Michael Che has revealed the upcoming episode of “Saturday Night Live” won’t be airing this weekend amid a WGA writers’ strike.
The Writers Guild of America began a strike earlier this week. The strike, which is believed to have started because the WGA and the Union of Film and Television Producers failed to reach an agreement on “high-stakes negotiators” are underway.
According to the union, “The conduct of the companies that created a gig economy in the union’s workforce and their unwavering stance in this negotiation betrayed their commitment to continue to disrupt the price of writing.” (each NBC)
The Union of Film and TV Producers also released a statement of their own; the agency was set up for the purpose of negotiating “on behalf of the studios,” the paper also reported.
The union reiterated in their statement that it was in fact offering a “generous increase in writers’ compensation.”
Several TV shows have been discontinued, including “Saturday Night Live”. Longtime actor and “Weekend Update” protagonist Michael Che, wrote one of his trademark text notes on Instagram on Thursday, announcing the cancellation.
Many TV shows have stopped production after the writers’ strike
The Blast has been sharing the news constantly about the writers’ strike; The last strike of the famous WGA writers was in 2007.
Among the TV shows that have stopped shooting new documentaries are Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” ABC’s massive success story, “Abbot Elementary School,” and Amazon Prime’s “Good Omens.” according to one of our writers’ strike news tidbits.
Several live-action shows have also halted production in solidarity. These include “The Late Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Tonight Show” and NBC’s “Late Night” are following suit. HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” will also be out of production. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” is also taking a break from filming.
Writers’ strike is inspired lots of Twitter chats.
Writer and comedian Ashley Ray tweeted, “kids don’t remember how bad television was during the 2007 writers’ strike.”
“Abbot Elementary School” writer Brittani Nichols cited an article from Deadline with the headline revealing that the second season’s finale was greatly increased in “slow viewing”; The episode attracted a larger audience via streaming compared to live broadcast.
Nichols tweeted“It’s good that I, as the writer of this episode, didn’t benefit from this success because of the current streaming residue model.”
Quinta Brunson also tweeted her support for the strike and also revealed her plans to join the scavenger hunt.
The Abbott Elementary School creator cited a tweet asking about her involvement with the writers and why she hasn’t ‘helped’ them so far.
“I don’t use the app anymore because it’s actually a bit overwhelming for me – but I just wanted to make it clear – I’m a writer. i am in wga. I’m on strike too! I have no real power here but join my union to demand fair compensation for writers!” Brunson also uses the hashtag #wgastrong.
She continue, “I’m on my way back to la at the moment but this week you’ll probably find me on the pickpocket line. This strike is also not about me, and I don’t want to make it about me either. It’s all about the writers. 🙂 support wga. No show or movie you love is written without… a writer.”
Michael Che reveals ‘Saturday Night Live’ won’t air live this weekend
In one of two posts on his grid, Che announced the ‘SNL’ cast would not be filming the live broadcast this weekend as they are currently on strike.
He write, “no live nights this week because we’re in a ski state. I have free time and no money. still owe shane 10 thousand. ranger out. knicks split. Knee hurts. every day is a nightmare.”
Che added “check your weak friends**” as the caption of the post.
One fan asked: “What does your pick sign say.”
“Why don’t you stand on the fence?” another asked.
“even though you still have the hive [thankful emoji]one fan wrote.
“Sometimes you can always do the stand-up you always do,” suggested another.
“This is the part where Colin makes funny jokes about vacations,” joked one fan.
It is unclear whether “Saturday Night Live” will not air for more than a week, as of this writing.
