“The Drew Barrymore Show” to resume taping — sans writers — amidst WGA strike

The Writers Guild of America is encouraging members to begin picketing outside of “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Monday, after news broke that taping will resume amidst an ongoing strike.   

According to Vanity Fair, CBS announced last week that Barrymore’s show would begin broadcasting new episodes on Sept. 18, sourcing information from a network spokesperson suggesting that the show’s resumption didn’t conflict with Barrymore’s pro-union stance, as the talk show “will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike.” Weighing in on the matter, WGA spokesperson Jason Gordon told the outlet that this doesn’t really fly as, “The Drew Barrymore Show is a WGA-covered struck television show.” Furthering that the show “has stayed off the air since the strike began on May 2nd, but has now (unfortunately) decided to return without its writers.”

“The Guild has, and will continue to, picket any struck show that continues production during the duration of the strike,” Gordon says.

At this time, it’s unknown how the show will go about sourcing talent for these new episodes, as members of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have been on strike since mid-July and are, within the mandates of the strike, prohibited from publicizing “any work distributed, produced, or financed by studios or streaming platforms that are part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).”