When the Screenwriters Guild of America (WGA) went on strike last spring, late night talk shows (and Saturday Night Live) went off the air first. And for good reason. Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show (NBC), Stephen Colbert’s Late Show (CBS) and other Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) are all staffed with comic writing teams. Without them, these daily meetings do not exist. “These shows are scripted from A to Z,” says Pierre Barrette, director of the School of Media at the University of Quebec in Montreal. There is no improvisation. The host knows what questions to ask and knows the guest’s answers. »
Only one category of talk shows will remain on the air this fall: daytime talk shows that have no writer of record, such as Live! with Kelly and Mark, The Kelly Clarkson Show, The Drew Barrymore Show and The View. Their producers, however, will have to work hard to find guests since the actors’ union (SAG-AFTRA) prohibits its members from participating.
Fiction series production suspended (Grey’s Anatomy, Stranger Things, The Good Doctor), major networks, as well as streaming platforms, will show more reality shows, such as The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, Too Hot To Handle, The Masked Singer and Love Island.
For the former vice-president of original content of Quebecor Denis Dubois, this is an unavoidable emergency measure.
The TV man, who once served as program director at Télé-Québec, hopes that CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX foresaw the quagmire they currently have to wade through. “Hopefully with the pandemic, which had shut down all series production, they learned to be prepared for anything. Because it’s not true that in a matter of days you can be ready to hit the air with more episodes. I hope they have a contingency plan in place that can last well into the fall…”
Series that have so far only been found on the internet or certain cable channels will be called in as reinforcements. For example, Ms. Marvel, a superhero series that was exclusive to Disney subscribers, will migrate to ABC. Since ABC is also a Disney property, this transfer seems logical.
For its part, CBS will present the first season of Yellowstone. This neo-western starring Kevin Costner was offered, since 2018, exclusively on Paramount, an antenna with much less radiation. CBS will also be resurrecting SEAL Team, a series it exited in 2021.
Another detail to mention that will reassure fans of afternoon soaps: General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives will continue to air. The labor dispute does not affect any soap novels since their actors are subject to the Network Code, a different convention than the one that governs the majority of comedians, reports Deadline. As for soap writers, they go on strike like their counterparts, but they are replaced by other writers, scabs hired directly by ABC, CBS and company.
The Primetime Emmy finalists have been known for a few weeks (Succession, The Last of Us and The White Lotus lead the way), but it’s hard to see how the gala could go ahead as planned on September 18. Moreover, various American media (Variety, Los Angeles Times) reported last week that the announcement of a postponement would be imminent. FOX would broadcast the prestigious meeting in January, just to give the parties time to settle their differences.
This discount would not surprise anyone. According to a recent memo sent to members of the actors union, award ceremonies are to be boycotted until further notice. And without writers to sign a few jokes and introducing numbers, the chances of Hollywood managing to deliver a proper ceremony seem dim, very dim. The holding of the MTV Video Music Awards (a week earlier, September 12) is also in question.
Such reports could offend the television and music sectors, observes Pierre Barrette. “It’s usually a big promotional moment for the industry. »
In May, Drew Barrymore, who was to host the MTV Movie
To save the furniture and fill their abnormally bare grids, the major American chains could turn abroad. NBC did just that in the spring when it announced it had ordered the third and fourth seasons of Transplant, the medical drama starring Laurence Leboeuf and Ayisha Issa. Could other series from here (like the English-Canadian adaptation of Plan B, with Karine Vanasse) meet a similar fate and land in the kingdom of Joe Biden? Pierre Barrette is cautious. For now, at least.
Another obstacle awaits the series elsewhere who hope to conquer this country.
“The American public is extremely sensitive to foreign programs, underlines Mr. Barrette. It must look like the productions he is used to seeing. Viewers can accept that, but shows without American stars, without a Boston background in the morning… They don’t really like that. When the action is in London or elsewhere, they have a harder time hanging on. »
