The Writer’s Guild of America is on strike and the consequences will soon reach far and wide. After failing to come to an agreement during the latest round of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers before Monday’s deadline, the union members agreed to resort to picketing. The late night shows on several networks took the first hit but hosts like Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have brought some respite to staffers by working out a compensation plan, while the networks plan to run “Best of” compilations of the show till an agreement is made.
On the other hand, streamers like Netflix have enough content to last them till the end of the year. And joining Netflix is AMC Networks, which The Wrap confirms has enough content on slate spanning 2023 and well into 2024. Meaning shows like The Walking Dead spin-offs, The Mayfair Witches, and Interview with the Vampire Season 2, which is currently in production, are safe from the ongoing strike. Many shows like Abbott Elementary, Kobra Kai, Yellowjackets, SNL, and more have paused production.
What Does the Strike Means for the Viewers
The entertainment giant holds subsidiaries like IFC, WeTV, and Sundance and its AMC+ streaming service and a namesake cable channel. The eighth and final season of Fear the Walking Dead will premiere on May 14. The much-anticipated The Walking Dead: Dead City starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, will air next in June. It will be followed by Norman Reedus-led The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, later this year. As for the next, an untitled The Walking Dead spinoff featuring Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and Danai Gurira’s Michonne was also announced earlier this year during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour for a 2024 release. So, the network seems covered till upending of any title for any reason is revealed in the coming times.
For viewers at home, while losing the late night shows is just a start, they can expect the sitcoms and TV series to brave the hit next. The pause on production simply translates into a delay of the upcoming seasons and the fall release slate. Movies that have locked in the scripts before the strike began seem safe at the moment but given WGA is getting support from SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America, it’ll be curious to see how the industry responds if the strike continues for a long period.
Meanwhile, you can check out the trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City below: