After a late start to its fourth season and behind-the-scenes turmoil, The Drew Barrymore Show has received and early, drama-free renewal for a fifth season on the CBS Stations.
It is the first pickup for the syndicated daytime talker since the major reorganization at the show’s producer and distributor CBS Media Ventures, which was put under the purview of Wendy McMahon, now President and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.
The renewal also comes after a rocky fall for The Drew Barrymore Show whose host originally announced a Sept. 18 return, while the writers were still striking, before reversing the decision amid picketing of the show and outcry from WGA members.
Season 4 instead launched post-strike on Oct. 16 but without the program’s three WGA-member writers who declined to return and had to be replaced.
Whether it was fans of the show moving past the controversy or the dearth of original entertainment programming in the fall due to the double WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, The Drew Barrymore Show has been averaging a respectable 1.1 million viewers, growing from October to December +9% in households and +4% in total viewers.
The program’s core launch group, CBS Stations, remain anchor for the show in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It is now renewed through 2025, matching the term for fellow daytime talker, NBCU’s The Kelly Clarkson Show.
“The Drew Barrymore Show is firing on all cylinders this season,” McMahon said. “Drew continues to catapult the show into the cultural zeitgeist with her empathetic and thoughtful interviews transporting viewers into her living room, where they feel like they are listening to a conversation between two friends that they are a part of. It’s an experience unlike any other in television. Drew is truly creating magic in daytime, and we’re thrilled to continue to bring that to our stations.”
Next on The Drew Barrymore Show is the cast of the new Mean Girls film, including Renee Rapp, Angourie Rice, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Auli’I Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, in a special episode airing tomorrow, Jan. 12.
In a daytime TV exclusive, the cast of FX’s upcoming Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Calista Flockhart, will be on the program. Also slated to appear in the coming weeks are Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Annette Bening, Dan Levy, Isla Fisher, Lucy Hale, Clive Owen, Andie MacDowell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Oliver and Chrissy Teigen.
The nationally syndicated daytime show is filmed in New York City. Barrymore and Jason Kurtz are executive producers.
