Saturday Night Live will air reruns starting this weekend, making it yet another in a list of late-night shows shutting down due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

The move resulted in the cancelation of an episode that would have featured the hosting debut of former cast member Pete Davidson, as well as the SNL debut of Philadelphia-born rapper Lil Uzi Vert. Instead of live episodes, the network will air repeats of past episodes “until further notice” starting on Saturday, NBC said in a statement.

Other shows going dark due to the strike include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Myers, and The Daily Show. Those programs will air reruns in lieu of new episodes during the strike, People reported.

Before the start of the strike on Tuesday, SNL was set for three new weekly episodes, wrapping its season with a finale on May 20.

Formed in 1921, WGA represents more than 20,000 entertainment industry writers who work on TV shows, movies, podcasts, news programs, and more.

— Nick Vadala

Earlier, we told you about how Abbott Elementary’s first writer’s room session for a new season could be cut short because of the strike.

Tuesday, writer Brittani Nichols confirmed that the writer’s room closed and the show’s third season could be shortened depending on how long the strike lasts.

“We are a show that writes while we air,” Nichols told Democracy Now. “If the strike goes on for a significant period of time, our show will not come out on time and that could change the amount of episodes which I’m sure people will be very upset about.”

Members of the Abbott Elementary cast and crew have been vocal supporters of the WGA’s demands.

“I’m a member of WGA and support WGA, and them getting — we, us — getting what we need,” the show’s creator and star Quinta Brunson said on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night. “No one wants a strike, but I hope that we’re able to rectify this.”

— Emily Bloch

Not every late-night talk show is going to go dark because of the strike.

Gutfield!, the Fox News talk show hosted by Greg Gutfield, will remain on the air because he and his team are non-union and not Writers Guild of America members, according to Deadline.

In April, Gutfield! averaged 1.8 million viewers a night, on par with ratings of late night competitors like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

— Rob Tornoe

House of Dragon fans don’t have to worry about how the writers’ strike will impact season two. That’s because, according to Variety, the show’s scripts were already completed.

Based on Game of Thrones and Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, House of Dragon has been filming its new season since April 11 at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios.

What’s unclear is how the production could be impacted if any rewrites are necessary while the WGA strike is still happening.

Writers Guild of Great Britain members are also on strike in solidarity with American WGA members. Some writers are members of both groups.

— Emily Bloch

WGA members are picketing Tuesday afternoon outside of Peacock’s NewFront building as part of the mass writers’ strike.

Chanting “hey-hey, ho-ho, corporate greed has got to go,” and ringing bells and tambourines, members are holding signs that say things like “Pay your writers more or we’ll spoil Succession.”

One sign says “What would Larry David do?”

It’s part of an at least two-week picketing schedule WGA published Tuesday morning, which includes venues like Netflix headquarters and Warner Bros. Studios.

— Emily Bloch

The Writer’s Guild of America represents more than 20,000 TV and film writers.

The group was formed in 1921 and its members work on TV shows, movies, podcasts, documentaries, animation, news outlets, and more.

Its focus is on making sure scriptwriters’ rights are protected when working with production companies.

The WGA negotiates a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents production studios and networks including Disney, Fox, Netflix, Universal, and Warner Bros., every three years.

This year, a point of contention between the WGA and AMPTP were contract provisions to provide writers residual payments related to when a show is picked up by a streaming platform.

The WGA also wants to protect writers from getting replaced by artificial intelligence and proposed safeguards within the contract. Since the groups couldn’t come to an agreement, members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.

» READ MORE: WGA strike: Hollywood film and TV writers go on strike

— Emily Bloch

Broadway’s biggest awards night could be in trouble depending on how long the WGA strike lasts.

The Tony Awards are set to take place on June 11 with nominees dropping Tuesday morning. But if WGA writers are still on strike, producers could be forced to cancel or modify the show format.

“In case you didn’t know this, writers write all the jokes at the Tony Awards, and all the monologues, and all the opening numbers,” said Jonathan Lewis aka Sweaty Oracle — a well known theater TikToker.

Lewis said the league that organized the award ceremony could have found a workaround by having a talk show host or comedian host the awards and write their own script (though this can cause complications with picket line crossing for hosts that say they also support the WGA).

This year, actress Ariana DeBose was tapped to host the major event. DeBose infamously went viral for an awkward (but endearing!) musical number she performed at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards show.

During the 2007-2008 WGA strike, awards ceremonies including the Golden Globes were impacted. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association attempted to work with WGA to get a waiver for the ceremony to go on. But writers threatened to picket and celebrities threatened to skip the event. The traditional awards ceremony ended up canceled and a list of winners was read aloud.

“I personally think the league should have been maybe a little wiser this year,” Lewis said.

— Emily Bloch

The last WGA strike was ended 15 years ago, running from Nov. 5, 2007, through Feb. 12, 2008.

Fueled by the same cause — no contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the strike prompted a bleak impact on the industry.

TV and film production came to a screeching halt for 100 days, costing the Los Angeles economy an estimated $2 billion. Hollywood crew members lost an estimated $342 million in wages.

Late night talk show format television suffered the first direct hit. In some instances, shows went dark and aired re-runs. But other times, shows awkwardly attempted to go on without writers.

A viral clip of Conan O’Brien showed the former Late Night host filling time by seeing how long he could spin his wedding ring on his desk.

Late night TV hosts have expressed their support of the WGA.

In some cases, networks were forced to replace scripted episodic TV shows with reality shows to make up for the lack of scripts and production.

