It’s currently a time of massive upheaval in the daytime talk show game as new faces pop up to take over hosting slots vacated by some of the biggest names. Ellen DeGeneres, Wendy Williams and Nick Cannon are all stepping out of their shows for various reasons, and now it looks like another longtime favorite will be joining them. Maury Povich will end his 31-season run with Maury later this year when the popular host will retire at age 83.
back in the days The Maury Povich Showthe long-running syndicated program that first launched in 1991 and shortened its name to Maury back in 1998. During its history, the show ran episodes and individual segments on a wide variety of different topics, but it eventually became famous for its paternity show segments in which suspicious fathers took DNA tests to see if a mother’s baby was their child.
The basic format would follow the mother discussing the baby and talking about who the father of the child is. Viewers would then hear from the father, often claiming the child was not his, and eventually Povich would say a version of “when it comes to (baby’s name), you (are/are not) the father.” At times, everyone involved swore to work together and co-parent. Sometimes the reactions weren’t ideal. You never quite knew what to expect.
With all this daytime turmoil, it’s a little unclear who could be tomorrow’s biggest stars. Ellen Degeneres, in particular, was a force for many years, although her show has lost some popularity in recent years amid behind-the-scenes scandals. Wendy Williams was also a big player in space and competed quite closely with Ellen† The view† dr. Philo and other standbys, but recent health issues have forced her to step down from her program. If you throw in Nick Cannon, who saw his self-titled show being canceled, and the recent cancellation of The good dishand the field suddenly seems wider than it has been in years.
The biggest new players in the space seem to be Jennifer Hudson and Sherri Shepherd. Hudson’s, aptly titled The Jennifer Hudson Show, will launch next season as a Warner Bros production and has been picked up by Fox. Likewise, Shepherd will launch sheric, who will take the vacant spot from Wendy Williams. That decision in particular was quite natural, as she filled in extensively for Williams and appeared to be a hit with fans.
The two new faces will join some recently emerged players in the day space. Both Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson have launched their own efforts in recent years and their fun personalities have really connected with fans. It’ll be interesting to see how they stack up against Shepherd and Hudson, and if the new faces can capture some of the crowd.
New episodes of Maury runs through September, and the show will continue to air reruns after that. They should keep posting numbers, at least for a while, considering the fatherhood show episodes and some of the other topics aren’t really time sensitive.