The Drew Barrymore Show Returns Amidst Writers Guild Of America Strike
The Drew Barrymore Show returns and is set to keep going. Four months after the Writers Guild of America went on strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down, and two months after SAG-AFTRA joined them on the picket line, Drew Barrymore confirmed that her daytime talk show will return for its fourth season on September 18.
The Drew Barrymore Show Returns Amidst Strike
Drew Barrymore's afternoon talk show is back on the air, even though the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes don't look like they'll end soon. Barrymore says she finished last season's shows on April 20, two weeks before the Writers Guild of America strike started on May 2. Even though she didn't host the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May, she's back to work on new episodes this week.
Now, both the syndicated "Jennifer Hudson Show" and CBS's "The Talk" are expected to start making new episodes again on September 18. This is according to officials who know about the plans but won't confirm them publicly. None of them will use writers from the WGA.
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In a statement posted to social media on September 10, the host of a TV show talked about her choice to step down as host of the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards in May. She also said that her show will be in "compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind."
“„I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television. It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers.- Drew Barrymore
Barrymore has been acting since she was five years old. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, but talk shows are covered by the Network Television Code contract, which is different from the Television/Theatrical/Streaming contracts that ended when the guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) couldn't come to an agreement, leading to an actors' strike.
So, just like with reality TV, sports, morning news shows, soap operas, and game shows, talk show actors are not on strike at the moment.
In an Instagram post marking the return of her show, Barrymore said that it was "in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind" This is because SAG-AFTRA strike rules say that you can't do either. A CBS representative told EW:
“„The Drew Barrymore Show will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike.- CBS representative
Even though the show doesn't directly break any of the strikes, it does leave its WGA-member workers behind when it goes back on the air. The WGA-East said it best on social media:
“„The [Drew Barrymore Show] is a WGA covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers. The Guild has, and will continue to, picket struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' is in violation of WGA strike rules.- WGA-East
Also, members of the Writers Guild of America and writers for The Drew Barrymore Show protested outside CBS Studios in New York on Monday, when the daytime talk show started shooting again despite the strikes by writers and actors.
Picketers gave WGA pins to two people in the crowd who had signed up for free tickets to the taping. They say they were asked to leave before the show started because they were wearing the pins.
Dominic Turiczek and Cassidy Carter, two students from New York City, signed up for free tickets to the show about a week and a half ago. They had planned to go to the show but didn't know about the strike. Monday, as they went into the building, picketers gave them both buttons that said "Writers Guild on Strike."
The two say that security told them to take off the buttons, which Carter did. As they walked into the studio, Turiczek was still wearing his button. He said that a member of the crew saw the button and told them to leave.
Final Words
Drew Barrymore is getting flak for going back to work on her daily talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, while the writers' and actors' strikes are still going on.
The third season of the show was finished in April 2023, just a few weeks before the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike at the beginning of May. Some people may have thought that the show was canceled indefinitely in support of the strike instead of taking a summer break, so when the actress announced that The Drew Barrymore Show would be back on the air on Monday, September 18, she was criticized for doing so.
