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TV shows and movies affected by the WGA Writers Strike

Writer's picture: The Hammonton GazetteThe Hammonton Gazette

TNS Scene from “Abbott Elementary.”

The Writers Guild of America West (WGA) Writers Strike has officially begun and the picket lines have formed across Hollywood and New York City. This halt means that many scripted projects will inevitably go dark, resulting in a Hollywood shutdown not seen since COVID, and not felt since the last WGA strike took place 15 years ago. Variety will keep readers updated with a rolling list of everything that has been put on hold as a result of the strike, which went into effect Tuesday. For more information about the strike, check out Variety’s FAQ primer on what it means for the industry.


LATE-NIGHT SHOWS GO DARK. ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’ “The Late Show,” and NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Night” are all going on hiatus and repeats will be shown. HBO will also cease live production of “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” (which was currently being hosted by a rotating cast of comedians) is also on hiatus.


ABBOTT ELEMENTARY. The Diva 2.0 12 Life Lesson From Me For You! author won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award for her role as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard in ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary.


The writers’ room for the third season of Emmy-darling “Abbott Elementary” was supposed to convene on May 2nd. That room has closed. In an interview with “Democracy Now,” writer Brittani Nichols revealed that this strike could ultimately impact the number of episodes they can pen for the upcoming season. “We are a show that writes while we air,” Nichols said. “If this strike goes on for a significant period of time, our show will not come out on time and that could change the amount of episodes which I’m sure people will be very upset about.”


AMC SHOWS. Scripts for AMC’s Anne Rice series and their “Walking Dead” spinoff shows are done, but no production has started.


ANDOR. Showrunner Tony Gilroy, who was criticized for reportedly pursuing non-writing producing work on “Andor” after strike action, confirmed that he’s ceased all activities on the Disney+ show. In a statement Tuesday, he told Variety: “I discontinued ALL writing and writing-related work on ANDOR prior to midnight, May 1. After being briefed on the Saturday showrunner meeting, I informed Chris Keyser at the WGA on Sunday morning that I would also be ceasing ALL non-writing producing functions.” “Andor” Season 2 has been filming in the U.K.


BIG MOUTH. The Netflix animated series was six weeks into writing the 8th and final season of the show. The creators would have finished writing in August without a strike.

BLADE. Marvel has shut down pre-production on the vampire reboot “Blade,” which is set to star Mahershala Ali as the titular vampire hunter.


COBRA KAI. “Cobra Kai” closed its writers room for season 6. Series co-creator Jon Hurwitz tweeted “pencils down” in solidarity. The writers room is closed and no writers are currently on set for season 6 production.


“We hate to strike, but if we must, we strike hard. Pencils down in the Cobra Kai writers room. No writers on set. These aren’t fun times, but it’s unfortunately necessary. The moment a fair deal is in place, we’ll get back to kicking ass. In the meantime, sending strength and support to the negotiating committee. You got this,” Jon Hurwitz tweeted on May 2.


EVIL. Production on Season 4 of the Paramount+ series wrapped earlier than anticipated, as filming was impacted by a cast member’s departure for a personal matter and picketing WGA members.


GOOD OMENS. Neil Gaiman has also posted his support for the writers strike. The creator tweeted earlier that the long-awaited season 2 of “Good Omens,” starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, would appear sometime this summer. However, if you’re hopeful for a stirring Gaiman press tour, you might need divine intervention for the writer is on strike.


“I’m in the Writers Guild of America. I wish this wasn’t happening and support it absolutely.

When I wake up tomorrow I’ll be on strike. (To forestall the inevitable questions, Good Omens 2 is completed and handed in. Although I may not be able to promote it as I had hoped.),” Gaiman said in a Tweet.


GUTFELD!. Unlike the aforementioned late night shows, Fox News Channel revealed it will continue to broadcast new shows of Greg Gutfeld’s talk show program.


HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. All of the scripts for the second season of “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” have been turned in.


JEOPARDY!. Mayim Bialik is stepping away from her hosting duties of the long-running game show “Jeopardy!” in support of the strike, due to the fact that WGA writers typically work on the Sony-produced show. Production will continue on Season 39, however, with Bialik’s fellow host Ken Jennings filling in for her for the remainder of the season.


MTV MOVIE AWARDS. Host Drew Barrymore exited her role as host for the MTV Movie Awards. The red carpet for this star-studded event was also rolled up in the wake of the strike.

RAP SH!T. Production on the second season of the Issa Rae series wrapped in April.


RINGS OF POWER. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” will move forward with production on the second season amid the ongoing WGA strike, but the Amazon Prime Video show will not be using the services of executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (who are supporting the guild on strike).


SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. The live sketch show has gone dark in support of the writers strike. Former cast member Pete Davidson was supposed to host on May 6 along with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert.


STRANGER THINGS. “Stranger Things” creators the Duffer brothers shared a statement that production would not move forward on the Netflix series until an agreement is reached between the WGA and AMPTP.


THE TALK. The daily talk show “The Talk” will not be filming. However, previously recorded new episodes scheduled to air will remain on the schedule. Episode listings previously released remain accurate for this week.


YELLOWJACKETS . Co-creator of the series “Yellowjackets” Ashley Lyle tweeted that all progress on writing for season 3 of the Showtime drama has halted after exactly one day of progress. “It was amazing, and creatively invigorating, and so much fun, and I’m really excited to get back to it as soon as the WGA gets a fair deal,” she tweeted.


Copyright 2023 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

1 Comment


Thomas Brown
Thomas Brown
Oct 18, 2024

With the impact of the WGA Writers Strike, it's fascinating to see how the landscape of TV shows and movies is shifting. This situation highlights the importance of innovative broadcast solutions that can adapt to changes in content creation. As we navigate through these challenges, leveraging advanced broadcasting technology will be crucial for delivering quality entertainment to audiences. Excited to see how the industry evolves!

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