We might get Natalie Morales to sky jump off the Stratosphere, jokes Crabbe (we hope).
It is the shows largest weekly audience since the week ending May 12.
The Talkalso posted monthly viewership gains since returning in October and was the No.
Rob Crabbe, Producer, Amanda Kloots, Sheryl Underwood and Natalie MoralesBonnie Osborne/CBS
3 daytime talk show in Q4 2023 trailing only ABCs The ViewandLive with Kelly and Mark.
Sometime you need a different viewpoint, different eyes, a different experience.
He doesnt make you feel bad about things.
Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Sheryl Underwood, EP Rob Crabbe, Jerry O’Connell and Natalie Morales. Photo: Bonnie Osborne/CBSBonnie Osborne/CBS ©2024
He will give you gentle direction.
And Ive never been around a man who does that.
No shade on anybody who has been in this before.
Im just saying this is refreshing, especially after 14 seasons.
DEADLINE When CBS approached you about this job, what was your reaction?
ROB CRABBEThey sort of surprised me with it.
Pretty immediately it was like,thats a pretty cool opportunity.I hadnt had an opportunity to do daytime before.
Ive always worked with one host.
So the idea of working with five hosts was interesting.
I also hadnt done live in a while.
If anything, I sort of zoomed out on myself from a satellite image.
DEADLINE Did the strike buy you some time to plan forThe Talk?
CRABBEWe ended Corden on April 27.
That was a date that we had chosen long before anybody was talking about a strike.
That happened to be the Thursday before the strike started on Monday.
I was already planning to not be doing anything for a little while.
I thought Id have a little time off that summer, so I didnt enjoy the strike.
I didnt want to be on strike.
So it was time that I anticipated off, but for different reasons.
[After he got the job at The Talk] there wasnt very much that I could do.
I could familiarize myself with the show, but I couldnt go on the lot.
I couldnt see the stage.
I couldnt do anything particularly functional.
DEADLINE Did you watch a lot of old episodes?
DEADLINE We obviously sawThe Drew Barrymore Showface a world of hurt by coming back too early.
Did you struggle over timing after the shows debut this season?
I mean, I definitely had a crew to worry about.
I definitely wanted people to be able to work.
It all sort of happened at once.
This was not the dynamic here, and so it was evident that nobody should be coming back early.
Also our hosts are on a different contract than SAG-AFTRA.
DEADLINE Was there an immediate change that you made to the show?
CRABBEOne of the things I wanted to do immediately was change the setup a little bit.
I wanted to bring the hosts a little bit closer together.
I also wanted to increase the pace of the show.
I really extended the first act of the show so they have time for that.
We can let it breathe.
We became a little less reliant on hitting particular lengths of time for those segments.
Theres a freeness they have now that the audience feels.
Weve been able to lean into that and theyre having a lot more fun, I think.
And also topics wise, I just want it to be a pure entertainment show.
Thats what Ive always done.
Were in the entertainment division.
DEADLINE What about the Presidential election?
As it gets closer, will they begin talking about it?
CRABBEI think other people do that very well.
There are serious things well still talk about, unfortunately.
Well always have to address those things.
But politics wise, I think our audience sees this show as a break in their day.
DEADLINE When you told the hosts you werent going to script them as much, how did they react?
CRABBEWell, it took a minute.
Sheryls been doing the show for years.
The others are a little bit newer.
Some of them embraced it immediately.
I wanted it to be a little bit more of a free for all.
I wanted them to know that they could just jump in.
DEADLINE Why change the way they do interviews?
CRABBEPart of that is that same patience you saw.
They can get to more stuff.
it’s possible for you to have follow-up questions and go down rabbit holes and chase different threads.
DEADLINE You had Taraji P. Henson last week, whos become a total newsmaker recently.
Has there been a change in the level of talent youve been booking?
CRABBE[Supervising Producer] Diana Miller came over from The Late Late Show.
Her department is terrific.
Were striving to have the best guests in studio.
With Taraji, it was beautiful.
She was in tears.
Theres a warmth here that I think that she felt immediately.
The audience is raucous here.
You wouldnt think it, but theyre so invested in the show.
DEADLINE How are you feeling about the state of daytime?
CRABBE I think its strong.
Im new to it, so Im kind of learning it as I go.
But theres so much out there in daytime.
I think that theres a lot to suit a lot of different audiences.
There are a lot more people working from home now.
Remote work has become a thing.
And so when I look at this show and the hosts of the show, their commonality is co-workers.
Its the things that youre buzzing about.
We can hit on the buzzy things.
Thats the thing that we do very well.
DEADLINE Late night is changing in so many ways.
CRABBEI loved late night.
I did it for a really long time.
I did a Last call with Carson Daly.
I did The Late Show with Craig Kilborn in Los Angeles before I even moved to New York.
Thatll always be in my heart.
I havent had time to miss it.
I think that late night is evolving.
I do think it will always be necessary and therell always be a place for it in television.
I think that having that level of political humor at nighttime, sort of puts the day in perspective.
It takes its hits here and there, but I think it will get stronger.
The Talkairs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
