Benzinga Buzz: Drew Barrymore Buckles, Opts Not To Return — Plus: Method Man, Disney & Barbie

Each week, Benzinga Buzz compiles the latest entertainment news into a cohesive column for your consideration. Read on for the latest updates — both useful and irreverent.

On Sunday, Drew Barrymore announced that she would not move forward with new episodes of her daytime talk show until the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes were resolved.

The decision came after Barrymore's planned return was met with criticism, even though other daytime hosts and shows — "The View," "The Jennifer Hudson Show," "The Talk," "Sherri" and "Karamo" — are set to return.

"Tamron Hall" and "Live With Kelly and Ryan" — neither one governed by the WGA — have also been airing new episodes.

But for some reason, the bubbly Barrymore ended up being a focal point of ire.

Bill Maher, in true cantankerous form, refused to cave. Expect the "Real Time" host to eviscerate the "outraged virtue signalers" when his show returns on Sept. 22.

Many Twitter/X users praised Barrymore's pivot with messages like this:

Good for her but this isn't only a Drew Barrymore issue. There are many personalities who are still running their talk shows. Hope the online outrage makes them also reflect and 'pause' their show.

— Being Second (@gucciturmeric) September 17, 2023

Other charming and, I'm sure, well-adjusted individuals continued to call Barrymore vulgar expletives for some reason. Meanwhile, the silent majority of TV watchers are left wondering: Do talk shows need writers? Can't they just nix the monologue and comedy bits for a while and just, you know, talk?

As Variety thoroughly explains, syndicated daytime talk shows, like Barrymore's, are contractually obligated to provide new episodes to local stations. Unlike network shows (i.e., Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon), Barrymore and others must deliver a set number of episodes to over 200 local stations each season. Failure to do so could result in a contract breach and the loss of the show.

Despite the ongoing strikes, local stations and advertisers expect original content from these shows, which are crucial for syndication's survival in this era of on-demand streaming.

Barrymore's lose-lose situation illustrates just how murky talk show rules can be. While contracts, viewer expectations and labor rights are taken into account, so is the livelihood of a tremendous staff outside the writers. And there are tons of various stakeholders, including sales teams, station partners and advertisers.

By not returning to the studio just yet, however, Barrymore likely saves herself a lot of office drama when the strike ultimately ends and writers return. Because now there won't be any side-eye stares: "Which one of you came back while we were still picketing?"

When Major League Baseball umpires went on strike in 1999, new umpires were hired. Eventually the newbies and the veterans ended up working together, and it was awkward, Michael H. LeRoy, a professor of labor and employment relations, told CBS News.

"For the next 25 years, those umpires would not talk to each other if they were assigned to work games together," LeRoy said. "Twenty-five years of shunning. People do not forget it."

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• For the last edition of Benzinga Buzz, click here.

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