ABCMaybe it's the before-dawn wake-up calls, the bottomless cups of coffee, the need to be perky no matter how you actually feel.
Whatever it is, apparently it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose on the set of a morning show, whether it takes four years or four months.
While the shows themselves chug along like well-oiled machines, a village of producers and other staffers attending to every detail you can imagine (and many you can't) even in times of turmoil, every so often the talent spontaneously combusts.
Every network has been there (and of course the issues aren't confined to the morning, nightly news also being a hotbed of excitement at times), but the most talked about daytime drama is currently back on ABC.
Now, certain tensions are almost a given when you combine big personalities who are being paid tens of millions of dollars to entertain the masses, and everything they're doing is being measured by the slightest of up- and down-ticks in the ratings.
But it was surprising, at least at first, that the seams were showing at Live!, the reliably lighthearted hour that's been deftly bridging the gap between ABC morning flagship Good Morning America and The View for almost 20 years.
And what has transpired in less than a week has made this installment of morning-talk musical chairs the juiciest reality show on TV right now (sorry, Real Housewives of everywhere).
Less than four years after securing the very plum co-hosting job alongside second-in-command turned headliner Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan announced that he would be leaving Live! With Kelly and Michael to join GMA full-time.
A big surprise, yes, but also easily attributable to some relatively benign reasons: money, his desire for an even more visible platform, money, GMA hoping for a ratings boost...
Did we mention money? Pretty standard stuff.
Quickly pushed to the bottom of the list, because we've been charmed by Kelly for so long and Michael is just so darn lovable, was the possibility that the Live! co-hosts didn't get along.
But impossible, right?! The chemistry between the two surely had to have been the biggest motivating factor (aside from how much audiences love Strahan) in the decision to bring him on in the first place after they auditioned dozens of guest-hosts.
And Kelly and Michael have always certainly looked to be enjoying each others' company for the past three and a half years...
But whether their day-to-day behind the scenes was a little frosty or not was rendered moot as more of the full story revealed itself. Multiple sources have confirmed that Kelly—for the second time in five years—was blindsided by the announcement that her co-host was leaving. It turned out that Michael plotted his exit announcement similarly to how Regis Philbin went about it before he left Live! five years ago.
Namely, neither took Kelly into his confidence beforehand. WTF?!
"It wasn't pretty," a source described the aftermath to E! News, noting that Ripa was "livid" when she found out, right after it was business-as-usual on the air Tuesday and just moments before the bosses circulated a staff-wide memo.
So like on any reality show worth its salt, we've got backstabbing and betrayal.
"He has no bad blood towards her at this point and is looking forward to [starting] his new chapter with his new team," a source also told E! News last week.
Meanwhile, now all we can focus on are the words "at this point."
Does that mean that beforehand there was bad blood? Was Michael thinking, "Hey, there's no point in airing all our dirty laundry now. I'm outta here!"?
Cue the conspiracy theories: Michael doesn't get along with Kelly. He doesn't work well with longtime Live! producer Michael Gelman. Lara Spencer is now feeling snubbed by the Strahan hiring. Kelly isn't coming back. GMA is going to expand to three hours...
The possibilities were endless!
Then Kelly seemingly went full diva, not appearing with Michael on Live! Wednesday as people speculated about her next move. First she was leaving town, then she was staying put, then she was spotted in New York carrying a copy of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. Was that her being passive-aggressive? Or was it the wishful thinking of people who can't get enough?!
But hot on the heels of the rumors came the debunking: Producers remain committed to Live! and its future. Michael, reporting for work as usual, graciously thanked Kelly on the air. Lara Spencer isn't jealous. And Kelly's vacation had been planned for months to celebrate her and hubby Mark Consuelos' upcoming 20th wedding anniversary.
The timing was just suspicious. Or auspicious, depending on how you look at it.
And Kelly is coming back—this morning, in fact! And Michael will be there (until September, in fact), and the two will... hmm, what will they do?
Unfortunately, there's slim chance of Kelly or Michael going on (and on, and on and on...) about the issue—at least in front of any camera. They're too professional and, also unlike some, they're paid to be likable, the amiable chums sharing a second cup of coffee on the other side of America's table.
But Kelly and Michael would be remiss not to at least joke about what will presumably be explained away as some sort of "misunderstanding." The elephant in the room is too big to ignore and the drama too convoluted at this point not to address.
For some reason it's endlessly fascinating to see America's sweethearts turn out to be human beings with issues. Especially human beings who have issues with each other. And whatever the story, it got majorly flubbed in the telling, causing the narrative to spin out of control.
And there are, in fact, multiple ways to look at this story, including one in which Michael and Disney/ABC Domestic Television are the villains and Kelly is the put-upon princess in the tower—and another in which ABC News is the damsel in distress and Michael's coming to save the day! (Or attract some of those desired 25-to-54-year-old viewers!)
As with all behind-the-scenes drama, this will blow over and actual reality stars can reclaim their melodramatic throne in due time. According to CNN, ABC and Disney execs have already apologized to both Live! hosts for bungling the whole transaction.
But until Kelly has had her say, this juicy chapter remains unfinished, and we can't wait to watch what happens on Live!.
(E! Online and Bravo are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)