Tamron Hall celebrates 500th episode of daytime talk show

Tamron Hall celebrated the 500th episode of her show Thursday, and the milestone comes shortly after the show was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards.

The total in the Outstanding Informative Talk Show category includes a nod for the host.

The moment seemed all the more meaningful given the fact that Hall has earned her best ratings of the season in recent weeks with her "Tam Fam" growing to more than a million people each day.

To the star, that's a true proof of concept.

"Five hundred episodes, three seasons, and then you see that through word of mouth, members of the Tam Fam are telling people, 'You're missing out if you're not watching,'" she said.

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Hall went back to the future for her 500th show, welcoming Kim Fields, who gained fame on "The Facts of Life" in the 1980s, and Arsenio Hall, who Hall said had inspired her when he hosted his own talk show in the 1990s.

By an measure, her life has been remarkable.

She was born poor in Texas, the daughter of a teen mom who inspired and pushed her.

"'You can do it. You can be anything you want to be,'" she said her mom used to tell her. "And here I am, here."

Her show launched back in the fall of 2019, and she has survived and prospered despite obstacles like the pandemic.

"The bumps are real," she said. "But if you focus on the bump, you don't see the road ahead, and I'm looking at the road ahead."

Her progress hasn't always been smooth, but this has been part of the show's appeal -- and now, part of its legacy.

"We provided a seat at the table for everyone," she said. "I want every person to know, you are not alone, and this one hour you spend with me, I want you to always remember that."

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In the closing minutes of her 500th broadcast, Hall paid special thanks to her husband, Steve, who was in the audience to help her celebrate.

It is a far cry from the pandemic, when she was doing the show from her home with her husband as cameraman.

Now, Hall is back in the big studio and looking ahead to the next 200 shows.