The Wendy Williams Show

The Wendy Williams Show
Created by Wendy Williams
Presented by Wendy Williams
Theme music composer David Vanacore
(Vanacore Music)
Opening theme "Shout It Out"
(Seasons 1–4)
"Shout It Out" (Dance Remix) by Nikko Lowe
(Season 5–present)
Ending theme "Shout It Out"
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 1154 (as of October 30, 2015)[1]
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • David Perler
  • Wendy Williams-Hunter
  • Kevin Hunter
  • Jason Gabel
  • Suzanne Bass
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 43 minutes
Production company(s) Talk WW Productions, Inc.
Wendy Williams Productions
Perler Productions (Season 7-present)
Distributor Debmar-Mercury
20th Television
(ad-sales)
Release
Original network Syndication
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
(Season 1–3)
1080i (HDTV)
(Season 4–)
Audio format Dolby Digital
Original release July 14, 2008 (2008-07-14) – present
External links
Website

The Wendy Williams Show is an American syndicated infotainment talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams. Produced by Debmar-Mercury and distributed by 20th Television, the show has aired since July 14, 2008 in select major U.S. markets and July 13, 2009 nationwide. It is primarily aired on Fox, CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates (along with several affiliates of other major networks).[2] In January 2016, the talk show was renewed through the 2019–20 season.[3] The show has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards.

Wendy is broadcast live in front of a studio audience on Mondays through Thursdays. The Friday shows are either a first-run episode originally taped after the Thursday for broadcast the next day, or a repeat of the previous Monday's episode.

Format

The program is formatted as an entertainment-based talk show, focusing largely on celebrity news and gossip as well as lifestyle features.

Each episode begins with "Hot Topics," an opening segment — usually running 18 to 21 minutes (originally lasting 10 to 12 minutes until the third season), depending on the number of stories featured — in which Williams mainly discusses tabloid headlines and celebrity news, and provides her opinions — often addressing the celebrities directly and giving them advice to the camera.[4][5] The segment incorporates a heavier emphasis on stories about reality stars and African-American entertainers (particularly hip-hop, rap and R&B artists) than are covered on traditional entertainment newsmagazine programs. Occasionally, the topics incorporated into the segment may involve current issues and offbeat news items not related to the entertainment industry; Williams periodically deviates from the topic to elaborate on a particular aspect of it that relates to her own life. The studio audience (who are affectionately termed by Williams as her "co-hosts") have some active participation in the segment, with Williams often surveying them through applause about a particular point of the story being discussed.

Periodic segments-within-a-segment are featured during "Hot Topics" including "Wendy's Got You Covered" (detailing cover stories from current issues of entertainment, fashion and lifestyle magazines), the "Hot Shot of the Day" (showcasing a particular celebrity photo), the "Clip of the Day" (usually featuring clips or promos from upcoming television programs) and "Celebrity Shout-Out" (detailing a celebrity-related story highlighting a particular milestone or accomplishment).

In addition to "Hot Topics", the program includes other in-depth topical segments incorporating guest contributors including the

The remainder of the program heavily incorporates feature segments (many of which are featured in the show's "B"-block) including "Ask Wendy" (a segment in which Williams gives audience members advice on how to deal with their work, family or relationship problems), "Celebrity Fan-Out" (featuring photographs submitted by viewers of their celebrity encounters), "Celebrity Lookalikes" (featuring photographs of viewers stating their resemblance to a particular celebrity, with Williams and the studio audience judging the closeness in their resemblance), "Hot Topics Sound-Off" (in which up to four audience members give their opinion to Williams about the stories discussed in "Hot Topics" or other topical segments mentioned in that day's episode) and "Street Talk" (a man-on-the-street segment in which viewers in public areas in U.S. cities provide their opinions of hypothetical celebrity-related questions, suffaced by humorous cutout animations).

