Comedian Sheryl Underwood gave up the tea on why the popular daytime talk show “The Talk” was canceled after 15 years.
The Little Rock, Ark., native, 61, explained how the show was created by CBS in 2010 to be a competitor to the iconic “The View.” For more than a decade, the show coasted smoothly with high ratings and won an Emmy as the best talk show in 2016.
Sheryl Underwood said ‘The Talk’ lost its magic
Sheryl Underwood told “The Breakfast Club” that the talk show was once made up of a “dream team five” — Underwood, Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne and Sara Gilbert. But when the lineup changed, the energy shifted on the show, and the original ambience could not be reconstructed.
Sheryl Underwood said folks stop caring
“Once you get away from your dream team combination… do people really care?” Underwood said, answering her own question.
Underwood added that once “The Talk” stopped being a ratings windfall and cost-efficient vehicle, it became expendable. After season 14 concluded, executives at CBS decided that the next season would be its final one.
“Once we lost the components that made us great, it ain’t your season no more,” Underwood told “The Breakfast Club.”
Sheryl Underwood said the new co-hosts felt under siege
The introduction of the new host and panelists brought new personalities and energies, and the magical chemistry that characterized “The Talk’s” prosperous beginnings had evaporated.
The exodus of “The Talk’s” most popular co-hosts, Sharon Osbourne and Julie Chen, resulted in less interest from viewers, and CBS began to “deprioritize” the show.
“Things changed. The network no longer prioritized it. The advertising budget was reduced as ratings declined,” the insider told Yahoo! Entertainment.
Uncertainty created “tension” between the series’ hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood, Yahoo! Entertainment reported back in December 2024.
“Behind the scenes, tension on ‘The Talk’ is at an all-time high,” the insider told the publication.
