Unscripted TV Community Fears Strike Impact: “It’s Not Going To Be A Carefree, Hot Girl, Reality Summer”
11.05.2023 - 14:33
/ deadline.com
The 2007/08 writers strike is widely credited with helping to ramp up the presence of unscripted television on broadcast and cable.
This year’s labor action, however, is not expected to have the same positive impact that the last writers strike did, and a confluence of events could mean that many of the top non-scripted shows are also hit.
“It’s not going to be a carefree, hot girl, reality summer,” one producer told Deadline.
Some of the popular game shows are already WGA productions. Jeopardy!, for instance, is written by WGA writers. While the long-running daytime prepares its questions in advance of a season, the worry is that a long strike would hit these types of shows, not to mention talent, such as hosts like Mayim Bialik, could want to show solidarity with the writers.
We’re already hearing of efforts from some writers on other unscripted shows to unionize with the team behind one long-running cable hit currently in talks with the WGA to become union members.
There is, however, some good news for reality fans. A fall schedule impacted by the strike could mean additional episodes or extensions of their favorite shows. CBS, for instance, has supersized both Amazing Race and Survivor. It didn’t make the move as a result of the writers strike, but it’s a bonus for adventure fans.
We hear that CBS is also considering adding another Big Brother to its schedule. There’s talk of another celebrity all-stars version of the long-running reality series being considered on top of season 25, which is set to air this summer.
The network also has additional episodes of shows such as Secret Celebrity Renovation.
Similarly, NBC is planning for more unscripted extensions. Deadline understands that it is planning for another