The world of scripted TV was thrown into chaos in May, when the Writers Guild of America went on strike, and they were joined by SAG-AFTRA in July. While some productions were immediately shut down when the strikes began — Saturday Night Live and talk shows, for example — the effects on other projects will take longer to become obvious. Some series like General Hospital, however, have continued to work through both the writers’ and the actors’ strikes. How have they been able to keep from shutting down production?
Both the WGA and actors’ unions failed to come to an agreement with the Alliance for Motion Pictures and Television Producers before their contracts expired, leading the current fight over fair wages and other issues like streaming residuals and the use of artificial intelligence. Writers and actors alike have been on the picket lines, as no writing can be done and actors unable to be on set or doing promotion for their projects. General Hospital, however, has continued production by using temporary writers, TVLine reports.
The longtime ABC soap opera has reportedly begun using “financial core” writers — members of the WGA who resign from the union in order to pursue work. One of General Hospital’s writers Shannon Peace reportedly wrote on Instagram on July 21:
Starting next week, the show will be penned exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking… Daytime writers face a unique conflict during strikes. We hate to see [our] characters and storylines handed over to ‘writers’ who cross the picket line. But we’re also keenly aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas.
Her Instagram page has since been made private, but in the post she also reportedly encouraged fans to keep watching the show, saying it is possible to “morally support the writers AND keep the show [on] the air.” Because daytime soaps are filmed pretty far in advance, scripts from the fi-core members aren’t expected to tape until August, when the cast returns from a previously scheduled summer break, according to TV Line.
This begs the question of how the actors are able to resume their work amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. It turns out cast members of daytime series are under a different contract — the Network Television Code — which reportedly also covers daytime talk shows, news programs, game shows and unscripted reality shows.
While General Hospital has apparently turned to fi-core writers until the WGA strike ends, it was unclear if other popular soap operas like Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless would follow suit.
As we prepare to wait longer than usual for our favorite fall shows to return, some productions were unaffected by the writer’s strike, like House of the Dragon Season 2, whose scripts were finished before the strike. Jeopardy!, as well, was able to finish out its season since all of its games had already been written. However, Mayim Bialik chose to walk out in solidarity with the show’s writers, and there have been some struggles in terms of next season and this year’s Tournament of Champions, with some of those contestants saying they will not cross the picket line.
There’s a lot up in the air, so keep your eye on the 2023 TV schedule to see what all is coming up. Meanwhile, General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC and can also be streamed with a Hulu subscription.
