“The Drew Barrymore Show” is looking to return to screens in October after the WGA and the AMPTP reached a tentative deal this weekend, TheWrap has learned.
The road back to air comes just under two weeks after Barrymore announced that the daytime talk show would resume production amid the ongoing writers’ strike, before eventually shutting down a week later amid concerns that the show was breaking strike rules.
Following the host’s announcement, which said that the show would not break any SAG-AFTRA strike rules by “not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind,” a spokesperson for the WGA clarified that “The Drew Barrymore Show” is a WGA-covered struck television show that has “decided to return without its writers,” and would subsequently be picketed by striking writers as it returns to production.
The WGA began picketing the show on Monday, Sept. 11, as three picket lines surrounded New York City’s CBS Broadcast Studios, and further controversy followed the daytime talker when two audience members were kicked out of the taping for wearing WGA pins. A spokesperson for the series told TheWrap at the time that the show “regretted” that the fans were not permitted attend the taping and noted Barrymore was “completely unaware of the incident.”
By that Friday, the host posted a video on social media in which she emotionally apologized to writers and unions impacted by her choice to restart filming, meanwhile standing by her choice and stating “there are so many reasons why this is so complex.” CBS Media Ventures, who produces the show, subsequently backed Barrymore’s decision in a statement that pointed out that the show has been largely unscripted since its start, and added that “no one on our staff will fill a writing position.”
Two days later, however, Barrymore decided to pause production on the talk show until the strike’s resolution.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” she said in a statement on Instagram. “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 soon.”
“We support Drew’s decision to pause the show’s return and understand how complex and difficult this process has been for her,” a spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures said in a statement regarding Barrymore’s decision.
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