
EW can confirm that both Warner Bros’ The Jennifer Hudson Show and Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury Sherri will return on Sept. 18. Also reportedly returning is CBS’ daytime talk show The Talk for its 14th season.
CBS declined to comment.
Hudson’s show plans to begin its season without writers, but will bring WGA writers back once a new contract is established. Since talk shows are covered by a different contract than struck productions (called the “Network Television Code”), Hudson and other SAG-AFTRA members are permitted and encouraged to work on these series.
OK, let’s get something straight regarding that last sentence: the only reason why Hudson, Barrymore, and any other talk show would be “encouraged” to work on their series during the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike is because SAG-AFTRA has multiple bargaining units within it, and the one that covers talk show hosts is not currently on strike. None of the actor-hosts are allowed to promote their past works, so unless the strike ends before spooky season officially kicks off in October, good luck asking The Talk co-host Jerry O’Connell about his epic role in Scream 2 on camera, OK?
However, no one is calling Barrymore, Hudson, and others a scab because they’re actors hosting talk shows right now. They’re scabbing because by going back on air, they’re replacing the labor that WGA-covered writers did for them with someone else’s non-union labor. These Tweets explain why:
This is why these shows are scabbing. It sucks!
Here is some good news for Sherri Shepherd fans, though: Sherri isn’t a WGA-covered show, ergo, she’s not scabbing. I guess that’s good news, but also, why aren’t they using union labor!? This is an issue for another time, I suppose. Per The Hollywood Reporter:
Sherri is also going into its second season, distributed by Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury. Like fellow daytime shows Live With Kelly and [Mark] — which has been running as normal — and Tamron Hall (whose fifth season debuted Sept. 5), Shepherd’s program doesn’t use WGA writers. ABC’s The View has been running throughout the strike as well, even though it normally employs a few WGA members; guild members have picketed the show.
To make it easy for everyone, here’s a non-comprehensive list of non-WGA daytime talk shows that are in production but are not scabbing: Sherri, Live With Kelly and Mark, and Tamron Hall.
Here is a list of the WGA daytime talk shows currently in production or are about to resume production and are scabbing: The Drew Barrymore Show, The View, The Talk, and The Jennifer Hudson Show.
That’s right, The View is absolutely scabbing right now, even though they’re trying desperately to pretend they’re not. That’s why they’re on WGA’s picket line rotation, along with The Drew Barrymore Show.
You’ll note that one big daytime TV name is missing from this list, and I think I will have to take a sick day if she pulls a Drew and scabs: Kelly Clarkson. Kelly, if you’re reading this, from the bottom of my heart, I’m begging you not to bring The Kelly Clarkson Show back until the WGA strike is over. We already lost Jennifer Hudson and Drew Barrymore to the capitalism plague, please, please, please don’t follow suit. I could never belt Since U Been Gone in my car while sitting in traffic again.
(featured image: Warner Bros. Television, Cliff Lipson/CBS)
