Well, it’s complicated. First, the agreement needs to pass two key votes — one involving the boards of the screenwriters’ union, followed by a vote by the 11,500 members themselves.
Then there’s the fact that 65,000 film and television actors remain on strike. That work stoppage will prevent many projects from returning to normal. Certain paused productions such as Deadpool 3, Yellowjackets and the next film from Quentin Tarantino will still have to wait on actors to reach a deal with studios.
Once the contract is approved, work will resume more quickly for some writers than others. Late-night talk shows were the first to be affected when the strike began, and they may be among the first to return to air now. NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on CBS could come back within days.
They will return with a guest shortage, however. The actors’ strike limits promotional appearances that are the lifeblood of late-night shows.
Saturday Night Live might be able to return for its 49th season. Its writers could be at work soon on sketches, and its actors could perform because they work under a different contract not covered by the actors’ strike, though as union members, they may be reluctant to do so.
Shows that return while actors are still picketing could prove controversial, as happened with the planned resumptions of daytime shows including The Drew Barrymore Show and The Talk. Those plans were later abandoned.
One show that’s likely to make a speedy return is Real Time with Bill Maher. The host plotted a return without writers but ended up postponing once last week’s negotiations were set.
Writers’ rooms for scripted shows that shut down at the strike’s onset, including Netflix’s Stranger Things, Severance on Apple TV+ and Abbott Elementary on ABC are also likely to reactivate quickly. But with no performers to act out the scripts, long delays between page and screen will be inevitable.
Film writers will also get back to work on their slower timeline, though those working on scripts or late revisions for already scheduled movies — including Deadpool 3 and Superman: Legacy — will certainly be hustling to avoid further release-date delays.
Director Quentin Tarantino’s 10th film, The Movie Critic, is among the scripts that are written whose makers are awaiting actors’ return to sets.
The Drew Barrymore Show.
When will Drew Barrymore and other daytime shows return?
Barrymore’s planned return to her daytime television show became a rallying point for picketers earlier this month, prompting her to cancel her plans. The Talk and The Jennifer Hudson Show, which also employ some screenwriters, also called off plans to return.
Barrymore and the other shows have not announced their plans for returning. However, the Writers’ Guild of America has made it clear: guild members cannot start working again on projects until the tentative contract is ratified.
That vote has not yet been scheduled.
Is there anything new coming out this spring?
Absolutely. Networks had to get creative with fall (spring in New Zealand) programming by tapping into international shows, game shows and more sports. But there are still several new series and movies coming out this year.
Some stand-out newcomers include a Walking Dead show focused on fan favourite Daryl Dixon and a John Wick prequel series, which are airing now. Still to premiere are a new Jesse L. Martin NBC series, Irrational, and a Frasier sequel.
The PBS line-up is largely unaffected. It includes a Ken Burns documentary series, The American Buffalo, and a drama show about the lives of people fighting World War II is airing. The network also has non-fiction shows that examine Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Houston Astros cheating scandal, as well as how animals are adapting to human-caused habitat changes.
Movie theatres will have a mix of Oscar contenders and action films. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro and Lily Gladstone, will be out in October. November brings the newest Marvel film, The Marvels, as well as the prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
