It’s a time of tremendous upheaval in the daytime talk show game as new faces emerge to take over hosting slots vacated by some of the biggest names. Ellen DeGeneres, Wendy Williams and Nick Cannon are all retiring from their shows for various reasons, and now another longtime favorite appears to be joining them. Maury Povich will complete his 31st run of the season on Maury later this year when the popular host retires at 83.
Formerly The Maury Povich Show, the long-running syndicated program that first started in 1991 and shortened its name to Maury in 1998. Throughout its history, the show has made episodes and individual segments on a variety of different topics, but it eventually became famous for its paternity show segments, in which suspected fathers took DNA tests to determine if a mother’s baby was her child.
The basic format would follow the mother talking about the baby and talking about who fathered the child. Viewers then heard from the father, who often claimed the child wasn’t his, and finally Povich said a version of “when it comes to (the baby’s name), you are (are/are not) the father.” Sometimes vowed all involved to work together and be parents together. Sometimes the answers were less than ideal. You never knew exactly what to expect.
With all this upheaval going on during the day, it’s a bit unclear who might be the biggest stars of tomorrow. Ellen Degeneres, in particular, was a force for many years, though her show has waned in popularity in recent years amid behind-the-scenes scandals. Wendy Williams was also a big player in space, competing quite closely with Ellen, The View, Dr. Phil and other stand-bys, but recent health issues have forced her to withdraw from her program. Once you throw in Nick Cannon, who saw his self-titled show canceled and the recent cancellation of The Good Dish, and the field suddenly seems wide open than it has been in years.
The biggest new players in space appear to be Jennifer Hudson and Sherri Shepherd. Hudson’s aptly titled The Jennifer Hudson Show will start next season as a Warner Bros production and has been picked up by Fox. Shepherd Sheri will also start, taking over from Wendy Williams. This decision in particular was quite natural as it championed Williams extensively and seemed to be a hit with fans.
The two new faces will join some recently appeared players in the daytime section. Both Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson have launched their own endeavors in recent years, and their funny personalities have really connected with fans. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against Shepherd and Hudson and if the new faces are able to secure some of the audience share.
New episodes of Maury will run through September, and the show will continue to air reruns thereafter. They should keep coming up numbers at least for a while as the episodes of the paternity show and some of the other issues aren’t really time sensitive.