(ABC / Lorenzo Bevilaqua)
Today, ABC airs the final episode of their daytime series, The Chew. Last month, the network announced that the cooking-themed talk show had been cancelled after more than 1,400 episodes. Will you miss it? Was this the right decision?
Launching in September 2011, The Chew replaced the All My Children soap opera after its 41 years on the network. A talk show that incorporates cooking and lifestyle-related segments, the series was initially hosted by Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz, and Michael Symon. Oz departed the show after six seasons and Batali left following sexual misconduct allegations in December 2017.
ABC decided to cancel The Chew in order to expand their Good Morning America series to three hours. NBC’s Today show has had a third hour (with various titles) since October 2000. The current incarnation is Megyn Kelly Today.
While the third hour of Today typically followed the regular program’s two-hour broadcast, hour three of Good Morning America will air separately, in the afternoon. The new hour of GMA is expected to be taped and not presented live, as the regular program is. ABC is making this move as Today has been taking the lead in various demographics in the morning ratings race.
If ABC had wanted to expand GMA to three hours, couldn’t they have replaced either The View or Live with Kelley and Ryan? That was unlikely to happen since both perform better in the ratings than The Chew. In particular, The View has been growing its audience and has been seeing its best ratings since the 2014-15 season (a rarity in today’s landscape). Meanwhile, The Chew has been in last place, ranking 13th out of 13 daytime series.
While ABC may have high hopes for a third hour of GMA, they no doubt have an uphill battle ahead. Daytime audiences often don’t like change and some viewers still hold a grudge against The Chew for replacing All My Children. Time will tell if the new hour of GMA will fare any better than The Chew did.
What do you think? Do you think that ABC should have cancelled The Chew TV series? If not, what could they have done to boost the ratings? Will you check out a third hour of Good Morning America?
This was the single most asinine decision ABC has made. You tried this 7 yrs ago…do you not remember what a fail that was? This was DVR’d daily & got my grandchild in the kitchen, giving them a stress outlet. It was fun, they got along amazingly, it was educational and you want to replace it with some inane dribble. I will not watch anything on ABC because it is proving to mean Already Been Cancelled,
The Chew was a breath of fresh-air! We don’t need anymore news or political points of view. The Chew was fun and informative,with insights into Clinton,Carla & Michaels lives. The three of them was the perfect show. We still had celebrities, other famous chefs, wonderful recipes for every part of a meal. Drinks, appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, desserts and tablescapes. Creative crafts and fun ideas! The Chew became family, my daily dose of fun and technique! Please bring my favorite show back!!
NO THE CHEW should not have been taken off the air!!!!! Bring it back!!!!!
No, The Chew should not have been cancelled.
I watched The Chew from the very first day that it was on until the very last show. I’m so disappointed and very unhappy that this FANTASTIC SHOW was cancelled. It shouldn’t have been cancelled to begin with. The Chew was and still is The Very Best talk/ cooking show that ever was on the air. Carla, Clinton and Michael are so good together and had me laughing and entertained me every single day. I wish that ABC would rethink cancelling this FANTASTIC SHOW and bring it back . I cried when I heard that it was cancelled because it… Read more »
I watched and taped the show every day and learned so many cooking ideas from them. With all of the drivel on tv today, this was a show where the hosts were enjoyable, intelligent, and brought a love of cooking that was contagious. What a shame to replace it with another boring show.
This is one show that I really looked forward to watching after a hectic day. DVR a must! I am very unhappy to see this shut down. Very poor decision.
The Chew was educational, uplifting, unifying and extremely entertaining. Laughed harder at this show than any other show and learned a lot all the while. The 3 hosts from diverse backgrounds genuinely love each other and beautifully demonstrate how we should all treat each other. This show was unique and pure magic. I MADE time to watch this show, I came home from work at one o’clock to eat lunch with Carla, Clinton and Michael every day. Other show have been cancelled and I haven’t been happy about it but the cancellation of this show was actually devastating, like the… Read more »
It seems you are going to an all news network as you now have very little good programming, especially one as good as the Chew.
No, remember the line in pretty women when the ladies in one store would not help her! Then she spent a whole lot of money at the next store. Went back to the first store. I believe her line was “big mistake, huge” Abc made that mistake, big mistake, HUGE!
The Chew was the best cooking show on TV and the best daytime show on TV. It was entertaining and educational. The Chew was innovative, educational for novice and experienced cooks, great variety of guests and 3 hosts with great comradery/chemistry, a loyal audience and FUN TO WATCH!! Cancelling The Chew was a mistake.
I think that you had made the worst mistake by cancelling The Chew. Not only that I liked the show but it was the only show that I was able to learn some cooking techniques that would help me out in the future. The Chew should have never been cancelled because they were getting excellent ratings. Shame on you ABC because you have just lost another viewer.
ABC is making a huge mistake in cancelling The Chew. I absolutely loved this show and watched it faithfully every day. It was fun, informative, funny and very entertaining. The 3 hosts (Kelly, Hall and Symon) were genuine and their chemistry was real. This was the only daytime show that I watched. I guarantee I will NOT be tuning in to the 3rd hour of GMA. Seems like ABC is trying to reach a younger audience. Doesn’t the opinion of the older audience mean anything? Give us back The Chew!!!
No, they should keep the Chew.
No, I don’t think it should’ve been canceled. It was a great show, fun, informative, loved learning new recipes and tips, and getting to see different celebrities all the time. I will not watch another hour of GMA.