TABLE ‘TALK’: Julie Chen (right) and her co-hosts on “The Talk” are latest to work the gang-cast formula. (
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Julie Chen has five good reasons why her daytime show, “The Talk,” continues to gain viewers in its third season.
“The single-host [daytime] format does feel dated and obsolete for a few reasons,” says Chen, who’ll be in New York next week with “Talk” mates Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler for five shows airing from the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th.
“If it’s a good topic it’s been done by Oprah [Winfrey],” says Chen. “Why do you think she hung it up? Her last few seasons featured a lot of celebrity interviews because, in terms of issues, she covered it all for 25 years, five days a week.
“We’re five very different people, but all relatable in different ways to different people,” she says. “We’re smart, bawdy and bold and we say things that are not considered polite dinner conversation — but things we’d say to our cousin or best friend . . . what ladies do when they get together for lunch or at the beauty shop or at an all-girls weekend.”
Chen believes “The Talk” has experienced significant ratings growth — it’s averaging over 2.3 million viewers, up 16 percent from last season — because its hosts offer diverse viewpoints in a “something for everyone” approach.
But finding that mix wasn’t so easy. “The Talk” jettisoned original co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete after its first season, with Tyler and Underwood joining last year.
“What I strongly believe is that you have to find the right TV personalities to gel as a team on the air, which is a very difficult thing to capture,” says Chen.
“There are a multitude of reasons, but ego is the biggest reason — and what you have with us five ladies is that we all have egos, but we know how to bring out the best in each other.
“We’re not in competition with each other,” she says. “That’s a very difficult thing with on-air personalities, whether they’re on-air news anchors or talk show hosts. You have to function as a team . . . and you never know the chemistry until you’re in it. It’s like dating.
“When Aisha sat down, it was ‘game over’ — she fit and it felt right,” Chen says. “And Sheryl fit from Day One. They knew how to fall into place and listen — and not every person who’s put under the title of ‘talent’ knows how to listen.”
“The Talk” has also been helped by the across-the-board strength of CBS’s daytime lineup.
“Unlike any other network, all of CBS daytime is up,” says Angelica McDaniel, who was a director on “The Talk” before being promoted to senior VP of Daytime for CBS.
“We have five personalities on ‘The Talk’ — and, at the end of the day, talent is what really makes or breaks a show,” McDaniel says.
“This is a group of women who have undeniable chemistry and are smart — but aren’t afraid to make fun of themselves and have a good laugh.”
“The Talk” airs 2 p.m. on Ch. 2.