To understand the full impact of the Hollywood strikes, we need to think months in advance. For now, the major studios, collectively represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), have enough shows and movies in post-production to maintain the illusion of business as usual — for the home viewer, at least.
Barbie and Oppenheimer just delivered the biggest movie weekend of the year, and the summer TV schedule is typically heavy on reality programs anyway. But before long, the release calendar is going to start thinning out. Not only have many productions already stopped filming; several projects that are already finished are going to be delayed so that their stars can properly promote them.
I’d argue that LGBTQ+ audiences will feel those absences especially acutely. Between shows like Yellowjackets and movies like Fire Island, we’ve recently hit an important hinge point for queer and trans representation, with a more diverse cohort of creators telling a broader range of stories about our community. But without fair pay and better labour conditions for the people who put those stories on screen, that trend will stop in its tracks.
Nothing proves that more conclusively than the long list of LGBTQ+ TV shows and movies currently on pause during the ongoing labour actions by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, who are asking for a larger share of streaming residuals, regulations around the use of AI, and other protections.
Some affected productions are longtime fan favourites; others are new releases that have been on our radar for months. And instead of making a deal at the negotiating table that could quickly put these titles back in motion, Hollywood executives have instead begun pushing release dates, ensuring that we’re headed into a fall season with much less on-screen fare than we’re used to getting.
Below, check out the list of LGBTQ+ projects impacted by the Hollywood strikes.
Abbott Elementary
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The ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary isn’t just one of network TV’s biggest hits, it’s a showcase for queer talent. Writer-producer (and WGA captain) Brittani Nichols is a self-described “genderqueer rascal” and the show itself features a queer relationship between teacher Jacob (Chris Perfetti) and his boyfriend Zach (Larry Owens). The highly rated show was (unsurprisingly) renewed for a third season, but the WGA strike was called just before production was set to begin. For now, we’ll be watching Nichols’ picket signs.
Big Mouth
Netflix’s raunchy, puberty-focused animated comedy has featured an impressive range of queer characters in its seven-season history, including Josie Totah’s transgender summer camper Natalie, the bisexual Jay Bilzerian (Jason Mantzoukas), and a turn from comedian Ali Wong as a pansexual middle schooler. As Variety reported, the show’s writers would have finished season eight in August if they didn’t need to head to the picket lines instead.
Challengers
In recent days, studios have begun bumping fall release dates in the hopes that their stars will eventually be able to promote their films again on social media and late-night talk shows. When that kind of delay happens to a movie about Zendaya having a threesome with two tennis stars, it’s especially painful. Challengers, from Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, was originally slated for a fall release but has since been delayed to April 2024. There’s only so many times we can watch that steamy trailer before we need the full thing.
The Color Purple
We don’t definitively know how much queerer the new Color Purple adaptation will be than Steven Spielberg’s 1985 interpretation of the Alice Walker novel. As Amari Gaiter observed in Autostraddle, the forthcoming Warner Bros. musical features openly gay talent like Colman Domingo and screenwriter Marcus Gradley, but a relative dearth of queer Black women. The trailer has only furthered those concerns, as Pride noted. Either way, we’ll find out the answer later than expected. Slated for December, Variety recently reported that Warner Bros. is now possibly eyeing a later release.
Drive-Away Dolls
This one hurts. The lesbian road trip movie Drive-Away Dolls is easily my most anticipated fall film. Or at least it was until a recent report in Deadline that its original September 22 release may be bumped back. The trailer for the Ethan Coen-directed crime comedy is nothing short of fantastic, promising star turns from Geraldine Viswanathan and Margaret Qualley. But until the film can be fully promoted, it seems likely that Focus Features will be assessing its options. We’ll update this entry if the release date officially changes. (Note: Deadline has now confirmed that Drive-Away Dolls is moving to February 23, 2024.)
Euphoria
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We’ll have to wait and see whether the poor reception for Sam Levinson’s The Idol affects people’s appetite for more Euphoria. Ditto the impact of the troubling headlines surrounding the nudity-heavy second season of the HBO drama. When the writers strike began, Deadline interviewed an HBO executive who said that season three of Euphoria would “ideally” arrive in 2025. That appears to be when many TV shows interrupted by the strikes are planning to return to the air, though that target is certainly subject to change.
Hacks
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The writers strike prompted Hacks to stop filming after production had already begun on season three, per Deadline. As the entertainment publication noted, most shows cannot film without writers on set for late-breaking revisions and scene rewrites. (The few shows that did manage to keep filming between the start of the writers strike and the start of the actors strike were expected to adhere strictly to their finalized scripts.) We’ll welcome the return of Hannah Einbinder and Poppy Liu to our screens whenever it’s able to happen.
Interview with the Vampire
We might have a new season of What We Do in the Shadows to watch, but frankly, we can never get enough queer vampire media. Especially queer vampire media with levitating gay sex scenes. So far, AMC Networks has released a sneak peek at season two of their acclaimed Anne Rice adaptation, but filming was paused in June due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, as Deadline reported. We’ll see if the season still manages to premiere in 2024 as planned.
