The 2007/08 writers strike is widely credited with helping to ramp up the presence of unscripted television on broadcast and cable.
This year’s labor action, however, is not expected to have the same positive impact that the last writers strike did, and a confluence of events could mean that many of the top non-scripted shows are also hit.
“It’s not going to be a carefree, hot girl, reality summer,” one producer told Deadline.
Some of the popular game shows are already WGA productions. Jeopardy!, for instance, is written by WGA writers. While the long-running daytime prepares its questions in advance of a season, the worry is that a long strike would hit these types of shows, not to mention talent, such as hosts like Mayim Bialik, could want to show solidarity with the writers.
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We’re already hearing of efforts from some writers on other unscripted shows to unionize with the team behind one long-running cable hit currently in talks with the WGA to become union members.
There is, however, some good news for reality fans. A fall schedule impacted by the strike could mean additional episodes or extensions of their favorite shows. CBS, for instance, has supersized both Amazing Race and Survivor. It didn’t make the move as a result of the writers strike, but it’s a bonus for adventure fans.
We hear that CBS is also considering adding another Big Brother to its schedule. There’s talk of another celebrity all-stars version of the long-running reality series being considered on top of season 25, which is set to air this summer.
The network also has additional episodes of shows such as Secret Celebrity Renovation.
Similarly, NBC is planning for more unscripted extensions. Deadline understands that it is planning for another installment of America’s Got Talent to its schedule in addition to season 18. Earlier this year, it aired America’s Got Talent: All-Stars, last year, it had AGT: Extreme and for a couple of years before that had America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
The new format has yet to be decided but it’s expected to appear on NBC’s midseason schedule.
On The Voice, the network is filming two more seasons back-to-back. Season 24 is coming in the fall, likely around September, as per previous years, and it is already filming parts of season 25
Despite all of this, one network chief told Deadline that there’s no plans to rapidly ramp up new reality orders as a result of the strike.
“There’s no boom,” one agent told Deadline.
“No one is rushing to do anything,” added another. “Buyers aren’t really stockpiling or doing anything crazy right now.”
Even though only a minority of unscripted shows are currently covered by the WGA, much of this uncertainty for the non-scripted community comes from the knock-on effect that the writers strike might have.
The DGA and SAG-AFRTA could conceivably both strike when their contracts with the AMPTP expire at the end of June.
The directors walking out would have a major knock on a number of broadcast shows, particularly the studio shows such as Dancing with the Stars, which is coming back to ABC after a short stint on Disney+, in the fall.
Many of the top non-scripted shows now attract major A-list talent, some of which are also WGA. We’ve heard of one major competition series that was set to hold its first run through in LA but has had to delay as a result of the exec producer being a prominent member of the writers union.
With or without a SAG-AFTRA strike, many of these stars also may be nervous to start shooting reality shows.
“It’s a little unsettling because regardless of even if you’re making a non-union show, talent might stand down in solidarity with the writers,” said one non-scripted producer.
There’s also the possibility that some of the studios, already looking to cut costs, could use the strike to kill a number of expensive reality projects that otherwise would have made it to air.
There may be other bright spots; network buyers may stock up on development in order to be ready once a strike ends, in a similar way to the non-scripted boom during Covid.
“All my scripted friends are saying this must be great for you. No, it’s not, it’s scary,” added one source.
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