Specter of 2007 writers’ strike re-emerges as viewers contemplate what the 2023 strike will mean for TV

As far as quality content on television is concerned, much of what makes it up comes from the minds of various writers. Without Writers Guild of America East and West members, there would be no Breaking Bad or The Sporanos and, with the unions voting for a new strike, fans of different content are looking to the last great work stoppage and wondering what it will mean for media.

Content like the above clip from when Conan O’Brien returned to his late night show on NBC without writers is circulating on Twitter right now. Without union members, everything on late night shows and other variety efforts like Saturday Night Live cannot be scripted and as a result hosts have to produce of their own accord. This did lead to Conan’s producer Jordan Schlansky becoming a regular feature of his shows during the last strike, but, on dramatic content or fictional shows which are shooting week to week, storylines can become truncated or outright excised as a result and another fan is reminding folks of this very real reality.

Indeed, the fourth season of Lost was intended to have 16 episodes, but only eight were in the can at the time of the previous labor action. ABC opted to air them instead of waiting for a resolution and, while they managed to catch up after an agreement was signed, this kept the show off the air for five weeks while new episodes were filmed to bring the season up to a total of 13 episodes, and, when it was not on the air the network lost an untold amount of advertising revenue. On Supernatural, Dean only went to Hell in the show’s third season because of the strike and, a different cinephile who loathes the work of Michael Bay wants people to realize that, when disagreements happen, horrible content can come up as a result which is then a pain for all of time.

What will happen next remains to be seen. The previous strike went for three months and eight days and, while studios have cited economic downturn and a tighter subscriber market alongside strong competition, the guild says this is bunk considering what many of their executives are being paid (Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav netted more than $30 million last year). Several creatives like Krister Johnson (Murderville) say they are not afraid of striking, and now, negotiations are not resuming.