The Jennifer Hudson Show, along with other daytime talk shows, has decided to delay its season premiere due to the ongoing writers’ strike. The show, which is distributed by Warner Bros., was originally set to debut on Monday but will now be on hold. This decision follows similar announcements made by The Drew Barrymore Show and CBS’ The Talk. According to sources, Jennifer Hudson herself advocated for the postponement.
All three shows are signatories to the Writers Guild of America’s minimum basic agreement and have employed WGA writers in the past. It was expected that they would kick off their seasons on Monday, but they faced scrutiny and strong criticism in the past week.
The controversy began when Drew Barrymore announced on September 10th that her show would be returning for its fourth season. However, she received backlash from striking writers and actors. They accused her of not complying with the strike by discussing or promoting struck film and television projects. Barrymore later apologized on Friday but initially did not announce any plans to pause production. However, she eventually decided to delay the show’s premiere until the strike is over, expressing her deep apologies to those she may have hurt.
While much of the criticism was directed towards Barrymore, striking writers also questioned The Talk and The Jennifer Hudson Show for announcing Monday premieres. The Talk was even picketed as it did some pre-taping last week.
Another WGA signatory, the Kelly Clarkson Show, has not yet announced a premiere date as it currently moves production from Los Angeles to New York. On the other hand, ABC’s The View has continued production during the writers and actors strikes, but they claim that the work of the striking writers is not being done by anyone else.
There are several other daytime shows, such as Live With Kelly and Mark, Tamron Hall, and Sherri, hosted by Sherri Shepherd, that do not employ WGA writers and are carrying on with their usual production.
With the writers’ strike still ongoing, it seems that many daytime talk shows are facing challenges in navigating their way through the controversy. The decision to delay premieres shows a level of solidarity with the striking writers and reflects the changing landscape of the television industry.
