Drew Barrymore is resuming her daytime talk show, even as the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes show no signs of quick resolution.
New York-based Barrymore, who says she completed last season's episodes on April 20, two weeks before the Writers Guild of America strike began May 2, is back in action this week on new episodes, despite pulling out as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May. Now, the syndicated "Jennifer Hudson Show" and CBS' "The Talk" are expected to resume production too, with new episodes airing Sept. 18, say executives familiar with plans who declined to publicly confirm them. All will do so without using WGA writers.
"I own this choice," she wrote in an Instagram post Sunday, for a show "that may have my name on it, but this is bigger than just me," and will put a large production staff back to work, apparently as its star improvises without writers. The WGA announced plans to picket her studio on Manhattan's West 57 Street.
Now, the talk show will begin airing again on Sept. 18 without WGA writers there to help create things like the opening monologue, interview questions, and jokes. The show “will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike,” a spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures told the Los Angeles Times.
Barrymore, who has been acting since age 5, is a member of SAG-AFTRA, but talk shows fall under the Network Television Code contract, which is not the same as the Television/Theatrical/Streaming contracts that expired after the guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach a deal, resulting in an actors' strike. So, like reality TV, sports, morning news shows, soap operas, and game shows, performers on talk shows are not currently on strike.
In announcing her show's return, Barrymore insisted in an Instagram post that it is "in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind" per SAG-AFTRA strike rules. Additionally, a spokesperson for CBS told EW, "The Drew Barrymore Show will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike."
In a statement to Variety, a “Drew Barrymore Show” spokesperson addressed the booted audience members.
“It is our policy to welcome everyone to our show tapings,” the spokesperson said. “Due to heightened security concerns today, we regret that two audience members were not permitted to attend or were not allowed access. Drew was completely unaware of the incident and we are in the process of reaching out to the affected audience members to offer them new tickets.”
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