“The Drew Barrymore Show” will start airing recent episodes on Monday however a variety of off-air controversy might be clinging to its usually bubbly host.
Barrymore — a daughter of a proud appearing dynasty — is making new batches of her syndicated speak present regardless of picketers exterior her studio, as daytime TV turns into the newest battlefield within the ongoing Hollywood labor strife.
“We’re four months approximately into this strike and it’s not surprising that there are defectors,” mentioned Michael H. LeRoy, a professor of labor and employment relations on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “I couldn’t predict that this would happen on daytime TV, but everybody has a breaking point in a labor dispute.”
“The Drew Barrymore Show,” working with out its three union writers, isn’t the one daytime present to renew. “The View” has returned for its twenty seventh season on ABC, whereas “Tamron Hall” and “Live With Kelly and Ryan” — neither are ruled by writers guild guidelines — have additionally been producing recent episodes. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Talk” are additionally restarting Monday.
As lengthy because the hosts and visitors don’t focus on or promote work lined by tv, theatrical or streaming contracts, they’re not technically breaking the strike. That’s as a result of speak exhibits are lined beneath a separate contract — the so-called Network Code — from the one actors and writers are placing. The Network Code additionally covers actuality TV, sports activities, morning information exhibits, cleaning soap operas and recreation exhibits.
“I know there is just nothing I can do that will make this OK to those that it is not OK with. I fully accept that,” Barrymore mentioned in a video posted Friday on Instagram that was later deleted. “I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anymore. It’s not who I am.”
The ongoing strike pits Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists towards the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.
The return of daytime hosts, producers and studio crews will make for some awkward exchanges, predicted Zayd Ayers Dohrn, a author, professor and director of the MFA in Writing for Screen and Stage at Northwestern University.
“It’s kind of amazing that they’re going to go back to work with their own writers picketing outside the doors of the studios,” mentioned Dohrn, a writers guild member. “They’re literally walking past the picket line of the workers who they say they’re supporting.”
Barrymore’s choice to return to the air was met with pushback on social media. “You have the heart and mind to be more tapped into the needs of the community than this,” wrote one viewer on Instagram. Another was extra blunt: “You don’t get to play a generous and relatable character when it’s financially expedient for you and then scab when your pocketbook is at risk.”
Actor and activist Alyssa Milano, whose friendship with Barrymore stretches again years, additionally criticized the return, calling it “not a great move.”
“I love her very much — I grew up with her — but I’m not sure that this was the right move for the strike. I’m sure in her eyes it’s the right move for her and the show, but as far as the WGA and SAG and union strong — not a great move.”
Barrymore’s stance was additionally met with some puzzlement since she walked away as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May, the primary massive awards present to air throughout the strike. Back then, she wrote: “I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike.”
She has since misplaced one other internet hosting gig: the National Book Awards in November. The group rescinded her invitation “in light of the announcement that ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ will resume production.”
LeRoy, who has studied labor-employer struggles for 30 years, warned that TV exhibits like Barrymore’s might imagine they will get by with out utilizing union writers however might discover long-term prices.
“No members of the Writers Guild will ever work with that show again,” he mentioned. “It’s a short-term, feel-good moment or get-by moment for Drew Barrymore and maybe the others, but long term they really have, in my view, basically given themselves an early retirement.”
He famous different strikes previously that left bitter emotions for many years, like when Major League Baseball umpires went on strike in 1999. New umpires had been employed and built-in with veteran ones however tensions continued.
“For the next 25 years, those umpires would not talk to each other if they were assigned to work games together,” LeRoy mentioned. “Twenty-five years of shunning. People do not forget it.”
Viewers who tune into new episodes of daytime speak exhibits today will discover a modified panorama. Guests aren’t at all times the A-listers with blockbuster TV exhibits or movies to advertise. Since the strike started, authors, musicians and comedians are filling the gaps.
This week, Neil deGrasse Tyson was on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” speaking concerning the science behind the Hulk whereas Cedric The Entertainer was telling Hall about his debut novel. Matthew McConaughey was on “The View” to advertise his e book ”Just Because.”
Hosts like Barrymore could also be caught in a lose-lose scenario — contractually obligated to return to work however sure to anger colleagues after they do. Last week she famous “This is bigger than just me.”
Bill Maher, who additionally introduced he would return to his late night time speak present, couched his reasoning as wanting to assist all his workers, saying writers “are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns.”
Dohrn isn’t shopping for it: “They talk about wanting to support the people who are just getting by. But Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore and the hosts of ‘The View’ are not just getting by. They could very easily stand with their fellow workers in the industry and say, ‘We’re not going to feed the studio pipeline until they make a fair offer,’” he mentioned.
“They’re deciding for a whole host of complicated reasons to go back to work and to ultimately try to break the strike.”
Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File
Drew Barrymore attends the Time100 Gala, celebrating the 100 most influential individuals on the earth, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, April 26, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
