TV Actors Back At Work After SAG-AFTRA Strike; Series Set Return Dates

Greys Anatomy, Chicago Fire & Night Court ABC/NBC

Film and TV cameras are finally set to roll again as SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement. The strike is officially over at 12:01 AM tonight, ending a six-month production pause due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA work stoppages, which eclipsed the length of the Covid-related production shutdown of 2020.

Production on returning series is now set to ramp up. Broadcast is expected to lead the way — with series going into full prep immediately — as the urgency there is the greatest.

Indeed, just minutes after the end of the strike was announced, casts and crews started receiving notifications for tentative start dates in late November and early December.

As Deadline has reported, the broadcast networks have been running out of time to produce meaningful seasons of scripted series, which have midseason premiere dates to hit. The cable and streaming series whose filming was paused due to the strikes would begin prep as soon as possible.

A returning series needs 3-6 weeks for prep and pre-production, so, with the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, filming on the first broadcast shows can start at the end of November or start of December. The earliest date, already claimed by Wolf Entertainment series, is believed to be Nov. 27, right after the Thanksgiving weekend. That would allow established series to produce 13 episodes, which would fit within the broadcast season.

As Deadline reported last week, the Wolf Entertainment dramas, including the One Chicago and Law & Order franchises on NBC and the FBI trio for CBS, are poised to deliver 13 episodes this season.

A beginning of January start could also work for some shows to be able to produce 10 episodes that would be able to air before the end of the season in May.

Because of union rules, shortening the Christmas break is not an option, sources say, but six-day weeks for comedy series are possible to get episodes in the can faster.

The first writers rooms reopened Oct. 2. I hear for the most well oiled productions, such as the Wolf Entertainment dramas, filming could start as soon as five weeks into a writers room. This means that the first broadcast series could have had enough material to begin production on their new seasons as early as this week had the strike ended several weeks ago to allow for pre-production.

As virtually all returning broadcast series are starting prep immediately, some of the shows expected to return to production first include ABC Signature’s Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) and Criminal Minds: Evolution (co-production with CBS Studios for Paramount+), 20th Television’s 9-1-1 (now on ABC) and Tracker for CBS, Warner Bros. TV’s Night Court for NBC, eOne’s The Rookie (co-prod with ABC Signature for ABC), CBS Studios’ NCIS and Ghosts for CBS, as well as the Wolf Entertainment/Universal TV dramas.

The pressure on streaming series to start production right away is not as big, but with the pipeline thinning out, there is push to ramp up flagship series like Stranger Things, which was about to start filming its final season when the WGA strike started, putting production on hold. I hear the Netflix juggernaut is expected to start filming its final season in a couple of weeks.

Series which shut down production when the writers strike started that are on fast track to resume filming include Max’s Hacks, The Penguin and Welcome to Derry, Peacock’s Hysteria!, and FX’s The Old Man. Additionally, MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios are expected to ramp up production on the final episodes of Yellowstone and the new season of Mayor of Kingstown.

Two shows shooting in France, Netflix’s Emily In Paris and Amazon’s upcoming Etoile, from Amy Sherman-Palladino, had to delay production. Emily In Paris has already been eyeing a January Season 4 start while Etoile has been penciled in to begin filming in February as both series will have to navigate the Paris Summer Olympic Games.

There likely will be some scheduling juggling as cable/streaming series missed their designated filming window because of the strikes. Also, some actors from those series have been granted permission to do a movie with an interim agreement during the strike that may still be filming, which also would cause production schedules to be rearranged.

As Deadline reported last week, since the SAG-AFTRA strike lasted for five more weeks after the writers work stoppage had ended, not allowing for filming to begin right after the first newly written scripts were ready, 10 episodes has emerged as a threshold — a “sweet spot” as one agent put it — for a season length during the strikes-impacted 2023-24 broadcast season. (Originally, the hope was to get at least 13 of the most popular broadcast series.)

ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is among the top series that are planning to produce a 10-episode season. CBS’ CSI: Vegas and Ghosts are other series that are looking at 10-episode seasons. Most other returning series fall into that 10-13 episode target range.

As for launch pads, mid-February after the Super Bowl has been a main target to get fresh scripted episodes on the air, with early March also in consideration.

The situation is far more complicated with new series, which need more time to get production up and running and often need longer to get traction with viewers. Facing a tight production schedule and limited runway in spring 2024, most new scripted series that had been slated to debut this season, with the exception of CBS’ Elsbeth and Tracker, will instead launch in 2024-25, Deadline reported earlier today.