Where is Wendy Williams? Not in a good place

Where is Wendy Williams?

She wasn’t at the recent Television Critics Association winter press tour, although Lifetime was there to promote the four-hour documentary “Where is Wendy Williams.” After a court injunction brought by a family member attempting to block the airing of the film was tossed out, it will premiere as scheduled over two nights this weekend, Feb. 24 and 25.

The former daytime talk show host was well known for The Wendy Williams Show, which aired for a dozen syndicated seasons between 2009 and 2021 and then sputtered an additional year with rotating guest hosts. Williams took a medical leave that final season after health issues emerged, including complictions with COVID, Graves disease and a thyroid condition. Sherri Shepherd took over Williams’ daytime slot the following season.

“I want to be back on TV,” she says to her father aboard a luxury yacht on a clip from the documentary. Other clips, however, show a very distressed Williams surrounded by equally distressed family members, some of whom, it is alleged, have been sponging off her as their meal ticket for a decade plus.

Her brother says she should be around people who won’t take advantage of her. Anywhere but New York (where her series was based), it is suggested. That is where, we are told, her drinking is out of control. Her son says, “I feel like my mother should never be by herself or alone.” Her sister wants guardianship.

Other clips show Williams wild-eyed and incoherent, ferried about in a wheelchair, barely able to step out of a limo. Sad music is played. There are further suggestions (“I have no money!”) that the riches earned after all those years in daytime are all gone. Cut to concerned relatives on the couch.

A+E Entertainment President Elaine Frontain Bryant presented a detailed trailer to critics on the first day of the recent Television Critics Association press tour, but Williams did not make an appearance. Bryant then introduced well-known medium Theresa Caputo, who some in the room feared had been brought forth to try and contact Williams from the other side.

The thing is, Williams is an executive producer of “Where is Wendy Williams.” Perhaps she has been manipulated into this shame-doc, but she also presumably knows where she is, what time it is, and how much money Lifetime has ponied up for the four hour event, which will be available for streaming on demand.

Audiences love a comeback story but they also never seem to tire of watching (once) wealthy celebrities humiliated on television. Many of us in the room felt concern for Williams, as presenting yourself as a taboid train wreck does not seem the best foot forward on the TV comeback trail — or does it?