Remember a few years back when all of your favorite shows were delayed, some of them were canceled, and there was a lull in new movies coming out to theaters? That’s because the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike. To fill the hole, TV networks unleashed a wave of unscripted reality program that has made us all dumber. As of Midnight last night, the WGA has voted to strike again.
According to Deadline, the decision to strike was based on the fact that “their proposals to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on core contract issues “fell on deaf ears.”
The main issue at hand was money. The WGA was looking for an increase of pay and benefits of $429 million over the next three years, but the studios were only willing to offer $86 million. Here’s what West president Meredith Stiehm had to say:
“I’m just surprised by the conversations we did not have,” Stiehm said of the bargaining sessions. “We’ve been here for six weeks talking to them and those core proposals were literally ignored. And we made it very clear to them that 98% of our membership is demanding that we fight for something different; not just the usual negotiation that we’ve been having. We told them from the beginning that members are feeling an existential threat, and that they need to take this seriously. And it just fell on deaf ears. They just didn’t seem to hear us when we were telling them about the plight of writers and how much has gone wrong, and that they need to fix it. And they just didn’t seem to listen.”
“The biggest problem we had in this negotiation was that the companies would not engage on a slew of core issues that affect the ability of a writer to maintain a career. So we’re far apart in that the companies would not engage with us on those topics, so in that sense, we were far apart. There were other areas of negotiations in which we were able to negotiate things, but the companies stonewalled us on very important issues. They would not talk about them.”
So what does this mean? The first place you’ll feel the effects is on daily shows like late night talk shows. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will all be shutting down today until the strike is over. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Real Time with Bill Maher have also said they will be shutting down their weekly programs. Saturday Night Live is expected to make an announcement in the next day or two, and there has been no word yet from The Daily Show, which is currently between hosts after the exit of Trevor Noah.
When it comes to scripted TV shows, we are nearing the end of spring for most of them, so you won’t start really seeing an effect until the fall. That’s when you may start seeing delays in season premiers and possibly even show cancellations as studios struggle to find unscripted filler. Given the current state of the economy and the world, it wouldn’t be all too surprising to see some network launch a real-life version of The Running Man if the strike doesn’t end soon.