With thousands of US screenwriters staging a mass walk-out, many of our favourite titles are at risk of being affected – as we learnt the hard way last time there was a strike.
The industrial action comes after major studios failed to come to an agreement over pay with the Writers Guild of America, with writers downing their pens to join the picket line.
Already, the Duffer Brothers have confirmed the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is likely to be delayed, saying in a tweet that production is ‘not possible’ due to the strike as ‘writing does not stop when filming begins’.
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“We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work,” they said in a statement.
Of course, we’ve been here before with the 2007-2008 writers’ strike – and that time around, the effect on the entertainment industry was huge.
It lasted for 100 days before an agreement was reached, during which time the ripples of impact grew widespread, with many titles delayed or postponed, while others were forced to run with shortened seasons.
Breaking Bad
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The writers’ strike led to a huge change for the first season of Breaking Bad, which was reduced by two episodes.
The series was also originally supposed to see Hank killed off in the ninth episode, but as it bowed out with seven, the character was saved.
Speaking about the change on Kevin Pollack’s Chat Show, creator Vince Gilligan explained: “We were writing and shooting and editing in a vacuum, no one had seen the show yet, and I really had the feeling that I needed to throw the kitchen sink at it, that the writers and I needed to get every bit of drama.
“The writers’ strike came along, and we didn’t get to do our last two episodes. We had to end our season one with seven episodes instead of nine. Our ninth episode that year, we were seriously leaning toward killing off Hank, Walt’s brother-in-law, played by Dean Norris, in that first season.
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"I was ready, willing to throw the kitchen sink at it, because I was afraid we wouldn’t hold people’s attention.”
Thankfully, the show went on to go from strength to strength, while Gilligan ended up waiting until the show’s antepenultimate episode to kill Hank off.
Lost
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Lost is arguably one of the most famous examples of the 00s writers’ strike, as it split season four in half – and, crucially, at a time where viewers were already starting to lose interest.
The series was supposed to contain 16 episodes, but as only eight were written before the strike broke out, these aired first before a month-long hiatus.
Damon Lindelof decided to complete the rest of the series with a ‘lean, mean five’ episodes, but as the finale’s script was so long, a 14th episode was eventually approved, but only as part of a three-hour special named ‘There’s No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3)
I know, it’s about as confused and convoluted as the show got.
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While season three averaged a total of 17.84 million viewers, the fourth instalment averaged 13.40 million – a number that only dwindled further in later series before the show fizzled out with a sixth, final season in 2010.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine saw Ryan Reynolds make his first on-screen appearance as Wade Wilson, having been told by studio execs that his role in the Deadpool films would depend on it.
The only issue is, the job coincided with the writers’ strike, meaning he was kind of on his own with the script.
"I was already attached to the Deadpool movie," Reynolds once told Jess Cagle on his Sirius XM show.
"We hadn't, at that point, written a script yet. But that came along, and [I was basically told], 'Play Deadpool in this movie, or else we'll get someone else to.' And I just said, 'I'll do it, but it's the wrong version.'"
He continued: "Every line I have in the movie, I just wrote myself.
"The script that we had, it just said, 'Wade Wilson shows up. He talks really fast.' I was like, 'What? What am I supposed to do with that?'"
Reynolds then recalled a conversation he had with one of the executive producers, saying: "I said, 'You guys, people are gonna go nuts over this.' And he was like, 'I know right?" And I was like, 'No, not in a good way.'"
The result? A not-so-fresh 38 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Prison Break
Prison Break season three ended up being a whole nine episodes shorter than intended – and the ratings showed it didn’t go down too well with fans.
While the first season has an average rating on IMDb of 8.8 and the second 8.5, the third instalment took a slump with 8.2.
Still, it didn’t fare too badly among the critics, with IGN saying in its review of the season: "With so much going against it, this shortened third season of Prison Break could have been disastrous.
"But instead, the writers managed to not only salvage the season, but tell a tightly woven, compelling and action-packed story."
Quantum of Solace
Not even 007 was protected from the effects of the writers’ strike, which began just hours after the script landed for Quantum of Solace.
As such, there were no writers available to fine-tune it, meaning Daniel Craig had to rewrite scenes himself.
“On Quantum, we were f**ked,” he told Time Out.
“We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do.
"We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again,’ but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not.’”
Craig also told IndieWire the movie was 'a bit of a s**tshow, to say the least'. Ouch.
It became one of the worst-rated Bond movies, ranking at #17 out of the 27 films on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
Family Guy
The long-running animated sitcom had to have 10 episodes cut from its sixth season due to creator Seth MacFarlane being involved in the writers’ strike.
After he refused to complete any further episodes, a spokesperson for Fox said: "Our hope is that he returns to work and completes his non-writing obligations on those episodes"
Fox later went on to air several episodes without MacFarlane’s involvement as they had been started but not completed pre-strike – a move he told Variety was perfectly legal, but still a ‘colossal d**k move’.
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory may now be one of the most popular sitcoms ever, having run for a respectable 12 seasons before drawing to a close in 2019.
But things got off to a bit of a rocky start when the writers’ strike shut production down during season one, when the show had only been on for eight episodes.
Reflecting on the concern at the time, star Johnny Galecki told Entertainment Weekly: “We did seven or eight episodes and then the writers’ strike hit.
“We had a lot of things that were stacked against us. I know everyone feels like their show is the little show that could, but I feel like we really overcame a lot.”
Co-creator Bill Prady added: “I always actually point to the first season with the writers’ strike, when the eight episodes that we made were re-running and CBS said they’re kind of going up in the numbers.
“I said, ‘All right, maybe this is something.’”
House
Season four of medical drama House had eight episodes cut as a result of the strike, as production had to be halted after just 12 instalments had been filmed.
Executive producer Katie Jacobs told the Daily Princetonian that the strike ‘heartbreaking for new series just starting out’, and a blow to House, which had ‘just started to hit its stride’ as it began its fourth season.
“We will absolutely not be able to do what we were going to do with 24 episodes in 16,” she explained at the time.
“But we will finish the story arcs we started."
Angels and Demons
2009 Tom Hanks film Angels and Demons, a sequel to The Da Vinci Code, was significantly delayed by the strike, having originally been slated for a December 2008 release.
Colombia Pictures spokesman Steve Elzer said in a statement that ‘while the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong, we do not believe it is the fully realized production draft required of this ambitious project.’
Topics: Film and TV
Jess Hardiman