The reports are true: Talk show host Montel Williams will stop production of his self-titled talk show this season after 17 years on the air.

“I can’t say thank you enough to those who’ve welcomed me into their homes for the past seventeen years,” Williams says in a statement. “It has been both an honor and a joy.”

Hosting the popular daytime show has taken Williams around the world, he says, including visits to the Middle East, a post-Katrina New Orleans and Ground Zero in New York City. “[I] talked with over 30,000 guests and over a half million studio audience members,” Williams adds.

But Williams won’t be disappearing from television just yet. CBS Television Distribution revealed plans to offer a series of best-of episodes in fall 2008 — consisting of a full-year of programming highlighting “the most exciting episodes from the last 17 years,” according to a release. However, original episodes will cease production at the end of this season.

“We have been honored to have Montel as a part of our family for the past 17 years, and we’re very excited that Montel will live on through these ‘Best of’ episodes,” John Nogawski, president and COO of CBS Television Distribution, said in a statement.

WENN

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