The WGA Writers Strike is affecting many areas of the film and television industry, and soap operas are finding themselves under immense strain from this action. The strike began on May 2, 2023, intended to raise awareness and force change for the fair payment of film and television writers after their conditions reached a point that the Writers Guild of America deemed insufficient for their contribution to the industry. Thousands of writers represented by the guild went on strike and are abstaining from working while this movement continues.

The Writers Strike has forced several movie and television productions to temporarily shut down, while the WGA attempts to negotiate a newer, fairer rate of pay for its members. Plenty of shows are already affected by the WGA Writers Strike, with their writing teams completely absent from production. It’s for this reason that most projects have decided to pause while their writers are striking. This same decision severely affected several shows during the 2007 Writers Strike, and soap operas were among the areas that were impacted the most.

The Writers Strike Will Likely Hit Soap Operas Sooner Than Other Shows

According to a report from USA Today, soap operas will probably be among the genres that are affected the most quickly by the WGA Writers Strike. Given the daily nature of soap operas, such as General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, it’s impossible for writers to work too far in advance, so their writing process is constantly ongoing. This means that without a quick resolution, they will soon run out of material to film and broadcast. The report claims that in as little as “a few weeks," soap operas will likely “go dark” as a result of the WGA Writers Strike.

Because soap operas are going to find themselves affected sooner than most other corners of the industry, they will be forced to decide between shutting down production altogether and continuing without a team of writers. Soap operas strongly rely on their daily viewership, so taking an extended absence would likely have a detrimental effect on their ratings — and working without the show's professional writers isn't really a possibility either. This rightly puts a lot of pressure on the industry to resolve these strikes as quickly as possible, reaching a fair compromise that allows the writers to return to work with a suitable salary.

The Last Strike Saw Writers Crossing Picket Lines To Write Soap Operas

The last time there was a writers strike of this size, in 2007-2008, soap operas were affected more quickly than most other areas of the industry. A report from the New York Times at the time claimed that “each daytime drama tends to ready episodes at least two months in advance," so after a couple of months, several writers were forced to cross the picket line in order to maintain the survival of the shows.

This return to work during the strike was actually permitted by the WGA as a case of "financial need." Soap operas can’t really survive after a prolonged absence, as their audience is conditioned to daily broadcasts and storylines that take place in real-time, so this urgency forced several writers to return during the previous strike.

Whether this will happen again isn’t clear, but it's easy for writers to anonymously contribute to their shows during the strike. One striking writer from the 2008 report admitted that “with the internet, people don’t ever have to cross a picket line," which means that “we’ll never know” exactly how many writers are truthfully striking from their work. This could definitely happen again, particularly since writers have seen first-hand from the last strikes just how necessary their work is to the success of their respective soap operas — but that's exactly why these strikes are so necessary, to fairly reward these writers for the importance of their work.