‘The Talk’ Locks Season 14 Return at CBS After Strike Delay

“The Talk” has locked in its Season 14 return date following the resolution of the WGA strike, which prompted the show to delay its original premiere.

The CBS daytime talk show is now slated to return Monday, Oct. 9, and will resume production alongside fellow talkers like “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” which began filming Monday, Oct. 2, as well as “The Drew Barrymore,” which is also expected to pick up production in October.

At the onset of the WGA strike in early May, “The Talk,” which is covered by a WGA agreement, shared it would be going on hiatus, noting that pre-recorded episodes of the daytime talk show would air in the meantime. However, “The Talk” drew headlines when it began filming during the week of Sept. 11 without its writers the double Hollywood strike as it aimed for its original Sept. 18 launch.

By Wednesday, Sept. 13, following a cry of outrage online, dozens of WGA members picketed Radford Studio Center in protest of the daytime talk show’s return.

That weekend the series decided to reverse course and halt production until the resolution of the writers’ strike, with a CBS spokesperson explaining “‘The Talk’ is pausing its season premiere scheduled for Sept. 18. We will continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date.”

“The Talk” followed almost the exact path as “The Drew Barrymore Show,” whose host publicly spoke out about resuming production amid the labor dispute, saying “this is bigger than just me.” Barrymore’s statement, and the show’s subsequent filming, was highly criticized by WGA members, and the show was picketed as it filmed at New York City’s CBS Broadcast Studios.

After a week of controversy, the daytime talk show also announced it would pause until the AMPTP and the writers’ guild came to a fair agreement.

“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” Barrymore 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.”

CBS Media Ventures, the producer of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” issued a statement of support to Barrymore, stating “We support Drew’s decision to pause the show’s return and understand how complex and difficult this process has been for her.”

“The Talk” is co-hosted by Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots, Jerry O’Connell, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Natalie Morales.

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