On the Tuesday and Wednesday (and sometimes, the Thursday) editions, Williams interviews a single featured celebrity guest; musical performances are featured occasionally. The show regularly features product giveaways, usually as part of "Trendy@Wendy", a weekly segment showcasing fashion/beauty products and electronics that are given to studio audience members, with at-home viewers being able to purchase the featured items through the show's website at a discount from their estimated retail price.

Production and distribution

On April 21, 2008, Fox Television Stations ordered a test run of the show for the group's Fox owned-and-operated stations to air after their local weekday morning newscasts. The Wendy Williams Show premiered on July 14, 2008 as a six-week trial run on four Fox-owned outlets: WNYW/New York City, KTTV/Los Angeles, WJBK/Detroit and KDFW/Dallas-Fort Worth.[6]

After the test run concluded,[7][8] Debmar-Mercury picked up the program for a full nationwide launch, and through additional station group pickups (including stations owned by CBS Television Stations, NBC Owned Television Stations, Tribune Broadcasting, LIN TV Corporation, Cox Media Group, Local TV LLC, Raycom Media, New Vision Television and the Meredith Corporation), gained carriage on stations covering more than 95% of the country including all of the 20 largest media markets and 45 of the top 50 markets.[9][10] On June 4, 2009, BET acquired the cable syndication rights to the show, airing it as part of the cable channel's late night schedule.[11] The Wendy Williams Show entered into national syndication on broadcast stations and on BET on July 13, 2009.

The Wendy Williams Show went on a 17-city "Say It Like You Mean It" promotional tour across the United States in the summer of 2011, presenting mini-versions of the show at local malls.[12]

On May 4, 2013, Fox Television Stations announced a deal with Debmar-Mercury to renew the show through the 2016–17 television season.[13][14]

The show debuted outside the United States on BET International in July 2010 in markets like UK and Africa.[15] In the UK, Wendy remains the most watched show on BET where it is shown a total of four times a day.

Awards and recognition

The Wendy Williams Show received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations in 2015: the show was nominated for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment, with Williams receiving a nomination for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Episodes: The Wendy Williams Show". TV Guide. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  2. ↑ "'Wendy Williams Show' Picked Up by 70% of U.S. Market". TVWeek. Dexter Canfield Media Inc. Jan 13, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ Zhu, Danielle (January 19, 2016). "The Wendy Williams Show renewed through 2019–20 season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ Don Kaplan (January 25, 2015). "Wendy Williams set to celebrate 1,000 episodes of her talk show: 'This show is perfect for me'". New York Daily News (Daily News, L.P.). Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kimberly Nordyke (August 21, 2012). "'The Wendy Williams Show' Getting New Studio, Enhanced Set for Season 4 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  6. ↑ Paige Albiniak (April 21, 2008). "Fox O&Os to Bring The Wendy Williams Show to TV". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  7. ↑ Brian Stelter (August 18, 2008). "Wendy Williams Passes the Talk-Show Test". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ "How You Doin’? – Wendy Williams Show Picked Up For 2009 Run". Singersroom. August 19, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  9. ↑ Paige Albiniak (January 12, 2009). "‘Wendy Williams’ Certain For Summer". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ Paige Albiniak (January 12, 2009). "‘Wendy Williams’ Certain For Summer". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ David Tanklefsky (June 4, 2009). "BET Acquires Cable Run Of ‘Wendy Williams Show’". Broadcasting & Cable (Cahners Business Information). Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  12. ↑ Paige Albiniak (July 18, 2011). "What Wendy Williams Plans to Do on Her Summer Vacation Boost Viewership". Broadcasting & Cable (NewBay Media). Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Debmar-Mercury Renews Fast-Rising "The Wendy Williams Show" Through 2016–17 on FOX Television Stations". The Futon Critic. May 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ Amanda Kondolojy (June 4, 2013). "'The Wendy Williams Show' Renewed Through the 2016–2017 Season". TV by the Numbers. Zap2It (Tribune Media).
  15. ↑ "BET Networks Secures International Channels Rights". Viacom. January 6, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Wendy Williams Nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award!". The Wendy Williams Show. Debmar-Mercury. April 1, 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.