How Will ‘The Talk’ Change in Season 14 With New Executive Producer?

CBS’s The Talk is returning for Season 14 on Monday, October 9. The show’s panel remains the same as Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood are all returning but there will be some changes to the show under the guidance of new executive producer Rob Crabbe, formerly of The Late Late Show With James Corden.

TV Insider chatted with Crabbe about what will be different about the show and what will remain the same. The Writers Guild of America strike is over, but actors in SAG-AFTRA still don’t have a new deal. Therefore, while familiar faces may pop up on the show, they’ll be promoting non-acting gigs. Case in point: Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: Picard) will be on Monday’s episode to promote his memoir, Making It So. Read on for the changes coming to The Talk.

How did your coming to The Talk come about?

Rob Crabbe: I’d done a lot of late-night shows with single hosts. When the opportunity for daytime came up, I was really interested by it. I’m excited by the concept. Doing a live show with five hosts felt like some new muscles I wanted to try out.

What do you see as The Talk’s strong suits? What changes are you implementing?  

Fundamentally, the show is called The Talk – we’ve got five dynamic hosts who are different personalities, all of whom have a take on what’s going on in pop culture. That shouldn’t change. The reason people tune in is because of the continuity of hosts. They want to spend time with them. That will continue to be the core of the show. There are ways to sprinkle in other segments. Maybe we’ll add some games and get some dynamics going with the guests and start to develop our own recurring segments.

Can you bring segments from James Corden like “Crosswalk the Musical?” Granted, Ventura Blvd. might be a little bit more hectic than Beverly Blvd.

[Laughs] I wish I could bring that along with me. There might be some legal ramifications with that. But I’m really proud of the segments we had on Corden. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work with the team here and the hosts to come up with some recurring ideas.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Will there be any cosmetic changes to the show? There used to be a table that the hosts would sit at, which lent itself to more intimate conversations. The chairs they’ve sat in the last few years are spread out a bit more.

I can’t bring back the table that you’re thinking of, but how about a coffee table? We’ve made some tweaks to the set. We’ve opened it up a bit. We’ve brought the hosts closer together. It’ll be a more intimate environment for conversations. We’re trying to open up the set a little bit. We’ll have some chandeliers. It won’t be a radical departure, but there will be more warmth.

How will having the hosts be closer physically to each other be beneficial?  

I think if you’re gathered more closely, you can have a bit more intimate conversation than if you’re sitting six feet apart. We’ll loosen the conversation up by having them closer together. I want the mood to feel a bit freer when they’re out there.

Can you preview Monday’s Season 14 premiere?

Our hosts have been away from each other for about five months. We’re going to spend a little time reintroducing them. We have a pre-taped piece we’re putting in, and we have a massive giveaway we’re doing. We also have Patrick Stewart on to discuss his memoir,

Tonally, the show remains about pop culture?

Yes. I think it will continue to be joyful as it has been in the past. I think “joy” would be the first word that comes to mind. Other shows do more politics. What this show does is provide an escape where you can hear about pop culture and have fun with celebrities. We have more “water cooler” moments. There are still so many remote workers out there that The Talk is a nice place for them to tune into and see a group of people discussing the events of the day.

Traditionally, the show has not veered away from addressing big news events. Natalie must be a big plus on those days.

Natalie Morales is perfect for The Talk. She’s an absolute master at her journalistic skills with moderating, and she can lead a conversation. She’s a great personality. She can chime in and have as much fun as the other hosts are having, too. You always know you’re in good, capable hands when Natalie is there.

Sheryl can find the funny in any dynamic.

I’m excited for what Sheryl is going to bring this season. At her core, she’s an incredibly funny person. Sheryl has spent part of her summer getting back to her roots with standup comedy. She’s sharpened those skills and is bringing them back to The Talk. Having someone as fundamentally funny as she is makes any show better.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Jerry appears both unpredictable and yet reliable – if that makes sense.

Jerry is up for anything. He’s got incredible energy. He’s also very funny. Physically, he likes to use the space around him. You never know when he’s going to get up and what he’s going to do. That unpredictability is one of his strengths. It keeps viewers on their toes.

Amanda and Akbar – what are their strengths?

Amanda’s personality is wonderful. She has a lot of life experience that she brings to the table. She’s a single mother of a young child, and she’s a working mom. I think Amanda is incredibly relatable to a lot of our audience. She’s always up for doing a demo or something physical. We can always rely on her to have fun in the studio.

Our audience knows Akbar from his other hosting duties and his NFL career. Despite his framing as an ex-athlete, he’s got a sensitivity to him and is thoughtful. He listens, and he’s fully engaged at all times. That’s an underappreciated part of what he brings.

Not being able to have most actors on to talk about their films and TV shows may result in some new segments being created.

We’re all rooting for SAG-AFTRA to reach a fair and equitable deal and for things to be settled as soon as possible. We’re doing a show that doesn’t violate any of the strike [guidelines]. Our hosts are under a different deal. Our approach has to be a bit cleverer. As stars aren’t promoting films and TV shows as they traditionally do at this time of year, we have to dig a bit deeper and look for different stories. We’ll explore experts and people from the outside so that we can have interesting conversations. As producers, we want to find the best way to take advantage of that.

I don’t want to veer away from being an entertainment show, but we can be informative on things, too. We’ll visit with a Hispanic wine maker for Hispanic Heritage month [which runs from September 15 to October 16]. We’ll talk to experts about the latest stories in sports. We can do a demo with a wrestler. There are different ways to be informative with exercise tips and authors. While we can be informative, entertainment will always be the guiding principle.

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The Talk has always had great synergy with soap operas due in no small part to Sheryl’s enthusiasm for daytime drama. Do you see that continuing?

Yes. I’ve seen plenty of soap operas. I worked on the TV City lot [on James Corden], and we took advantage of our proximity to [The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful]. I love The Talk’s relationship with those shows and I want to continue to feature the stars of daytime. CBS is such a strong brand with a loyal audience. We’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t lean into our network partners.

What would you say to a lapsed Talk viewer to entice them back to the show?

We’re going to be a bright light of sunshine in the middle of the day. It’s a complicated world that we’re living in. If you want to have a bit of escapism and put a smile on your face, then spend an hour with people you’re really going to like. The Talk is a good show to put in your calendar.

The Talk, Weekdays, 2/1c, CBS