As the writers strike comes to an end, what does that mean for the return of fall TV shows?
The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative three-year deal this week, and the Hollywood writers strike, which lasted nearly five months, officially came to a close on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.
Dozens of TV shows, including scripted shows and daytime and late-night talk shows, either went dark over the past months or had their fall premiere dates pushed back due to the strike.
Now, NBC has announced "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers" will return with original episodes starting Monday, Oct. 2.
Fallon and Meyers, along with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and John Oliver, responded to the end of the strike in a statement posted to the Instagram account for their podcast, "Strike Force Five."
"Their mission complete, the founding members of Strike Force 5 will return to their network television shows this Monday 10/2, and one of them to premium cable on 10/1," they said, later adding, "We want to thank the entire Strike Force 5 team, our wives, our special guests, and apologize to Conan O'Brien, who agreed to do the pod, but Stephen forgot to send him any possible dates, and then the strike ended."
The hosts hinted at more episodes coming despite the end of the strike, or "unless Ryan Reynolds cuts off the cash."
SAG-AFTRA, a guild comprised of more than 160,000 actors and other members of the entertainment industry, has been on strike since July.
It’s unclear when the SAG-AFTRA strike will end, though one source told NBC News that the actors guild is hoping to begin negotiations with the AMPTP this week. (The AMPTP represents NBCUniversal, the parent company of TODAY and NBC News.)
Two sources close to the AMPTP side of negotiations told NBC News that they are hoping both guilds could be back in action by Thanksgiving.
Warren Leight, the former producer and showrunner of “Law & Order: SVU,” predicted last week what might happen if both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA end their strikes over the next month.
“Who knows... but IF, somehow, the WGA and the AMPTP could come to an agreement by month’s end, and if SAGAFTRA could come to one by October’s end... a 13 episode network season could still be saved,” he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 21.
The deal between the WGA and the AMPTP is still being finalized and needs to be ratified by guild members, so networks have not yet confirmed when shows may return to air this fall.
NBC News has reached out to SAG-AFTRA, the WGA and the AMPTP for comment.
When TV shows are returning after the writers strike
“Dancing With the Stars”
Season 32 of ABC’s dancing competition show premiered as planned on Sept. 26.
The network had faced pressure to postpone the new season of “DWTS.” WGA members picketed rehearsals earlier this month, and celebrity dancer Matt Walsh announced he was “taking a pause” from participating in the show in solidarity with his union.
Once news came down regarding the writers strike agreement, Walsh confirmed he would participate in the new season.
“With the hopeful resolution and vote with the WGA, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ would no longer be a struck show therefore all cast would be able to return,” a rep for Walsh said in a statement to Variety on Sept. 25. “This includes WGA member Matt Walsh.”
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”
NBC announced Sept. 27 that "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" would return with an original telecast on Monday, Oct. 2. The episode will stream the next day on Peacock. (Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal.)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers”
"Late Night With Seth Meyers" is also set to start again on Monday, Oct. 2, according to NBC, and can be streamed on Peacock the next day.
