‘The Real’ Wraps Up Eight Seasons In Daytime; “There Was Never A Show That Looked Like Us”

Lynette Rice
·2 min read
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Another Telepictures talk show wrapped up a successful run in daytime today. The women of The Real — Adrienne Houghton, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai Jenkins and Garcelle Beauvais — said goodbye after eight seasons and 1,360 episodes in syndication.

Eight days after Ellen DeGeneres bid farewell to her daytime audience of 19 seasons, the women of The Real let the tears flow as they looked back at some of their more memorable moments  — like when Love got a surprise visit from Idris Elba, Houghton’s wedding in Paris, the show’s interview with Michelle Obama, and when original host Tamera Mowry admitted to having sex dreams with women. There were also lots of clips of them either falling on stage or simply dancing it out.

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Sadly, fans weren’t able to attend the pre-taped finale that was shot back on April 27. Because of the pandemic, the show hasn’t featured a studio audience since the start of season 8. And since Mai just recovered from COVID-19 before taping the finale, Love opted to appear remotely out of caution.

There were no final guests in the studio: just the four women reminiscing for one final time.

“We have made our mark,” said Houghton. “I was talking to my mom earlier this morning. She knows this is the farewell show. And she was just telling me like, ‘you guys really did break the mold of daytime television.’ It’s so crazy when you think of it that way. There was never a show that looked like us. And I am so grateful and I hope that we are not the last.”

“The whole purpose of this show was that we we would put on people who normally wouldn’t get on daytime talk,” continued Love. “All the Tyler Perry movie people. We’ve had the Oprah people. We had Laurence Fishburne! We were able to talk about things that some people just ignore. When you look back at eight seasons, over 1,300 episodes, its phenomenal. It’s historic … We hope our example with what we have done can continue. Don’t let this end. Get another show like this together with fabulous women. Because we have a a whole future of things that we still have to fight for, with injustice and inequality.”

During its daytime run, The Real earned two NAACP Image Awards and Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Hosts, as well as hairstyling, makeup and costume design. The show was created by SallyAnn Salsano and produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Telepictures Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

Tenia L. Watson is executive producer and David Goldman is co-executive producer.

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