Sherri Shepherds daytime talk show, Sherri, is shaking up its executive ranks, setting a new senior producing team ahead of its second season.
The inaugural season of the top-rated freshman show carried over the production staff from The Wendy Williams Show, which was replaced in its time slot on the Fox stations by Sherri when Williams show ended in 2022. Now, Shepherds show has parted ways with some of Williams top producers, who helped launch Sherri, which has been renewed through 2025.
Sherri hails from Lionsgates Debmar-Mercury, the same company that was behind The Wendy Williams Show for its 13-year run.
Fernita Wynn has been promoted to showrunner and executive producer on Sherri; Joelle Dawson-Calia has been upped to executive producer; and Siobhan Schanda and Dan Fitzpatrick have been elevated to co-executive producers. All four producers were part of Sherris launch. They will all work alongside Shepherd, who is executive producer and host, as well as original executive producer Jawn Murray, Shepherds longtime producing partner who was handpicked by the host to help launch her talk show last year.
Dawson-Calia, Schanda and Fitzpatrick are all veterans from The Wendy Williams Show. Wynn has extensive daytime credentials, having worked at Oprah Winfreys OWN and on talk shows like The Queen Latifah Show, Steve Harvey, Jenny Jones and more.
In its first season, Sherri became the No .1 new nationally-syndicated daytime talk show. It won an NAACP Image Award for outstanding talk series, and received four daytime Emmy nominations, including outstanding daytime talk series host for Shepherd.
Im thrilled to have Fernita Wynn promoted to executive producer and showrunner and lead the production team at Sherri for Season 2. Im also happy to announce the elevation of Joelle Dawson, Siobhan Schanda and Dan Fitzpatrick, who will work alongside Jawn Murray and me as we continue to bring our good time to daytime, Shepherd said in a statement. Im grateful for this rockstar TV team that helped make the first season of Sherri a success and the No. 1 new talk show in daytime. Expect the unexpected as we embark on our second season!
Longtime Wendy Williams producers David Perler and Suzanne Bass have departed the show, and will not return for the second season. Perler was executive producer and showrunner of The Wendy Williams Show for 12 seasons and served as executive producer on Sherris first season. Bass was a mainstay on Wendy, not just as a producer, but also known by viewers for her frequent on-camera appearances.
Executive producer David Perler and co-executive producer Suzanne Bass have been integral to Debmar-Mercurys success in daytime syndication for many years and have helped launchSherri,' a spokesperson for Debmar-Mercury said in a statement to Variety. Debmar-Mercury wishes them all the best on future endeavors and hopes to work with them in the future.
The first season of Sherri wraps this Friday, June 16. Season 2 will premiere on Monday, September 18.