It’s not hard to remember what the early ’00s writer strike did to television. For so many of us, we were falling in love with Ned the Piemaker on Pushing Daisies and just really enjoying Friday Night Lights’ Landry not killing anyone before the studios’ lack of listening to its writers took those things from us. And now a similar conversation is happening surrounding the WGA writers’ strike. First and foremost, it’s important to note that if you’re worried about the shows you love, that’s okay! But it’s not the writers’ fault. This is on the studios who refuse to listen to the reasonable demands from the writers who bring us the characters we know and love.
Secondly, if you want to support those shows and those who create them, you can! Depending on your location, we as viewers can join the picket line and make it clear that the lack of resources these writers are facing is not okay. For so many of them, they struggle to pay rent, they don’t always have health insurance, and the idea of the “residual” check to help keep them afloat is gone because of streaming services.
The WGA was in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to try and work through the requests from writers—including the pushback against AI writing which seems an easy thing to regulate! But the demands were left unanswered and a strike was called starting today, May 2, 2023. The last time this happened was in November of 2007 and lasted until February, 2008. It impacted a lot of shows we know and love and people still remember what happened to those programs, that the studios are at fault for destroying.
So if you are concerned about your favorite shows and how this will impact them, you can show your support for the writers, including, if you live in certain areas, by joining them at the strike.
How to join a WGA picket line
It’s easy to sit and worry that the show you know and love might be changed forever. But it’s important to remember who makes those shows. The studios refusing to listen to writers would be nowhere without them. And joining those who have created the characters and television shows we know and love to share your support is important!
You can follow WGA West and WGA East on Twitter, and check out their list of locations and schedules for the picket lines. And it’s easy to go and share your love for the work these writers work hard to bring to us all by helping their numbers. If you don’t live nearby either of these cities, share resources online. Make it clear that you stand with the writers in this situation. Using a hashtag might not seem like much but it does add to their numbers, it shows much-needed and well-deserved support. Because without these writers, those quotes you love to talk in, the GIFs you share, and the characters you’re obsessed with wouldn’t exist.
Writers are the backbone of storytelling. They create the worlds that we see brought to life by other brilliant creatives but it starts with the writers. Joining the picket lines if you can and sharing your support online is the least we can do for the joy that their work brings us. I stand with writers. I stand with the WGA and you worried about your favorite show is okay! Just make sure the writers know that it is because you love their work and support them in the fight for their pay.
(Featured image: David McNew/Getty Images)
