RICKI LAKE CANCELED

Despite the interests through this site to e-mail stations and let them know there was interest in the show, "Ricki Lake" is going off air, and will not have a 12th season. Despite a sony spokesman saying last week "no decision has been made yet", it has become all to clear through contact with stations that the show will not return.

The "Save Ricki" campaign started after I got word from a friend that people at the show stated the show was likely not coming back. More than 30 stations were e-mailed and since then, all of the responses have been posted on the "Save Ricki" page located at www.planetricki.com/savericki/

While some stations came back with the response that they were not sure of the fate of the show, more stations than not gave considerable hints that the show was leaving. "The word we've been getting from producers is that Ricki is in the works of making a new sitcom and that will take up most of her time," stated the programming manager at WASV-TV. Similarily, KCWB-TV reported "the distributor has not indicated to us the show will be returning next fall. It doesn't look likely that it will happen." Some responses were mixed in feedback, however. "We have renewed the show for another season, but the show's return is apparently in question. While there are rumors floating around that this is the last season for Ricki, we have heard nothing official," remaked Dale Hartnett, programming manager at WUHF-TV. And of course, some seemed a bit optimistic. "They have not communicated that she is not returning," said Dave Coy of WYFX-TV.

What became clear and evident through these e-mails is that the show was in serious trouble, and some stations as far back as December, had no trouble saying the show was leaving for sure. "There will not be a 12th year of Ricki Lake. She's calling it quits after this year to pursue other career opportunities," said the programming manager of WASV-TV.

The reason for the show leaving its airways could have been a combination of several things. First, there is the marraige split with her former husband Rob Sussman in August, 2003. Who knows if she would have done this season, but she was under contract and taping had already started. Secondly, the show's ratings have been slipping in some demographic areas. Although the first few weeks of the new season did have some positive growth from the previous year, "Ricki" continued to have negative results from last season. Thirdly, just months ago, and as reported on PlanetRicki.com, Lake signed a deal with CBS to star and develop in her own sitcom for the fall of 2004. Fourth, Lake moved to California in the summer of 2003, and traveling back and forth to New York each week and taping her sitcom [for another season] would undoubtedly be too much for the 35 year old host that has entertained us for more than a decade. Finally, in the fall of 2003, Sony Pictures Television (distributor for "Ricki Lake")announced a new talk-show with a similiar format to that of "The View", but adding a younger twist like "Ricki Lake" would be hitting the airways in 2004. Syndie analysts began to question the show's return from then on. Whether it be her breakup with Rob Sussman or other issues, the show received very little publicity with not a single appearance, except for a re-run of an interview from the previous year on "The View".

The fact that the show is leaving shouldn't be a surprise to many. Before the season started, Lake noted "Season 11 is still my main priority. But, what do I do want to do after that". Although some may recall a spokesperson for the show saying earlier "Ms. Lake is expected to return for a 12th season," after the deal was signed with CBS and we learned Sony's younger talk show hitting the airways, it started to become somewhat clear the show was likely not going to return.

Ricki Lake, who has millions of captivated fans across the country has been hosting "Ricki Lake" since September 13, 1993. The show soared to the ratings, and by its second season was only second to "Oprah" in the ratings. Millions of viewers tuned in each day to watch the host tackle issues that affected young viewers, and was the one of the first shows to book gay guests; not surprisingly with young guests, young crew, and generally an outspoken audience filled with mostly 20-year old something men and women. "Ricki" introduced new and exciting elements no other show had done before such as "Ricki's Street Cam" that allowed viewers outside on the streets to interact with the show.

Millions of viewers were attached to the new talk show that was speaking to their generation. The show, in fact, was described as "The New Generation Of Talk" because of its mixed topics geared towards a younger audience than all other talk shows. From outrageous topics like "I Slept With Your Man And I'll Do It Again", to the emotional and hard topics such as "I'm A Teen Heroin Addict...'Ricki' Please Help Me Before It's Too Late" and "Mom, I Fight, Steal, And Kill For My Gang...And I Won't Quit For You". The show continued to produce light-hearted and emotional topics geared towards the young audience even as Lake was aging into her thirties. The show started adding music stars, and in eleven years has had many performances, including: Lumbidee, "The Backstreet Boys", "*NSync", "LFO", Britney Spears, Usher, "All-4-One", Gloria Gaynor, and many other pop and hip-hop stars.

By the end of its 3rd season, "Ricki Lake" and other shows trying to emulate her formula were being attacked by policitians claiming they had lowered the standards of TV. In an effort to fight back -- in its 5th season, the show became more pro-active with more on-air experts and more positive topics. "We're doing a more positive show," stated Lake on an interview on Live! With Regis & Kelly. Ratings started to dip, however, because the show lost some of its energy by gearing the show to an older audience.

The following season, the ratings would spark back up with not only a new look of the host itself, but a brand new set at a brand new studio. The return of topics geared to the younger audience, and the additions of new weekly themes such as "Let's Talk About Sex" week, brought the ratings back up. Two seasons later, the show had more on-air experts, and added more topics revolving around health and safety and "Ricki" would start tackling more troubling and heart-wrenching issues such as gangs, teenage pregnancy, drugs, and homeless teens. Lake also started her commitment to prevent teenage pregnancy by joining with The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy, and Project Cuddle. The show aired several episodes about pregnant teens, to try to show wannabe pregnant teens that they should either wait to have sex, or use protection. Lake herself shot nine PSA's and ads were shown on TV, Websites, and other media outlets. As well, Lake aired a special episode about teen pregnancy in May, on the same day as The National Day To Prevent Teen Pregnancy Day. The show, and Lake herself has received several awards including The Gracie Allen Award for positive programming, PRISM awards and commendations for shows dealing with drugs, and many other awards.

In season 10, the show got a brand new set, and the show's topics started gearing toward an older demographic. "Ricki Lake" started implementing a brand new set of signature themes to the series such as "EXPOSED", "Ricki To The Rescue", and "Ricki Investigates". In addition, Ricki Lake herself became Supervising Producer of the show, having a more active role in what goes on behind-the-scenes of the show. Although the show had some boosts in the ratings, the main audience lost interest in the show, and ratings were slipping.

The show continued into its 11th year on September 15th, 2003 with the same format as the previous season. In October, the show celebrated its 1800th episode, yet another mild indication the show was not returning. Although the show [still] remains unofficially canceled, the show will not be back as Ricki herself is moving on to other projects. "I double-checked and it seems as though RICKI wants to do other things. She is interested in doing movies, etc," stated the programming manager at WBZL-TV.

Sony was able to sell the show to a number of stations for its 12th season by getting stations to contract the show for its 11th and 12th season back in 2002.

Lake has gone through a lot of ups and downs since her talk-show debuted. She had roles in several movies including "Serial Mom", "Mrs. Winterbourne", and "Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphey Mystery", just to name a few. She got married in 1994 to Robert Sussman, and gave birth to Milo Sebastian on March 22nd, 1997; on June 18th, 2001, she added Owen Tyler to her family. On August 13th, 2003, Lake and Rob separated, and none have publicly commented about the reasons why. The only bit of information that seemed related was on one airing of her show where she told a guest "I hate to tell you, but men have issues too."

Lake has a deal with CBS to star and develop a sitcom starting to air in the fall of 2004, and has a lead role in the movie "West Memphis Three," which is expected to be out sometime this year.

Ricki, on behalf of all your fans around the world thank you for 11 years of amazing talk. You have truly given a lot of people inspiration and an in-depth look into a lot of issues in life.