These swaps caused significant views in TV viewership numbers and networks’ bottom lines.

— Emily Bloch

Instead of going to their jobs Tuesday, TV and film writers will be picketing outside of them.

WGA has announced plans for the group’s first two weeks of picketing, which will begin this afternoon, Variety reported.

Locations are set to vary by day, time, and region but will include the big names in TV and movie production.

On Tuesday, the East Coast-based membership will picket in front of Peacock NewFront on 5th Avenue. On Wednesday, membership will gather in front of Netflix headquarters.

On the West Coast, picketing locations will include Amazon, Disney, Fox, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.

— Emily Bloch

Depending on how long it lasts, WGA’s strike could start having a ripple effect on network TV’s favorite sitcoms and episodic series’ production timelines.

And yes, that means Philly’s beloved Abbott Elementary could be impacted.

Following a highly anticipated season two finale that earned nearly 3 million viewers, the ABC comedy was slated to host a writers’ room for the next season on Monday — the day WGA’s contract expired, Deadline reported. Hours later, the strike was announced.

“I’m a member of WGA and support WGA, and them getting — we, us — getting what we need,” the show’s creator and star Quinta Brunson said on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night. “No one wants a strike, but I hope that we’re able to rectify this,”

During a recent WGA award ceremony, Abbott Elementary writer Brittani Nichols also spoke in support of the union’s demands.

“What we’ve seen over and over are studios are trying to find loopholes to not compensate us the way we should be compensated,” she said.

“When you’re stressed out and don’t have enough time and don’t have enough resources, it’s going come across in the material, so it’s best for the business to treat writers appropriately.”

Other TV shows that could be impacted include Yellowjackets and Andor.

—Emily Bloch

Late night talk shows are already feeling the impact from the WGA strike announced early this morning.

TV shows including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show are all going dark, with production shut down and reruns airing instead, People reported.

Over the last week, the shows’ hosts have expressed their support to writers and the guild.

“[Our writers] are so important to our show,” Stephen Colbert — who is also a WGA member — said on his show Monday night. “Without these people, The Late Show would be called The Late Show with a guy rambling about Lord of the Rings and boats for an hour.”

Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers also showed solidarity.

“I support my writers,” Fallon told NBC News Monday on the 2023 Met Gala red carpet. “We have a lot of staff and crew that will be affected by this but, you know, they got to get a fair deal.”

Meyers said last week that WGA’s demands were reasonable.

“For those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation,” he said. “They are entitled to make a living … I support those demands.”

Depending on its length, shows including Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Real Time with Bill Maher, Saturday Night Live, and soap operas could feel the strike’s impacts next.

—Emily Bloch

Film and television writers announced early Tuesday morning they are going on strike, the first time they’ve taken such an action in 15 years.

“From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession,” the Writers Guild of America said in a statement. “No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

Writers failed to come to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade group that represents TV and film production companies. The Writers Guild of America said screenwriters will hit the picket line Tuesday.

— Rob Tornoe

Because of the strike’s timing, it could impact TV shows and movies already scheduled for production as well as live shows. According to Deadline, late night and other live-format shows would be hit first.

Saturday Night Live’s last three episodes of the season would be impacted. Late night talk TV shows, like The Tonight Show, which are written the day the show is filmed, would not be able to go on as scheduled without a script. In the 2007 strike, the shows were forced to pause and air re-runs instead, which impacts viewership numbers and revenue. In some cases, shows pivoted to lengthy celebrity interviews or swapped out time slots for reality TV shows.

Next, a strike would impact daytime soap operas, which film on a rolling schedule.

In what Deadline describes as a “worst-case scenario,” theatrical releases could also need to be rescheduled, but it’s less clear what movies would be directly impacted since film production takes longer than TV shows.

Episodic network television could also be hit, depending on the strike’s length.

“A work stoppage in May could delay the network television season, which continues to account for one third of all episodes produced, including 45% of the episodes produced by legacy media companies Disney, Paramount Global, and Comcast NBCUniversal,” WGA said. “Writers on fall network series typically begin work in May and June in preparation for series premieres in September and October ... Any delay in the start of work has the potential to postpone fall season premieres and could ultimately reduce the amount of new programming produced for the 2023-2024 network season.”

— Emily Bloch

The Writer’s Guild of America represents more than 20,000 TV and film writers. The group was formed in 1921 and its members work on TV shows, movies, podcasts, documentaries, animation, news outlets, and more.

There are two key issues surrounding WGA’s contract demands and what they prompted a walkout: streaming services and artificial intelligence.

The WGA says that even though streaming services initially created more jobs, studios have kept costs down and wages low, despite increasing inflation. Streaming shows also typically have shorter seasons with longer breaks than their network counterparts, meaning less pay for a job.

On the movie side of things, according to Vox, the median screenwriter pay is the same today as it was in 2018. After factoring for inflation, that’s equivalent to a 14% wage decrease. The WGA also said that screenwriters who are making less money are more likely to be asked to do additional uncompensated gruntwork, like script rewrites and “mini rooms,” the practice of a small group workshopping a script for low pay before it’s picked up for production.

As far as how AI factors in, the WGA wants contractual safeguards that protect against the use of AI to take work — and, in turn, payment — from writers.

Union leaders say that AI could wipe out writer jobs en masse without proper contractual protections. The WGA’s goal is to get these protections folded into the new contract. Deadline has published a full list of WGA’s demands.

— Emily Bloch