Writers Guild Strike Hasn’t Happened In 15 Years: What It Means

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For the first time in 15 years, The Writers Guild Of America unanimously voted to go on strike. As the clock struck midnight and the day rolled over onto Tuesday, May 2nd, the Hollywood writer strike of 2023 immediately went into effect.

Now, it’s been 15 years since the last time this happened. In 2007, the generations in their 30s and 40s were in high school and college at the time. So, it has been so long since this happened that a lot of people that actively watch television have no idea what it means or what to expect.

Unfortunately, the Hollywood Writer Strike of 2023 had some pretty immediate impacts. It causes problems for an estimated 800,000 jobs in the United States. And, based on previous strikes, this type of walkout doesn’t usually come to a swift end. In 2007, the Writers Guild of America strike lasted for 100 days before coming to an end. The strike back in 1988 lasted for even longer at a whopping 153 days.

Watching Netflix Stock Photo - Pexels
Watching Netflix Stock Photo – Pexels

Writers Guild Of America Strike: What Does It Mean

Basically, until an agreement is reached it means that approximately 800,000 people across over 11,000 different production companies walked off of their job today to go on strike. What TV watches at home really want to know is simple: What does this mean for television? Will all your favorite shows continue to air new episodes? Will movies continue to hit theaters?

As Tv Shows Ace reported last night, late-night talk shows are the first on the chopping block because of the Writers Guild Of America strike. The shows will immediately go dark and air reruns until an agreement is reached.

Sadly, daytime soap operas are next on the chopping block. Daytime soap operas function on a pretty fast-paced production schedule and they don’t keep a lot of completed scripts or episodes on hand. At most, soap operas can usually go for a few weeks before they run out of episodes.

Writing Stock Image - Pexels
Writing Stock Image – Pexels

For the most part, scripted TV fans have nothing to worry about. The spring lineup is already locked in place and the episodes have already been written and produced. If the writers don’t come to a swift agreement, the fall lineup could be at risk. Typically, writers start working on the fall scripts toward the end of May/beginning of June. So, the Writers Of America Guild has a few weeks before shows that air new seasons in the fall will run into scheduling problems.

Streaming services, for the most part, also don’t have much to worry about. Netflix (as well as other streaming services) will happily shop for content to add to the streaming service in other countries if they become desperate for new content. Plus, streaming services tend to produce things pretty far back prior to releasing them. HBO Max, for example, has been withholding a lot of content to release after they convert to just Max.

Movies would also fall into the same category as streaming services as far as being produced and ready to go. Movies currently being produced will only run into problems with continuing to move forward if the script has not been completed already.

What about reality TV and news?

Fans of reality TV have absolutely nothing to worry about as reality TV is “unscripted television.” So, writers are not part of the production crew and this type of show will not be hindered by the strike at all.

News also has nothing to worry about because its writers are part of a completely different union.

Did you know about this Writers Guild Strike? Are you going to be missing out on late-night talk shows? Are you worried about the strike dragging on? Let us know in the comments down below. And, keep coming back for more updates!

Allie Johnson

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