2020 Was The Year Drew Barrymore Blew Up The Daytime Talkshow Machine

As I sat at my kitchen table, flanked by a seasonally-decorative background, caked in what my pre-pandemic self would call “makeup,” mindlessly clapping at my computer screen, I began to wonder: How did I get here Here, being the virtual audience of the Drew Barrymore Show – a new entry in the daytime talk show circuit fronted by a child-star-turned-Letterman-flashing-young-Hollywood-elite-turned-yoga-loving-hippie-actress-you’d-love-to-get-a-spiked-kombucha-with, Drew Barrymore. Of course, I had a hunch as to the answer.

My desire to perform for my laptop’s front-facing camera like some over-caffeinated Pomeranian show dog could be boiled down to an almost debilitating sense of curiosity. I’d seen the headlines, the bolded reviews dubbing the show “hypnotically weird,” “low-key insanity,” and, a personal favorite, “where my brain is at” (the last being especially concerning considering I’ve now seen the bright-lit chaos up close and experienced its dizzying, relentless optimism first-hand).

I’d also seen viral videos making their way around social media, clips of Barrymore smashing a miniature-baby-topped cake in her mouth at a news desk, offering up cultural commentary using the word “kook-a-doodle,” bragging about her love of gas station food and stain removers, and of course, the screaming. Lots and lots of enthusiastic screaming.