Topline
As the Writers Guild of America strike nears its apparent end following a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, questions about when daytime talk shows and late-night comedy would return were immediate, but there aren’t many solid dates yet as audiences eagerly await the return of popular shows.
The Writers Guild of America reached a tentative agreement Sunday with the Alliance of Motion … [+]
Key Facts
Late-night talk shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers will likely return “a few days after the strike is officially over,” according to Deadline, and Variety reported it could be as soon as October 2; however, the shows may look different at first as the Screen Actor’s Guild strike continues and actors aren’t able to promote their projects.
Daytime talk shows like The Talk and The Drew Barrymore Show—both of which planned to come back without writers while the strike was ongoing, but reversed course after receiving backlash—will likely return around the same time as late-night shows, media outlets are reporting.
Saturday Night Live—which also went dark in May, missing the last three episodes of its 48th season—is expected to return on October 7 or October 14 because it is covered by SAG-AFTRA’s network code, Deadline reported, meaning actors can return, but if any cast members choose to continue to strike in support of SAG, the show could face more delays.
Dancing With The Stars is set to return on Tuesday, per the The Hollywood Reporter, despite concerns it would have to be postponed after actor Matt Walsh said he was stepping away from the show until the WGA strike was resolved; Walsh is said to be joining the show following the tentative agreement.
The biggest questions remain around scripted shows because those are more dependent on when the SAG-AFTRA strike ends.
Deadline spoke to network executives and reported it will likely take dramas up to ten weeks to be back, and comedies up to eight weeks, and that if the actors’ strike is resolved by mid-November and writers are back early next month, new episodes could be back on the air around March.
Big Number
146. That’s how many days it took for the WGA and AMPTP to reach a tentative agreement. This strike has been the longest period of time Hollywood writers haven’t worked since the 1988 WGA strike that lasted 153 days.
Key Background
The WGA began striking in May, with writers demanding better pay, residuals from streaming platforms and for studios to address concerns over how artificial intelligence was able to be used in the writers’ room. Shortly after the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA struck in July over similar concerns, leading to Hollywood’s widest spread work stoppage in decades. In negotiations, the studios argued they had offered the writers and actors large pay increases that show their “commitment to ending the strike,” but concerns remained around residuals and AI. In recent weeks, daytime shows like Drew Barrymore’s and Jennifer Hudson’s explored coming back without writers, but faced such harsh criticism from picketers and WGA that they ultimately changed course and said they would wait until the strike was over to avoid more conflict.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/09/25/writers-strike-deal-heres-when-daytime-tv-late-night-tv-and-more-may-return/