The Talk is coming to an end: CBS revealed today that its daytime talk show has been picked up for a 15th and final season and will wrap its run in December.
“The Talk broke new ground when it launched 14 years ago by returning daytime talk to CBS with a refreshing and award-winning format,” according to a joint statement from Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment and David Stapf, President, CBS Studios. “Throughout the years, it has been a key program on CBS’ top rated daytime line-up as it brought timely, important and entertaining topics and discussions into living rooms around the globe.”
“It goes without saying that hosting and producing a year-round talk show is no easy task, and we express our sincere gratitude to our amazing hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood, our Executive Producer/Showrunner Rob Crabbe and the hardworking producing team and crew,” the statement continued. “We also want to acknowledge our former show hosts and colleagues who contributed throughout the seasons. We truly appreciate the skill, creativity, and dedication everyone involved brought to the show every day. And of course, we thank the numerous guests who appeared, and the millions of viewers who tuned in daily. For the final season, we plan to celebrate the show and give it the proper sendoff it deserves when it concludes in December 2024.”
No decisions have been made yet about how CBS will fill the daytime timeslot after December.
As Deadline first reported, the future of The Talk was cast in doubt in March when CBS announced plans to develop The Gates, a new sudser that would follow the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community. The network didn’t reveal where (or when) it would go on the schedule, should it earn a series pickup.
Canceling The Young and the Restless is out of the question since the Bell/Sony drama ranks No. 1 in daytime and just earned a four-season pickup. Same goes for The Bold and the Beautiful, the Bell serial that is the No. 2 ranked soap in daytime and has been renewed through fall of 2025.
And killing Let’s Make a Deal or The Price is Right doesn’t make sense, either, since both game shows have solid ratings, sound budgets, and frequently contribute much-needed specials for CBS primetime.
That led to speculation about the future of The Talk, which remains the lowest-rated show on the CBS daytime lineup. Produced by CBS Studios and now in its 14th season, The Talk recently underwent change by hiring Rob Crabbe, the former executive producer of The Late Late Show with James Corden, to replace longtime EP Kristin Matthews.
Even though Crabbe made some much-needed improvements, like extending the first act of the show and injecting more intimate interview segments, The Talk is still down double digits in persons and women 18-49, though it remains the third most-watched talker in daytime behind The View and Live! With Kelly and Mark. And most recently, CBS let go of The Talk‘s current executive, Laurie Seidman, as well one of the show’s PR reps as part of the company’s widespread layoffs.
The Talk, developed by actress and host Sara Gilbert, was first launched in 2010. Like The View, it was filmed in front of a live audience and programmed to air five days a week. The original panel featured Julie Chen Moonves as the chief news reader, along with Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete. Marissa Jaret Winokur also had a turn at The Talk table.
The panel would evolve over the years as some of the originals moved on. Aisha Tyler joined the show in 2011, followed by Eve in 2017 and Carrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond in 2019. The two men joined the show in 2021, along with Kloots and Morales.