'The Chew' hits its 1000th episode on TV

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon takes a look at a milestone for ABC's 'The Chew'.

A lot of shows have come and gone since "The Chew" made its debut in September 2011, airing at 1 p.m. right after Eyewitness News, and the program earned its highest ratings ever in the first quarter of this year.

So, it's the perfect time to celebrate an important milestone. Tasty TV made fresh daily has kept "The Chew" crew cooking through 1,000 episodes -- the show just received another Emmy.

"I was shocked that we got to 1,000 episodes because I don't know if anybody thought we would," said co-host Clinton Kelly. "In fact, a lot of people told us we surely wouldn't, so I'd like to say, 'here we are!'"

Co-host Carla Hall said she also was surprised. "When I gained that first 30 pounds in the first three months, I simply wanted the show to be canceled!"

Their recipe for success is a good blend of different personalities.

Mario Batali, co-host, said, "I think we're still here because, even though when we met each other we weren't sure if we were gonna be able to live together, now that we've been living together for five years, we love each other because we appreciate each others' diverse opinions, diverse backgrounds."

"The Chew" is the most popular daytime talk show among women - and draws almost 3 million viewers each week. "We're friends outside the show so it comes very natural to be on television every day for an hour and have a good time," said Michael Symon, a co-host.

"The Chew's" executive producer Gordon Elliott said one key is having fun. "You gotta be useful. You gotta be fun to hang around. You gotta be unpredictable."

Being relatable is also important. "We show you how we mess up and we show you how we recover, and people really appreciate that realness in this age of a lot of fluff and smoke 'n mirrors and stuff," said Daphne Oz, a co-host.

There is room for the sublime -- and the silly -- in a unique mix of food and fun that just might endure for another 1,000 shows.

A special edition of "The Chew" was scheduled to air with special guest chefs at 1 p.m. Thursday.