TV-on-Strike FAQ: Should You Boycott Streamers? Are Daytime Soaps Affected? And More Questions Answered
For the first time in 63 years, Hollywood writers and actors are striking at the same time.
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And that’s gonna leave a mark.
With both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA seeking new contracts that improve (nearly-nonexistent) streaming residuals, rein in the looming threat of A.I. and attempt to crack other considerable nuts, it will be later, not sooner, when both work stoppages achieve anything close to resolution.
As the broadcast networks rolled out their strike-resistant fall schedules (and then reworked them again, with the WGA strike ongoing and the actors joining them on picket lines), you’ve gotten a taste for how different the TV landscape will be in the short-term.
But you also probably have other questions, which we’ll attempt to answer here. (And of course, you can email [email protected] with any new queries.)
WILL DAYTIME TALK SHOWS CONTINUE?
Yep, because those who host talk shows operate under what’s known as the Network Television Code (see handy graphic!), which is separate from the TV/theatrical contracts that are now being struck by SAG-AFTRA. And those who work under the Network Television Code are asked to honor their contracts.
Similarly….
WHAT ABOUT DAYTIME SOAPS?
The casts of the daytime serials General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and… well, that’s all the networks have these days, isn’t it… also operate under the same Network Television Code as talk show hosts.
The bigger question here may be how soaps will continue to churn out scripts amid the 11-week-old (and counting…) WGA strike. Most of them tape far in advance, and as such that issue has yet to really hit — though I hear it is very much about to. Dun-dun-dunnnnnn….
CAN ACTORS STILL APPEAR ON/HOST GAME SHOWS?
The Network Television Code comes to the rescue again! Game show appearances (as well as the hosting of same) is allowed. However….
WHAT ABOUT DWTS? THE MASKED SINGER?
Last we heard, reality-TV competitions in which actors are the ones competing are awaiting a very final verdict, but the “feeling” is that the Network Television Code we told you about above may allow them to cast as usual.
Worst case, we hear, the celebrity contestants on such shows may skew toward athletes, singers and reality-TV personalities, and away from actors per se.
WILL ANY TV SHOWS MANAGE TO KEEP FILMING?
During the SAG-AFTRA strike’s first week, two TV series applied for and were granted waivers to continue production: the crowdfunded Jesus drama The Chosen, which just began a Stateside run on The CW and had two weeks left to film for Season 4, and Apple TV+’s Tehran, which has a week left to shoot for Season 3 (though it is a bit unclear on how it qualified as a non-AMPTP product).
As a SAG FAQ spells out, “With respect to non-AMPTP, independently-produced content that comes within the scope of a strike order, SAG-AFTRA anticipates offering an Interim Agreement that would allow such productions to continue working during a strike provided that the producer agrees to abide by the terms that SAG-AFTRA is seeking from the AMPTP.”
Additionally, TV shows that are filming abroad may find ways to continue production. HBO’s House of the Dragon and Industry, to cite two early examples, use largely British casts that work under Equity contracts rather than SAG-AFTRA, and those actors are thus advised to continue to report for work.
WILL MY FAVORITE ‘REWATCH’ PODCASTS CONTINUE?
Since SAG-AFTRA members have been asked not to engage in promotion/publicity services (such as tours, interviews, fan conventions and FYC events), there has been the question of how that impacts those who host “rewatch” podcasts.
The exact language from a SAG-AFTRA FAQ says, “both hosting and guest appearances on podcasts promoting struck work that are produced by struck companies are not allowed under the strike order.”
But since rewatch podcasts are discussing old shows and nothing currently being struck, there appears to be wiggle room. Numerous podcasts hosts have acknowledged this grey area on mic and said they sought out official rulings, but it appears to be business as usual on that front for now. You just might get more play-it-safe “reader mail answered!” episodes than before.
SHOULD I CANCEL MY STREAMING SUBSCRIPTION AS A SHOW OF SUPPORT?
In a word, no. None of the striking guilds have called for a boycott of AMPTP products at this point.
Instead, fans are invited to join picket lines in their local area, or bring signs, water and snacks to picketers. And those who aren’t near a picket line can donate to SAG-AFTRA’s Entertainment Community Fund and non-affiliated crowdsourced fundraisers like The Union Solidarity Coalition, Groceries for Writers and the Snacklist.
WHAT WILL THE BROADCAST NETWORKS’ FALL TV SEASON LOOK LIKE?
Um, different! (Check out the full Fall TV grid here.)
ABC‘s fall line-up is all reality-TV, game shows, 20/20 and Abbott Elementary reruns.
CBS is supplementing its reality- and reruns-heavy slate with shows “borrowed” from sister outlets, like Paramount Network’s Yellowstone and Paramount+’s SEAL Team.
Fox is able to air fresh seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy and other animated comedies alongside Friday Night SmackDown and sooooo much reality-TV.
NBC, thanks in part to its prudent retention of new shows that were originally to launch winter/spring, has episodes of no fewer than four original dramas to air this fall: Quantum Leap, Magnum P.I. and the freshmen Found and The Irrational. They will live alongside Sunday Night Football, reality-TV, game shows, some drama reruns and a double dose of Dateline.
The CW, lastly, has locked in a fall schedule that is populated by nearly 10 acquired series — a lot of ’em Canadian — plus reality-TV stalwarts like Whose Line and Penn & Teller: Fool Us.
WILL CABLE & STREAMING OFFERINGS DRY UP, TOO?
The shutting down of the pipeline has not profoundly affected prolific streaming services and cable outlets. Yet. But ask us again in a few months.
From September through November alone, you can expect new episodes of FX/Hulu’s Reservation Dogs, Apple TV+’s Physical, FX’s Breeders and Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart, plus season/series premieres such as The Wheel of Time Season 2 (on Prime Video), Power Book IV: Force Season 2 (Starz), American Dad Season 18 (TBS), The Changeling (Apple TV+), Daryl Dixon (AMC), The Morning Show Season 3 (Apple TV+), The Only Black Girl (Hulu), Lupin Part 3 (Netflix), Loki Season 2 (Disney+), Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+), All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix) and Echo (Disney+).
SO… FOR HOW LONG IS THIS ALL GONNA LAST, ANYWAY?
The truth is out there: Both these strikes will likely last a while.
The AMPTP has not resumed talks with the WGA ever since that work stoppage began on May 2, and there is a whole lotta daylight between the writers’ wants and what the studios have thus far offered. In fact, when that strike launched, the early buzz was that the WGA was braced to go at least six months in the name of chasing a fair deal.
Similarly, though a mediator was brought in at the last minute to try to close the gap between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP and avert that strike, it didn’t happen — and there has been no talk yet of those two sides returning to the negotiating table.
Conventional wisdom says that once Labor Day rolls around and next year’s TV/movies slate starts to fall apart… and the AMPTP gets to fretting about an FYC awards season with no one to press the flesh and such… the studios will snap to it and get more serious with their counters.
Got other strike questions? Email your Q to [email protected], and it may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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