The Talk executive producer Rob Crabbe is getting a little too familiar with TV farewells. A year and a half after his previous speaker, “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” signed off, he is now doing the same on Friday with “The Talk.”
It’s a different kind of show, and therefore a different kind of farewell. But there are still similarities with the drawing. “The emotional undercurrent of what the shows were trying to achieve is the same,” Crabbe said Variety. “You’re trying to express joy. You try to make people feel something. And with ‘The Talk’ we give everyone a little break in the day, the routine of it. This is a break from your day, where you can come and laugh and watch five people who really like each other, having a really good time on television. That emotional coin will be missed by many people in the audience.”
“The Talk” ends its 15-year run on Friday with one final live episode, which Crabbe said will be dedicated to celebrating the history of the show and its hosts, past and present. There will be no guests at the farewell, except one: Howie Mandel, a regular on “The Talk,” will poke his head in once more to pay tribute to hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales , Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood.
“He acts as an old friend of the show to surprise the hosts with some superlatives that the staff has come up with for them,” Crabbe said. “And then I think it’s important to pay tribute to the staff and crew who make the show. And so there will be some of that as well. It’s quite the end of an era for our daytime viewers and for the people who work here. And so if I were a gambler, I think I’d adopt some tears too.
The final episode will feature a pre-tape package that looks back at Underwood’s tenure on the show, having been there the longest (joining Season 2 in 2011). “The Talk” has been paying tribute to all the hosts, one by one, every day this week.
“The show has a long history and fifteen seasons is an incredible number to wrap your head around,” says Crabbe. “With this finals week, it’s important to really focus on these hosts. That’s why we gave each host a full segment where we surprise them with a retrospective shot they haven’t seen yet and then have them respond to it. We kind of went in reverse chronological order when they started the show. On the final day we close with Sheryl’s retrospective. She is the longest serving host here. And I really like those, because they experience their journey almost in real time throughout the show.
Crabbe plans to give the hosts plenty of time in the finale to reflect on what “The Talk” meant to them and say goodbye. “For the final, I really wanted to be reflective of the hosts,” he says. “I think they all want to say something about their experience and what it’s been like for them and what it means to them.”
“The Talk” started in 2010 from an idea by Sara Gilbert, who was one of the show’s first hosts, along with Julie Chen Moonves, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete and Marissa Jaret Winokur. Others who have hosted include Aisha Tyler, Eve, Carrie Ann Inaba, Marie Osmond and Elaine Welteroth. There is no plan for previous hosts to make cameos in the finale, but they will appear in clips.
“In these highlight packages you see footage, especially from other hosts,” he says. “But we have no plans for any surprise appearances from former hosts. Many clips also feature the former presenters, it was also their show. And we want to be respectful to the entire show. All the work that went into it and all those past seasons with all those other hosts. So it will be a complete look back at everything.”
Crabbe says things are getting more and more emotional on set, especially as audiences come to the realization that this is it for “The Talk.”
“One of the things that impressed me is how much the show means to the viewers and the studio audience,” he says. “They are a very loyal group and the response has been tremendous. There’s a couple who met in the audience and got married, and we’re trying to show some of these audience stories as well. Many people believe that the show sparked the joy that saved their lives.
“I’m not sure if they necessarily announced that the end was coming, but now it’s become very clear, and so we have a crying audience in the studio every day,” he adds. “The show means a lot to a lot of people. And so I think it will be missed in this space.
The show has been talking about their impending departure all week, and even had some fun with it in the cold open as they teased their versions of iconic series finales like “Seinfeld,” “The Sopranos” and “The Bob Newhart Show.”
“The Talk” will be replaced in the new year by a new soap opera, “Beyond the Gates,” premiering on February 24.