The apparent total collapse of the daytime TV landscape continues apace tonight, as Rachael Ray announced that she’s packing it in over at, well, Rachael Ray, ending the daytime talk series after a measly 17 seasons on the air. This is per THR, which reports that Ray is giving up the world of TV talk in an apparent effort to get back to her roots as a cooking show host, having recently launched a new production company, Free Food Studios.
Ray’s departure from the field of chipper morning conversational battle is just the latest such retreat to hit the industry in recent months. It has been a bad couple of years for the mainstays of the format, honestly, stretching from Wendy Williams’ ignominious departure last year, to the collapse of Ellen amidst accusations of workplace toxicity, to the recent cancellations of Dr. Phil, Judge Mathis, and The People’s Court. (Mathis, at least, will basically survive; Byron Allen snagged Judge Greg Mathis’ contract basically the second it was back on the market.) We can only hope that the market pressures draining all the money out of the format stay the hell away from Drew Barrymore, because if capitalism screws up the sublime weirdness of The Drew Barrymore Show before we can get more clips of her cosplaying as herself or waxing poetic about removing stains, we’re going to fucking riot.
Ray issued a statement about her departure, although we’ll be damned if we can figure out what it says about her future plans: “My passions have evolved from the talk show format production and syndication model to a platform unencumbered by the traditional rules of distribution. I am truly excited to be able to introduce and develop new and upcoming epicurean talent on all platforms.” (Is she… making food TikToks? Which traditional rules of TV distribution does Rachael Ray intend to break?) Rachael Ray has been running in syndication since 2006; its 17th season will be its last.