How the last writers’ strike changed things on screen

The 2007 writers’ strike couldn’t have come at a worse time for screenwriter Zack Stentz. After being out of work for three years, Mr. Stentz luckily found his new job as editor-in-chief of Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” He worked with a group of high caliber writers on a show he described as “dark, thoughtful and weird.”

Before the strike, the staff had successfully completed nine episodes of the show, which followed the aftermath of the events of the blockbuster “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” When the hour-long drama debuted in January 2008, it garnered solid ratings and a loyal fan base. Still, Mr. Stentz, who has gone on to write for series like JJ Abrams’ Fringe and Greg Berlanti’s The Flash, believes the 100-day strike ultimately sealed the show’s fate: a truncated two-season, 31-episode arc. .

“It was heartbreaking because we felt like we were doing something really special,” said Mr. Stentz, who recalled the show’s budgets being slashed during its second season, after the extended hiatus caused ratings to plummet . “The conventional wisdom on the show is that it was ahead of its time and if it had come out in the 2010s it probably would have been a much bigger success.”

“The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is just one of many television shows and movies whose fate was changed by the latest writer’s strike, which cost the Los Angeles economy $2.1 billion in lost revenue. Movies such as the James Bond movie ‘Quantum of Solace’, ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra’ and ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ were among the movies that went into production with unfinished scripts.

Things were so grim on “Quantum of Solace” that star Daniel Craig later admitted to rewriting scenes himself while on set. The director of the film, Marc Forster, who declined to comment on this article, told the website Collider in 2016 that he was considering quitting what was then his biggest budget film to date.

“At that point I wanted to withdraw,” he said. “But everyone was like, ‘No, we have to make a movie, the strike will be over soon, so you can start shooting what we have and then we’ll finish everything else.'”

Not every project suffered from the work stoppage. Take the series ‘Breaking Bad’. According to one of the show’s producers, Mark Johnson, the character of Jesse Pinkman played by Aaron Paul, was originally supposed to die in the last episode of the show’s first season.

However, the strike forced “Breaking Bad” to halt production after only seven episodes. And, Mr. Johnson recalled in a recent interview, when the show’s creator Vince Gilligan realized how well the character played against Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, Walter White, he decided to let him live.

Jesse Pinkman lasted the entire 62-episode run, and Mr. Paul won three Emmys. “Through the strike, we learned a lot about the show,” Johnson said. (Others have said the decision to keep the character of Mr. Paul was made before the strike, although other key plot elements of the show were modified.)

Of course, today’s entertainment industry is very different from that of 15 years ago, and all the lessons learned from the last strike may not apply. Broadcast networks have cut back on script programming. Streaming services are not required to put together a fall schedule. The major movie studios have said they have enough movies in production to release them at a steady pace through mid-2024.

“The dynamics are different now,” says Kevin Reilly, a veteran television executive. “Really, the only sticking point is your development pipe gets a little dry at some point. But I don’t think that’s even a speed bump in the streaming world. It should take at least six months for that to really start to feel the pressure. Same at the checkout.”

Studios have been leaning heavily on this story for the past few weeks. Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos told investors during the company’s first quarter results that because of its “large base of upcoming shows and movies from around the world,” the streaming giant “is likely to be able to serve our members better than the most.” Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish also said the strike would have little impact on the company’s business in the short term.

“We have a lot of leverage to pull and that will allow us to get through the strike, even if it’s a longer duration,” he said on the company’s post-earnings conference call.

But a prolonged strike can also have unforeseen consequences. Just a week after the shutdown, TV shows such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things”, HBO Max’s “Hacks” and Apple TV+’s “Loot” have ceased production.

It remains unclear how the studios will adjust if the strike is extended. As one writer, Joe McClean (“Resident Evil: Vendetta”) noted during the picket last week, the 2007 strike led to a renewed surge in reality TV shows, which are relatively cheap to produce and don’t require writers.

“There’s a nice thread that can show that the last writer’s strike led to Donald Trump becoming president,” said Mr. McClean, referring to “Celebrity Apprentice,” which debuted in January 2008 and added Mr. Trump on television amplified. “Because we didn’t have writers and we didn’t have good content on television, that’s where all the viewers went, and it just elevated his star.”