‘Sherri’ Producer Fernita Wynn On The Future Of Daytime TV

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes in daytime television? 

TV veteran Fernita Wynn is proof that dream jobs actually exist. The Boston native, one-time LA powerhouse, and now New York bosswoman, lives her life with expressiveness in mind—on and off set. “I’m on headsets, I get to my podium, and we’re live,” Wynn exclaimed. “I’m on the floor at the very top of the show orchestrating with the producers, during the commercials [it’s] high speed…we have about two minutes between the breaks to make sure that everything is ready to go.” 

By day, Wynn is the executive producer and showrunner for the daytime syndicated talk show Sherri, hosted by comedian and actress Sherri Shepherd. As Sherri’s EP, when Wynn isn’t running backstage, prepping special guests, or making sure the teleprompter is ready to go, she enjoys evenings at home, attending Broadway shows, shoe shopping and traveling to new destinations during the show’s summer offseason (South Africa is on her travel bucket list.)

MadameNoire chatted with the Emmy award-winning producer about her initial start on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show to developing episodes for Sherri and blending the worlds of human interest and all things celebrity.

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MadameNoire: After studying broadcast journalism at Emerson College, you became a news reporter and morning anchor. Why did you decide to transition from on-air talent to producing live television, particularly daily talk shows?

Fernita Wynn: When I started on air, I wanted to be in news and a journalist. But then I soon realized that I wanted to get more into the creative and not stay in front of the camera. At the time, I was down in Virginia doing on-air. And I’m originally from Boston. So I left Virginia and went back to Boston and then just ended up meeting with the head of programming at WBZ-TV in Boston, which was an NBC affiliate at that time. I just met with her and talked to her about my background and she’s the one that said to me, “I really think that you could be a producer.”

I didn’t think about the fact that when I was a reporter and an anchor that I was [also] producing. Because back then, you didn’t have a team. You covered the story, you set up your interview, so you sort of were a one-man band. So with that background, she knew that I could become a producer. And that’s when I got my feet wet going into producing and ended up doing that daily live talk show. That was not my background, as you know, that’s not what I went to school for. But it took this woman who had been in the business for a very long time, who looked at my skills as a reporter and anchor and knew that it could be transferred over into being a full producer. 

Walk us through a day in the life of an executive producer and showrunner on the Sherri show.

My day-to-day…if I can get to sleep at night [laughs]. Normally, my alarm clock goes off at six o’clock. I am in the office by 8 a.m. because we do our morning meeting. And our morning meeting consists of Sherri and our executive producer Jawn Murray and our act one producing team…At around 9:15, the producers, we brief Sherri. We go over each segment with her, and she gets pre-interviews the night before so she’s very aware of the guests and the questions. And we go over [the segments] with her from the top to the bottom of the show to the goodbye. 

Then, roughly around 9:50 it starts! I put my headset on; I make sure that everything is good to go in the control room. And right before we go live, Sherri, myself, and the other executive producer, Jawn Murray, we’re back there with Sherri. She’s getting her last glam right at the doors and we do a prayer. And our prayer is always that our audience leaves better than they came because that’s our mission. Every time we do the show we want to make sure that we’re bringing joy, laughter, and inspiration.

You were initially offered the co-executive producer position on Sherri in 2022, then got promoted in 2023 ahead of season two. How did you navigate that transition in a relatively short period of time?

I lived in Los Angeles, so when there were conversations about Sherri getting a talk show, people knew me in LA. People knew me from the talk show world as well as the celebrity booking world because I did that for many years…Sherri wanted to have someone else new as a part of her team. And so she had heard about me through other people. And I knew of Jawn Murray just because I was a [celebrity] booker, so he knew me. So…Sherri heard from multiple people, ‘If you’re doing the show, the person you need to get is Fernita Wynn.’ 

When they reached out to me to do the Sherri show, I knew who she was. I thought that she would be great. I thought that she was going to fill a void because at that time, The Ellen [DeGeneres] Show was being canceled, and when you looked at the landscape, Steve Harvey was not on daytime. And I said, “Well, she would definitely fill that void of a comic during daytime.” So it took a moment. I mean, I went through the process of being interviewed, etc., and I told Sherri that if it came down to me, that I would pray about it because my faith is very important to me. So when they presented it to me, I did take some time to think about it. Do I want to make this move from Los Angeles to New York? Do I want to get back into this full-time space of daytime television? Because I knew it was a grind. I knew that my life would change going into it and particularly launching a show.

What advice would you give to women who want to work in this business as a producer, talent booker, casting director, screenwriter, etc.?

There are so many people who do want to get into the space, and so television has changed. I think social media has changed that…But what I say to people who want to get into it, first ask yourself why. Is it because you want to be a celebrity? Is it because you know you’re going to make a whole lot of coins? I always just say, be clear why you want to do it. And if you are going to step into it, what is it that you’re going to bring? What is that special sauce that you have?…I never lost sight of who I am and making sure that Fernita as Fernita, and also Fernita as a Black woman in this business, can make sure that I incorporate parts of who I am in creating.

What is one of your proudest moments to date and what do you want your legacy to be?

I would say my proudest moment to date, in my career…it’s my first Emmy award. There was a small show at the time. It was the show that I did on OWN called Black Women OWN the Conversation, and we didn’t have a big staff. It was actually really small. And the concept was just that it was going to be a four-part series that was on OWN where we would have a panel of experts that was infused with celebrities and an audience of 100 women. We talked about the internet, Black love, body image, and beauty. We had women who had stories. It was Black women who felt that their voices weren’t being heard, and for the first time, for one hour, we got to hear their voices, and some of them were vulnerable.

They trusted us with their stories, and it helped them after they did it…I’ve been in this game for a very long time, and that was the first, and so far, only, Emmy that I got. And if I never get one again—of course, I would love to, but to have that as my first Emmy—I’m proud of that because it was such a special show. I will never forget that those women trusted me and a few other Black women to share their story. So that I would say is the proudest moment that I’ve had of all of my shows that I’ve worked on. I’ve worked on a lot of [shows] that I enjoy. I enjoy working here at Sherri. It’s fun, it’s light. But I know that particular show changed people’s lives, and it took me back to why I got in this in the first place.

And for my legacy, if and when I step out of doing daytime or doing this type of show, or not be a producer at all, I just hope that people remember that I wanted to make sure that those whose voices aren’t heard, that I gave them an opportunity to share their stories. I hope that either I’ve inspired some people along the way…Or that I brought some joy to people; that’s always been my legacy in doing what I do.

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