Talk shows return Sept. 18 — but not latenight ones

In the wounded world of broadcast TV, Monday (Sept. 18) is now important. The talk shows return.
Not the big ones, however. All of those – Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and “The Daily Show” – remain in eternal reruns, due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Still, several other shows will start their seasons Monday. The Drew Barrymore (shown here), Sherri Shepherd and Jennifer Hudson shows are all syndicated on a station-by-station basis; “The Talk” is on CBS.
They join several shows that had already returned – “The View” on ABC, “Live with Kelly & Mark” and the Tamron Hall show in syndication.
All, however, will be working under sharp limits: Nothing will be written, they say; even “Jeopardy” (which also returns Sept. 18) will repeat questions from the distant past. In most cases, an actor who’s a guest won’t be allowed to talk about a specific movie or TV show.
All of this got extra attention this week, with Barrymore’s decision to go ahead with her show. As virtually a life-long member of the actors’ union, she had been a strident supporter of the strikes. She said she won’t violate any of the strike restrictions, but the show has still drawn picketers.
This comes at a time when talk shows no longer command the big audiences of the Carson/Winfrey days. The current situation is:
— GONE: Ellen DeGeneres’ show, which had been a ratings leader, departed a year ago after 19 seasons. The once-popular shows by Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray were canceled at the end of the current season (after 19 and 17 seasons), and have been in reruns.
— NEW EPISODES: “The View,” “Live with Kelly & Mark” and Hall’s show. On Monday, they’ll be joined by “The Talk” and the Barrymore, Hudson and Shepherd shows.
— STILL IN RERUNS: “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has quickly gathered awards (and some of McGraw’s timeslots). It was supposed to start its season Monday, but has been delayed by its move to New York and its adjusting what employees called a toxic environment.
Also in reruns are the late-night shows. Their hosts – NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, CBS’ Stephen Colbert, HBO’s John Oliver — have been strong supporters of the strike; they even combine for a podcast, using the money to pay out-of-work staffers form their shows.
Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” was using guest hosts after Trevor Noah’s final day (Dec. 8), while choosing his replacement. Like the others, it went into reruns when the writers struck, on May 2.
And CBS’ late-late slot has been in a void. James Corden had his final show April 27 and reruns followed, with plans to have a lower-cost comedy-game show take the spot.
The strikes delayed that, however, so at 12:37 and 1:07 a.m., the network will rerun “Comics Unleashed,” with Byron Allen – a former stand-up comedian whose company now owns the Weather Channel and more – hosting four comics. Those begin the night of Sept. 18 – a busy time for TV.