The most immediate casualties of the Hollywood writers strike are late-night talk shows, with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! going dark for the time being.
(ABC/Randy Holmes)
What’s Happening:
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! fans will have to settle for reruns for the time being as all late-night talk shows have been impacted by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
- ABC has revealed the episodes that will re-air this week:
- Tuesday, May 2 (OAD: 4/19/2023) – 1. Patrick Stewart (“Star Trak: Picard”) 2. Bridget Everett (“Somebody Somewhere”) 3. Musical Guest Gorillaz ft. Beck
- Wednesday, May 3 (OAD: 4/12/2023) – 1. Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary“) 2. Musical Guests Metallica
- Thursday, May 4 (OAD: 4/18/2023) – 1. Luke Bryan (“American Idol“) 2. Jeff Hiller (“Somebody Somewhere”) 3. Musical Guests GloRilla
- Friday, May 5 (OAD: 4/11/2023) – 1. Carol Burnett (“Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love”) 2. Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs“) 3. Musical Guests Metallica
- In addition to ABC’s late-night staple, CBS’ Late Show With Stephen Colbert; NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers; and HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver will be taking a break.
- All of these shows have a staff of writers, members of the WGA, who contribute to opening monologues and sketches within the shows.
- NBC has not yet made any statements about Saturday Night Live, which is scheduled to have a new episode on May 6th with SNL alumn Pete Davidson as host and Lil Uzi Vert as musical guest.
- The WGA has been working with networks and studios for the past six weeks, fighting for increased residuals for streaming programs, data transparency, minimum staffing levels for writers rooms, and regulations on the use of artificial intelligence in writing.
- Despite major content booms with the rise of streaming, writers report bringing in less money overall and being faced with more job insecurity than before, blamed in large part to companies keeping their streaming data private.
- With demands not met at the close of business on May 1st, the day the Guild’s contracts with networks expired, the WGA
- This is the first strike the WGA has had since the 100-day walkout that impacted the 2007/2008 TV season.
- Organized picketing will begin today outside of studios, including Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., and Netflix.
- The strike won’t just affect TV shows, with any film scripts still in a partial state of development being paused by the strike.
- WGA members are prohibited from pitching and selling scripts during the strike.