TV can be a brutal business because no show is too sacred for cancellation. That’s why Drew Barrymore is in celebration mode over her charming, eponymous talk show being renewed for Season 6.
TV Insider caught up with Barrymore on the set of her upcoming game show Hollywood Squares, a reboot of the classic series in which she will be the illustrious center square, and she revealed a bit about how worried she was about The Drew Barrymore Show‘s success.
“It’s never the way it looks on the outside. It was an intimidating time. It was an intimidating job. And there’s just no guarantees,” she said of her uncertainty about the show’s staying power when it first hit the airwaves in 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “I really did not think at certain points that we would ever get here.”
For Barrymore, her joy about the renewal news is two-pronged: It provides personal satisfaction and practical stability for her crew.
“It is such a gift to everyone doing the show because then they know they have some job certainty. We’re not going year to year. This is the biggest gift and it gives us a huge sigh of relief,” she explained. “We’ve been on fire for many years — like not as far as like success, but that feeling of the room on fire.”
Amid the turbulence that has been the entertainment industry in recent years — from pandemic restrictions shutting down many sets to the dual Hollywood strikes that put a lot of productions on hold — making it to Season 6 is no small achievement.
“A lot of these jobs just don’t make it this far, and there are no guarantees,” Barrymore said. “So this is such a gift and a privilege that I don’t take one thing for granted. And I’m really excited for everyone who works on the show to take a sigh of big relief. That’s how I honestly feel. The year one and year two, you’re calling people going to take another job. I believe we’re going to get another year and then they’re like, ‘We’re not certain.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, so when I meant, we’re going to get another year, it’s not a guarantee but don’t give up.’ I’m a producer. I’m in there with everyone. They’re concerned about their livelihood. This is such a gift to everyone making this show and we love it. We love making it.”
Beyond being thrilled to get to continue working with her team, Barrymore also said she has begun to draw parts of her identity from making the cheery series.
“There was a while where I was like, ‘I feel like my identity and happiness might be wrapped up in this. That doesn’t seem healthy.’ But that’s how much we cared about it, and if you don’t believe in it, you won’t put your that level of yourself into it. But then when you put that level of yourself into it, then that renewal becomes really important. So it’s been a really great journey. I’m really, really, really grateful that we got renewed. Yeah, this is a huge celebration.”
Stay tuned for more coverage of Hollywood Squares, including the full interview with Drew Barrymore and the show’s host Nate Burleson.
– Additional reporting by Kate Hahn