‘The Meredith Vieira’ Show Gets The Axe, Cancelled After Two Seasons
The Meredith Vieira Show has not survived to see another season. The former Today host, who presumably enjoyed the lighter fare of her show, is not going to be entering a third season. Plagued with declining ratings and a changing format that never quite got its pacing, NBC announced that the current season of The Meredith Vieira Show will be the show’s final season.
That said, don’t expect the ending of the show to be the end of Meredith Vieira. The talk show host has called NBC home for a number of years, and it doesn’t look like she’s leaving anytime soon. Vieira will take this move and transition to covering the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In a statement, Vieira said, “I am so sorry to see our show come to an end after this season, but I am also incredibly proud of the work our staff has done and forever grateful to our supportive viewers. We promise to spend our final weeks producing the best broadcast we know how. And have a blast doing so!”
.@meredithvieira‘s daytime talk show axed after 2 seasons, here’s her response: https://t.co/JhMv8ozjW6 pic.twitter.com/vL6YmzmOkc
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) January 4, 2016
Season 2 of The Meredith Vieira Show went through a bit of a shakeup. While Vieira manned the show in its first season, by the time the second season rolled around, producers of the show started a “coffee talk” table format reminiscent of The View, which Vieira was on for many years as an original co-host. This was probably done in an effort to attract viewers, but it seemed like that format was a bit crowded, with The View, The Chew, and The Talk all currently on network television. For a show struggling to create its unique brand, it seems like this wasn’t the way to go.
NBC is wrapping @meredithvieira‘s @MeredithShow after two seasons https://t.co/golEUJmMEE pic.twitter.com/eFbwpNDxmN
— Newsday (@Newsday) January 4, 2016
Former NSYNC member Lance Bass joined Vieira for Season 2 along with Lilliana Vazquez (theLVGuide.com), Yamaneika Saunders (Oxygen’s Funny Girls, Last Comic Standing), and Megan Colarossi, who was a contributor for the Today show.
As for Lance Bass, he still has his syndicated SiriusXM radio show, Dirty Pop Live, which airs daily. In case you aren’t familiar, the show is described as an “evening-drive radio show” that gives listeners a “guide to pop culture hosted by pop music icon and LGBT rights advocate Lance Bass. The two-hour live, call-in show features Bass combining his passion for music with his unique take on the pop culture news of the moment, his insider access and experience, and his sense of humor and fun.”
When Bass signed on to the newly revamped show back in August, Vieira said in a statement, “I’m excited to be returning live for our second season — uncut and unfiltered, anything can happen. With the new live format, we’ll be able to connect even more with our viewers and bring their voices into the discussion.”
Aside from Vieira, no one else from the panel has made statements regarding the cancellation just yet. The Meredith Vieira Show follows other shows that didn’t have luck sticking an audience, including ones featuring Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, and Queen Latifah.
While The Meredith Vieira Show got bad news today, Ellen DeGeneres got some good TV news. According to the Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres’ daytime talk show has been renewed through to 2020 by NBC.
As for what will be replacing The Meredith Vieira Show, according to Deadline, NBC is launching a two-hour block of Steve Harvey Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, both of which have been very successful at the start of their respective premieres. In addition, NBC is launching a newscast which will air at 4 p.m. for major markets in New York and Los Angeles.
[Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images]
