The Chew has cooked up its final meal. ABC has cancelled the cooking and lifestyle show after seven seasons and seven years. The alphabet network made the move to pave the way for a third hour of Good Morning America, the nation's top morning show. In a possible sign of the news to come, The Chew never replaced former host Mario Batali after the chef was terminated from the show. Nor did it replace Daphne Oz when she voluntarily departed from the show, leaving three hosts to helm the show.
There is no word on when the newly-developed hour of Good Morning America will premiere or who will host it. For now, The Chew will continue production and air as planned until September. The third hour of Good Morning America should premiere not too long after that, assuming ABC doesn't want to air re-runs of The Chew for a period after it wraps.
The news comes seven years after ABC cancelled the long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live to bring two lifestyle shows to the network: The Chew and The Revolution. The Chew replaced All My Children, while the latter series replaced One Life to Live. The Chew ended up doing better than its counterpart, which only survived for six months. In a bid to cross-promote the series, The Chew's Carla Hall made a guest appearance on ABC's only remaining soap, General Hospital, for May sweeps.
Today's news means that the final block of programming that replaced the two beloved soap operas have been cancelled, but not to restore the soap that The Chew was brought in to replace. Despite networks' interest in reviving bygone series, soap operas have yet to receive that treatment. While a bitter pill for soap fans hoping for a different outcome, ABC's decision to replace The Chew with another hour of Good Morning America is good news for fans of the morning show.
ABC's decision comes as Good Morning America has been experiencing tremendous success in the ratings. The show is still in a ratings battle with NBC's Today, which had more total viewers during the week of the royal wedding. According to THR, it's the first time Today beat Good Morning America since February when NBC's morning show was covering the Winter Olympics. For now, all that is left for Good Morning America fans to do is wait and see who ABC picks to captain the new hour.
The Chew airs weekdays on ABC. For the other shows set to air during the hot months, check out our guide to TV's summer premieres. For a better handle on what to expect when fall arrives, check out our 2018 network TV rundown. For some streaming options, swing by our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
