After a false start, “The Drew Barrymore Show” is officially coming back. CBS has announced that the daytime talk show will be returning on October 16.
The series announced its new premiere date on an Instagram post.
Barrymore herself faced a great deal of controversy when she first announced the return of her series earlier this year. While the WGA strike was ongoing, Barrymore said that her series was coming back. Though “The Drew Barrymore came back without its writers and stated it would not be discussing or promoting struck work “of any kind,” the series was picketed by the WGA on its return September 11. A spokesperson for the guild told TheWrap that “The Drew Barrymore Show” is a WGA-covered struck television show that has “decided to return without its writers,” which is why it was picketed.
Additionally, two audience members were kicked out of the studio for wearing WGA pins. Even after they offered to take off the adornment, security insisted they leave. A spokesperson for the series told TheWrap at the time that the show “regretted” the fans were not permitted to stay and noted Barrymore was “completely unaware of the incident.”
By Friday, Barrymore posted a video on Instagram defending her decision to return, stating “there are so many reasons why this is so complex.” CBS Media Ventures, which produces the daytime talk show, also backed Barrymore’s decision in a statement, clarifying that “no one on our staff will fill a writing position.” The video was subsequently removed after it was criticized by many in the entertainment industry.
But two days later, Barrymore paused production on the talk show until the strike’s resolution. Now that the WGA and the AMPTP have reached an agreement and writers are allowed to return to work, “The Drew Barrymore Show” can resume production without fear of infuriating the WGA.
Because the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, there are some limitations to the series. While Barrymore can have actors on her show as guests, they cannot talk about any projects they’ve worked on that were produced by AMPTP. However, projects produced by companies SAG-AFTRA isn’t striking against, personal stories and non film and television projects are permitted.
