the first Television and film writers strike After 15 years it began on Tuesday, production at the nation’s entertainment hub is expected to come to a halt.
strike effect It can be far-reaching, depending on how long it takes for writers and studios to reach a deal. The last Hollywood strike, in 2007-2008, took three months to resolve.
With the 11,500 Writers Guild of America members working across film, television, broadcast television, and fictional podcasts, here’s how the downtime is expected to affect programming.
What offers are affected?
The immediate impact of the strike will be seen in the nightly shows, which are scripted daily to focus on current events.
“The Late Show” on CBS, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC, NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” NBC’s “Late Night” and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show have ceased production and plan to run repeats for the foreseeable future.
The Associated Press notes that NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has a slightly longer production schedule but relies more on its writers. The show will not air the final three episodes of its season, starting with the show scheduled for May 6 hosted by Pete Davidson.
Not all late night shows will go away. Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” Fox said Tuesday with Greg Gutfeld will continue to air new episodes. Deadline reports that Gutfeld and his writing team are not members of the WGA.
It’s uncertain how daytime talk shows will be affected, as they tend more to host chats and interviews. ABC’s “The View” was not interrupted during the last strike in the 2007-2008 season.
How does the strike affect the broadcast of programs and films?
The impact on these services is uncertain. Scripts—not to mention movies—run longer schedules than late-night television, so many viewers may not notice the effects of the strike until long after it’s over.
“When it comes to scripted dramas or comedies, it’s actually going to be a long time before the average viewer sees a difference,” Alex Weprin, media and business writer for The Hollywood Reporter, told CBS News. “There are a lot of episodes that have already been filmed that are in storage for later use; there are also some scripts that have already been written for some of these shows.”
The Associated Press notes that listings on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video won’t look different next week, but the following months could change. If the strike continues through the summer, fall schedules for scripted shows and movies could be flipped.
With the withdrawal long anticipated, many studios have scrambled to finish projects and build up a backlog to have enough content in the short term. Netflix said it may turn to overseas series to fill some of the void during the strike.
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said. Discovery, last month: “We set ourselves up. We had a lot of content produced.”
Does the strike affect the production of the show?
Production on Final Screenplays could go ahead as planned, but without the benefit of last-minute rewrites. As a result, films that are currently being shot can see a significant drop in quality.
However, that’s assuming the crews, whose union recently came close to going on strike, are willing to cross the WGA’s picket lines and act. If they are not willing to do so, the strike could have ripple effects in Hollywood.
The contracts of two other major unions, the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA — which represents the actors — expire in June. Both negotiations will likely focus on similar issues around the streaming business model, the AP reported. The DGA is set to begin negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on May 10.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(tags to subtitles) Hollywood