Daytime Soap Operas Impacted In Hollywood 2023 Writers Strike?

Daytime soap opera viewers have begun questioning how the just-begun 2023 Hollywood Writers Strike will impact the Young And The Restless, Days Of Our Lives, General Hospital, and the Bold And The Beautiful. And beyond soaps, TV show fans also wonder how the strike will affect their favorite shows. But with some series already impacted, the impact depends on the show.

Find out how the 2023 Hollywood Writers Strike will impact your favorite shows. And learn what an experienced soap opera executive producer revealed. Get all the details below.

Hollywood 2023 Writers Strike Impacts Certain Shows

The 2023 Hollywood Writers Strike began when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) could not agree on a new contract. And as the deadline of May 1 passed, unionized screenwriters ended their work to head to the picket lines. The strike marks the WGA’s first in 15 years, according to Yahoo.

Late-night shows felt the first impact. For example, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon all have turned to reruns. And Saturday Night Live similarly cancelled its live shows. As a result, NBC announced that SNL “will air repeats until further notice starting Saturday.”

However, daytime talk shows such as The View, The Talk and Live With Kelly & Mark probably will continue. Such shows focus on unscripted interviews rather than monologues authored by show writers. And game shows vary. For example, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune rely on union writers, who will strike. As for broadcast scripted shows, most network shows finish their seasons in May. As a result, viewers probably won’t notice any impact.

The writers strike picket line outside of Warner Bros. in Los Angeles. https://t.co/2mx1TyHf1T pic.twitter.com/sBeOvNcPBZ

— Variety (@Variety) May 2, 2023

Daytime Soap Operas Face Unique Situation In Strike

But daytime soap operas including General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives typically build up several weeks of episodes. And whether they continue airing new shows depends on how long the strike lasts. However, in 2007, some soaps used non-union writers for the strike. 

And for an idea of the duration, consider that the last two writers’ strikes (one in 1988 and the most recent in 2007 to 2008 ) each lasted 100 days or more. When that happened, production teams figured out how to pen five scripts each week without experienced writers, shared Jill Farren-Phelps with the Wrap.

Known for executive-producing The Young and the Restless and General Hospital, Phelps recalled that the shows initially created writing teams “out of whomever was ready and willing and able and thoughts could be organized. Did we panic? I don’t think we had time,” admitted the exec producer. “This was pedal to the metal time and we had to do a good job under extreme circumstances.”

Daytime Soap Operas’ Substitute Writers ‘Totally Unprepared’

However, Phelps admitted the challenge. “It’s very difficult to pick up where writers leave off and do exactly what the writers would have done,” she added. But soaps do benefit in some unusual ways. For instance, strikes mean that “the financial constraints are all but released because the writers are no longer being paid.” 

And because the networks know the pressure, they cut back on notes. As a result, the substitute writers benefit. But Phelps also admitted that the overall pace seemed “brutal.” And she described the substitute writing team as “totally unprepared for what it meant to write a soap.”

Tell us what you think. Do you support the writers in the 2023 Hollywood Writers Strike? And after you share your views, check back on our site for more TV news.