Drew Barrymore Show Resuming amid Strikes

As Drew Barrymore digs herself into a deeper hole regarding the return of her daytime talk show, lost in the debate is a conversation about the peculiar nature of syndicated TV.

One week ago, Barrymore ignited a firestorm when she announced her talk show would be returning amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In the week since, tensions worsened and Barrymore, normally well-liked for her good-natured personality, intensified that criticism when she doubled down with a second, now-deleted, video message. If anything, her attempt to quell any criticism had the opposite effect.

Barrymore is at the eye of the storm, but she is not the only daytime host returning this upcoming week. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and CBS’ “The Talk,” which is not syndicated, will launch new seasons on Monday, Sept. 18, as well as Sherri Shepherd’s “Sherri” and Karamo Brown’s “Karamo,” though those two shows are not struck or covered by the WGA, like “Tamron Hall” and “Live with Kelly & Mark,” which have already been back on the air. And ABC’s “The View,” which employs WGA writers, never ceased production during the strike, at a time when many others, like “The Talk” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” immediately halted last spring.

Barrymore’s apology video came several days after two audience members claimed they were “kicked out” of the show’s first taping for expressing their support for the WGA strike, which added even more backlash.

Dominic Turiczek shared in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he and another audience member were “verbally assaulted” by the show’s crew and forced to leave. They were wearing pins and T-shirts in support of the strike, he said.

In a follow-up tweet, Turiczek admitted he “knew about the #WGA strike, just not that they were picketing at Drew’s show.” 

A resumption of negotiations is a good sign, but writers like Cristina Kinon, the  co-head writer of The Drew Barrymore Show, worry that decisions like her boss's might actually extend the work stoppage that will continue to hamstring Hollywood. With Barrymore seemingly taking the heat for the entire industry, "there's word that maybe some other shows are coming back,” Kinon told The Daily Beast. “So it is frustrating, because it will prolong the strike, and we just want it to end.”

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Sarah H

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