Here Are the TV Shows Put on Hold as Writers’ Strike Continues

Demonstrators hold signs while picketing during the continuing strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in Los Angeles on May 26, 2023. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Multiple popular shows from major networks and streaming platforms have been put on pause due to an ongoing strike by writers who are demanding better pay and benefits.

On Netflix, popular shows like Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, and Big Mouth have been paused. HBO has halted work on “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,” a prequel series of the hit show Game of Thrones. Its streaming platform Max has put Hacks, Penguin, and Duster on hold. Showtime has ceased work on Yellowjackets, The Chi, and Billions. On Disney+, work on the highly anticipated Marvel series “Daredevil: Born Again” has been halted.

Apple+ has paused two shows—Severance and Metropolis. Fox has suspended work on Family Guy and American Dad. Paramount+, ABC, and CBS have paused one show each.

In addition to TV shows, episodes of talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Seth Myers, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert have also been canceled due to the strike.

The strike by Hollywood writers began on May 2 and is the first in 15 years. Around 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have stopped working as their contracts expired. Negotiations between the writers’ union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have stalled since May.

The writers’ union is seeking higher minimum pay, more writers to be hired per show, work guarantees, more residual pay for streaming services, and protection from emerging AI technology, among other demands.

“We have walked together on picket lines for a month with the acknowledgment that there is no letting up until we ultimately achieved the contract we deserve and that we need to survive in this business,” Chris Keyser, Negotiating Committee co-chair of the WGA, said in a June 3 video on Twitter.

Multiple Businesses Affected

The ongoing strike is already seriously affecting various businesses that depend on robust Hollywood activity. Prior to the WGA strike, prop house “History for Hire” used to fill 53 requests per week on average for things like cameras, camping gear, and snow globes, owner Pam Elyea told Reuters.

But now, weekly orders have halved to an average of 26. Revenue is estimated to have fallen by 60 percent, and the business is facing a shortfall of $100,000 in meeting its monthly expenditure.

“Even though there is a strike going on, it doesn’t stop my staff’s rent. It certainly doesn’t stop my rent. It doesn’t stop our utilities … Things are just so much more expensive since the pandemic,” Elyea said.

Other businesses like caterers, florists, and costume suppliers have also seen their orders decline while many of them are only recovering from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last strike held by WGA was in 2007 and 2008, which took three months to resolve. It is unclear when the current strike will come to an end, as no new talks have been scheduled between writers and major Hollywood studios.

Actors Strike

Hollywood is also facing the possibility of another strike—by its actors. On June 5, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) authorized the strike.

On June 28, a group of 300 A-list Hollywood celebs, including Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Kevin Bacon, and Jennifer Lawrence, sent a letter to SAG-AFTRA, outlining their demands, which include a “seismic realignment” in minimum pay, better health and pension terms, an increase in media residuals, and better protection against AI celebrity cloning.

The letter was sent just days before the June 30 deadline for SAG-AFTRA members to negotiate a new contract for its actors with the AMPTP.

The writers’ and actors’ strikes could cost billions of dollars to the economy. The 2008 Hollywood strike is estimated to have cost California $2.1 billion and was pointed to as a catalyst for the state’s recession.