With Tamar Braxton Gone, “The Real” on BET May Be a Cancellation Candidate

  HOLLYWOOD, CA - 10/06/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

September 12^th premiere of “The Real” talk show’s Season 3 was met by a backlash of gloomy TV ratings and scathing critiques online. With the absence of successful singer and actress Tamar Braxton, many viewers are bemoaning the remaining co-hosts’ lack of chemistry, and are finding the latest version of the production overwhelmingly dull and without direction. Downhill trending numbers reinforced the idea that “The Real” may not have the ability to survive without Braxton’s personality and candor; entertainment news website TheWrap reports that the FOX channel program, which re-airs on BET, suffered a 22 percent drop in viewers when compared with the opening episode of Season 2, when Braxton was still a beloved fixture on the panel.

With the sharp loss in ratings that Broadcasting & Cable has called one of “the largest declines of any talkers that haven’t already been canceled,” the future of “The Real” appears to be in serious peril. Since producers had unexpectedly and controversially dismissed Tamar Braxton after the conclusion of the daytime program’s second season earlier this year, the negative fallout has been palpable. While Braxton has already moved on with her career, those working behind the cameras are left to ponder their future, given the abysmal results of their baffling casting decision. As recently as last June, the Grammy-nominated and Soul Train Award-winning vocalist revealed on The Steve Harvey Morning Show that she still had never received an explanation for her removal.

Immediately following the maligned Season 3 debut of “The Real,” viewers took to social media to decry the missing vitality that has exited from it along with Braxton and her popular insights and lively, straightforward commentary. Many displeased audience members also pointedly noted that her former co-hosts Adrienne Bailon, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai and Tamera Mowry-Housley never mentioned the lineup disturbance and merely attempted to continue FOX’s daytime talker as if nothing had changed, despite the glaring flaws in the altered formula.

Though Ms. Braxton is no longer appearing on the chat program she co-hosted for years following its original airing in July of 2013, she can still be seen on her WE tv reality series in the five-season-strong Braxton Family Values, which chronicles her life with her sisters. Its spin-off, Tamar & Vince, completed 38 episodes and is highly regarded for the 5.6 million viewers it acquired for the network in its first season. Braxton’s future plans will undoubtedly delight her fans: she signed an exclusive development deal with Steve Harvey’s East 112^th Street Productions, and plans on launching her own talk show and television series next year.