The Last of Us
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The red-carpet friendship between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey was, for my money, one of the best parts of The Last of Us. But for LGBTQ+ viewers, there was a lot to love about the video game adaptation itself. The first season’s third episode wowed audiences with a post-apocalyptic gay love story (brought to life by Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman), and the seventh episode beautifully explored the Ellie-Riley relationship from the game. The show’s second season was reportedly in pre-production when the WGA strike began. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of the Emmy-nominated drama before any real-life apocalypses occur.
A League of Their Own
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The story of the Rockford Peaches has been undeniably and overtly sapphic, featuring the particularly delightful on-screen pairing of Abbi Jacobson and D’Arcy Carden. But shortly after the Prime Video series was renewed for a four-episode final season in April, the writers strike officially began. On Twitter in June, series co-creator Will Graham noted that the team behind the baseball reboot “can’t wait to get back to it once we get a fair deal.”
Loot
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One of the most refreshing things about the Apple TV+ comedy Loot is that Michaela Jaé Rodriguez’s character Sofia isn’t explicitly written as either trans or cis. (“You don’t need to know that I’m trans. You don’t need to know if I’m cis. You just need to see a woman up there working hard,” the actress told Variety.) But the second season of the show, which also features comedian Joel Kim Booster, has been delayed, as Deadline reported. After entering production earlier this year, the show shut down in May following WGA picketing.
Problemista
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The art-queers among us were looking forward to seeing Tilda Swinton in Julio Torres’ directorial debut for A24. The film, which stars Torres as an El Salvedorean toy designer, scored great reviews on the festival circuit, but with union actors barred from doing promotion for most current projects, the studio has delayed a planned August theatrical release. This little movie deserves a big marketing push so that it can reach people who aren’t already avowed Swintonites (Swintonians?).
P-Valley
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This Starz drama expanded its queer representation in season two, with Them editor-at-large Michael Cuby praising the “complex love story” between the nonbinary Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan) and rapper Lil Murda (J. Alphonse Nicholson). As Deadline reported shortly after the writers strike began, production on season three has been suspended, with Pulitzer Prize-winning showrunner Katori Hall saying on Twitter, “As a writer I strike with a sense of radical dignity — that our work must be valued for the magic it is.”
Saturday Night Live
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The long-running sketch comedy show doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record on LGBTQ+ issues but cast members like Bowen Yang and nonbinary comedian Molly Kearney — and writers like Celeste Yim — have seemingly begun to shift its tone, even leading to bits and sketches in support of trans rights. Not to mention the show also provides a nationwide platform for LGBTQ+ musicians like Lil Nas X and Brandi Carlile. With both writers and actors on strike, it could be a while before we see new SNL episodes. In all likelihood, NBCUniversal probably won’t want to enter an election year without being able to air all those timely Weekend Update segments. I, for one, am dying to see a Ron DeSantis impersonation.
Severance
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While not a primarily queer show, this dystopian Apple TV+ workplace drama featured a surprisingly affecting queer romance subplot between Burt (Christopher Walken) and Irving (John Turturro). That storyline ended on a cliffhanger in the season one finale, with Burt and Irving, who fell in love as “innies,” on the verge of meeting outside the office as “outties.” With season two shut down, Irving is going to be left standing on Burt’s doorstep for quite some time.
Stranger Things
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Netflix’s supernatural-themed nostalgia fest began exploring Will’s (Noah Schnapp) sexuality in season four, with Schanpp himself coming out in real life shortly thereafter. But the writers strike has halted production, so the Will-Mike shippers will need to be patient. As with many shows that were halted between seasons, that means we could be in for a long stretch without any new episodes. It may take until 2025 for the Stranger Things saga to reach its conclusion.
Uncoupled
In February, Showtime ordered a second season of this Neil Patrick Harris vehicle about mid-life gay dating after Netflix originally axed the show. But filming could not proceed as scheduled in July due to the WGA strike. In a June interview with The View, Harris expressed his hope that they’d be able to resume filming this summer, but given the actors strike, that now seems unlikely. This is a show that would stand to benefit from a speedy return to screen; the first season was received fairly warmly, but a second could really cement its voice.
The White Lotus
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Your flight to Thailand has been delayed. The HBO class satire is “on pause,” as season two star Tom Hollander shared in a June podcast interview. It’s hard to imagine how a third season, confirmed to be set in the Southeast Asian country, could ever produce a more iconic Gay Moment™ than a panicked Jennifer Coolidge running around on a yacht, but Mike White always seems to find a way to outdo himself.
Wicked
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As Variety reported, the film adaptation of this smash-hit Broadway musical had 10 days left of filming when the SAG-AFTRA strike went into effect. So far, director Jon M. Chu has said that the delay won’t ultimately affect the movie’s November 2024 release date, but that could depend on how long the strikes end up lasting. The movie itself boasts several LGBTQ+ stars, including Cynthia Erivo in the role of Elphaba, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. For now, the fact that fall 2024 movies might be impacted by the strikes should offer some indication of how long-lasting the ripple effects of this summer will last.
Yellowjackets
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If the studios don’t reach a deal with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA soon, the 2024 schedule is probably going to look about as desolate as the Canadian wilderness in wintertime. The Yellowjackets writers were able to convene for a single day before the WGA strike was called, which means we might not see season three for quite some time. The second season of the beloved Showtime drama, which blends ’90s nostalgia with a thrilling teenage survival story, left us on a cliffhanger. The show’s theme song might be called “No Return” but we would very much like this one to return, please.
This article was originally published on Them.
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