The Hollywood writers’ strike is entering its second week and production on a number of TV shows has been stalled as a result.
About 15,000 member screenwriters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike since May 2.
The strike began after six weeks of negotiations between the studios and the writers failed to produce a new contract before the writers’ last contract expired.
It is unclear how long this strike will last; the last WGA strike lasted 100 days and the longest strike on record, in 1988, lasted 153.
With unionized screenwriters on picket lines rather than in writers’ rooms, here are all the shows you might be interested in.
The shows that have already dropped
Late night shows were the first to go dark, as they tend to be scripted during the day.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and Real Time With Bill Maher all aired as soon as the strike began.
The strike took “live” off Saturday Night Live: NBC will air repeats until further notice, the network announced.
Favorites of the streaming platform
Production of the fifth season of Stranger things is on hiatus, show creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer announced on Twitter.
“Writing doesn’t stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to begin production with our amazing cast and crew, that’s not possible during this strike,” they wrote.
Production on the final season of Stranger Things has been suspended
Filming on the third season of the HBO show Hacks has been halted, with creator Jen Statsky stating that “there were no other options.”
“Writing happens every step of the way, production and post included. It’s what makes good shows and movies,” he wrote on Twitter.
Writing about the third season of Yellow jackets it was suspended a day later, co-creator Ashley Lyle said. They will resume when WGA gets a “fair deal,” she said.
Cobra Kai season 6 writers are also on strike, with co-creator and writer Jon Hurwitz tweeting, “Pencils down Cobra Kai writers room. No writers on set.”
Second season of The Last of Us is on hold according to Variety, with the absence of writers impacting casting preparations.
Writing about the sixth season of The Handmaid’s Tale it stalled before filming was due to begin in late summer.
Separation suspended production on season 2 due to picketing.
Writing on the third season of the Emmy award winning Abbott Elementary it was supposed to start the day after the strike started, but was suspended.
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Jane Fonda on the writers’ strike
How will viewers be affected?
The impact these production shutdowns will have will depend on the duration of the strikes.
While fans of late night talk shows will already be missing their fix, it will be longer before the effects of the strike are felt by viewers of narrative series and films.
Studios knew the end of the WGA contract was coming and so they would stockpile episodes.
But if the strike drags on and production scheduling is delayed, viewers could see series premieres delayed and more reruns.
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What is going on
Some shows are continuing production even without writers on set.
House of the Dragon is filming in the UK, with creator George R. R. Martin writing in a blog post that while he supports the strikes, scripts for season two were finished “months ago.”
“Each episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget issues, etc. There will be no further revisions,” he wrote.
However, the writers’ room for another Game of Thrones prequel series, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, has been “closed for the duration,” he said.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will wrap filming on season 2 with no showrunner on set.
Filming of the Disney+ Star Wars prequel Andor is moving forward, but creator Tony Gilroy stepped away from all on-set duties during the strike.
Movie
Marvel has halted pre-production on its highly anticipated vampire thriller, Blade, starring Mahershala Ali.
It is the first major film to be affected by the strike.
While it’s common for blockbuster writers to rework scripts on the fly, Marvel “has a keener reputation for script pages flying off typewriters during filming,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
