The Drew Barrymore Show.Places, people! The Hollywood strike is fully over, and it’s time to get back to work. After a writers’ strike triggered by the studios refusing to pay livable wages or improve working conditions, the two parties brokered a tentative deal on September 24, paving the way for the industry to get the shows on the road. The WGA voted to end the strike on September 27, effectively ending the writers’ portion of the walkout. The SAG-AFTRA strike ended just over a month later, on November 8. After 146 days of writers striking and 118 of actors, production is beginning in earnest. With Hollywood effectively shut down during Thanksgiving and Christmas, this leaves a few months for TV shows to get miniseasons out in 2024.
Daytime talk shows, late-night TV, and competition series fare better, considering the hosts operate under struck agreements. The Drew Barrymore Show will return in October after experiencing backlash of biblical proportions owing to the host’s scabbing controversy. (She tried to bring the show back during the writers’ strike, and people were not happy.) Dancing With the Stars experienced similar blowback, though not to the same extent as Barrymore, and will go ahead with its planned premiere on September 26, Variety confirmed. Meanwhile, late-night TV will return the week of October 1, as Last Week Tonight With John Oliver dusts off the 146-day-old cobwebs in the studio. What other shows can we expect to see this spring and into the hopefully better-paid future?
Scripted TV
According to Deadline, the first week of October marked the return to work for writers’ rooms for multiple shows, including Abbott Elementary, Grey’s Anatomy, Yellowjackets, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Family Guy, Young Sheldon, Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, Criminal Minds: Evolution, 9-1-1, Ghosts, NCIS, Fire Country, The Neighborhood and more. The Hollywood Reporter says that most of the greater Dick Wolf family of products (Law & Order: SVU, the Chicagos Med, PD, and Fire) will be returning to work the first week of October.
Deadline reported that production will begin on many shows during November. The first show scheduled to resume filming is Night Court, which starts back up November 15. David Harbour told Variety that Stranger Things is expected to start filming around that time as well. Many shows are beginning right after Thanksgiving, including Abbott Elementary, Young Sheldon, the Law & Order’s, and The Sandman. Early December will see shows like Will Trent, Ghosts, Animal Control, and Grown-ish resume production. Emily in Paris and The Lincoln Lawyer are waiting till January.
Daytime Talk Shows
Daytime talk shows will be among the first series to return after going dark on May 2 when the WGA first authorized the work stoppage. The Drew Barrymore Show heads back to TV on October 16, for real this time. The Jennifer Hudson Show and The Talk, both of which walked back their decisions to return amid the strike earlier this month, will premiere new seasons the second week of October, per Deadline. The Kelly Clarkson Show will also return on October 16, with the program moving from Los Angeles to 30 Rock in New York and requiring the construction of a new set.
Late-Night Shows
John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight returned on October 1, while Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and the Jimmys launched their comebacks on October 2. The late-night hosts launched the Strike Force Five podcast in August to raise money for writers on the picket lines during the strike. Actors began promoting their work on late-night chat shows the Friday after the tentative agreement was reached. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, which was operating through a series of guest hosts after Trevor Noah unceremoniously departed, returned a little later on October 16 with a brand-new … slate of guest hosts. Still. Real Time With Bill Maher, another show that was roundly criticized for trying to relaunch during the strike, decided to go with his original return date scheduled for September 29, per Variety. That date was previously postponed following backlash.
This is a developing story, has been updated, and will continue to be updated.
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