Multiple Late-Night Talk Shows Shut Down As Hollywood Screenwriters Go On Strike 

Multiple Late-Night Talk Shows Shut Down As Hollywood Screenwriters Go On Strike 

Sad news for fans of late-night talk television.

According to reports, multiple late-night talk TV series have been placed on pause effective immediately due to a screenwriters’ strike over unfair compensation. Starting tonight (May 2), fans won’t be able to watch new episodes of  “The Late Show” hosted by Stephen Colbert, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or “The Tonight Show,” which is hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Talk series/comedy sketch shows that air weekly — such as “Saturday Night Live” and “Real Time with Bill Maher” — will also be impacted by the strike. Some of the series mentioned above have opted to air re-runs amid the shutdown. However, final decisions on what’s to come for “The Daily Show” — which hasn’t had an official host since December when Trevor Noah exited the program — and “SNL” have yet to be revealed.

According to reports, more than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike today (May 2), marking the first Hollywood shutdown since 2007. A statement from the union leadership said:

“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal … the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” 

The statement continued:

“They have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

 Reportedly, one of the major problems between WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — which represents Hollywood’s studios, streamers and production companies — is the streaming of late-night television programs. Unfortunately, writers who work on “comedy variety programs made for new media” do not qualify for MBA minimums.

Seth Meyers reportedly addressed his talk show being on standby and said:

“I love writing. I love writing for TV. I love writing this show. I love that we get to come in with an idea for what we want to do every day and we get to work on it all afternoon and then I have the pleasure of coming out here. No one is entitled to a job in show business. But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation. They are entitled to make a living. I think it’s a very reasonable demand that’s being set out by the guild. And I support those demands.”

Are you upset about the strike taking your favorite television show off the air? Tell us below.

[VIA 1,2]