‘The Talk’ Making Major Change in Wake of Cancellation Announcement

The Talk is changing things up as the CBS show prepares to wrap its final season in December. The daytime series will be premiering a new “Stand Up At The Talk” segment on April 26, Deadline reports, with guest comedians coming onto the show for the first time in its history to perform for the crowd.

Each Friday, hosts Sheryl Underwood, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, Akbar Gbajabiamila and Amanda Kloots will exit the stage in order for the set to be turned into a comedy club, which will host featured standup comedians performing 5-minute sets. Jackie Fabulous’ April 12 performance on the CBS show marked the first standup performance on The Talk and inspired the recurring comedy series. Wendy Liebman will officially debut the new segment on April 26 and will be followed by Preacher Lawson on May 3, Zarna Garg on May 10, and Brad Upton on May 17. 

 “I am excited to bring two things I love together – standup comedy and The Talk,” Underwood told Deadline. “This is the first time The Talk has done a standup series, but it won’t be the last. See you every Friday!”

Earlier this month, CBS announced that it had renewed The Talk for a 15th and final season. “The Talk broke new ground when it launched 14 years ago by returning daytime talk to CBS with a refreshing and award-winning format. 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,” said CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios prexy David Stapf in a statement at the time.

“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,” they 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.”