In less than 24 hours after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached a tentative agreement to conclude their 146-day strike, it has been confirmed that “Dancing With the Stars” will indeed stick to its originally scheduled premiere date.
ABC has officially announced that “Dancing With the Stars” will premiere on Tuesday, September 26, with a live simulcast on Disney+.
In recent days, “Dancing With the Stars” faced increased scrutiny and pressure, leading ABC to consider postponing the show’s premiere due to backlash from the WGA. Some celebrity cast members expressed concerns about participating, especially with WGA members picketing rehearsals in an attempt to either delay the show or persuade celebrities to withdraw.
Last week, one cast member, actor Matt Walsh from “Veep,” initially announced he would pause his participation due to the ongoing WGA strike. However, it has now been confirmed that he will return to the show. Notably, Matt Walsh is a member of WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and the DGA.
A spokesperson for Matt Walsh stated, “With the hopeful resolution and vote within the WGA, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ would no longer be considered a struck show, allowing all cast members, including WGA member Matt Walsh, to return.”
While the WGA has reached a tentative agreement to end their strike, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike. Nevertheless, SAG-AFTRA has voiced support for the cast of “Dancing With the Stars,” affirming that their members on the show are not in violation of union rules by participating.
All performers on “Dancing With the Stars,” including celebrity cast members, hosts, judges, and professional dancers, are authorized to work on the show under SAG-AFTRA’s “Network Code” agreement, which remains unaffected by the ongoing strike. The hosts, judges, and professional dancers are all SAG-AFTRA members, and many of the Season 32 celebrity lineup, such as Alyson Hannigan, Jamie Lynn Spears, Barry Williams, Mira Sorvino, Ariana Madix, and Xochitl Gomez, are also union members.
Although “Dancing With the Stars” is a reality show, it falls under the purview of the WGA due to the employment of one WGA writer. Had the show proceeded without this writer before the WGA reached an agreement, the writer would have been rehired when the strike concluded.
Voting on the deal is set to occur on Tuesday, and WGA members have been instructed to refrain from returning to work until the strike order against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has been officially lifted.
“Dancing With the Stars” employs approximately 500 staff members in total, and a significant concern during the strike was ensuring the job security of this large team, according to sources close to production.
“Dancing With the Stars” Season 32 plays a pivotal role in ABC’s fall schedule, which leans heavily on unscripted content this season due to production disruptions caused by the strike. In addition to the highly anticipated new series “The Golden Bachelor,” the reality dance show serves as the network’s flagship program, and ABC bolstered its strike-affected lineup by recently adding more Monday Night Football games for the fall.
The show was one of several unscripted productions that faced criticism from the WGA during the final week of the strike. WGA members stated that cast members participating in any daytime or unscripted WGA-covered show would be considered as crossing the picket line. Several talk shows, including “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “The Talk,” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” opted to delay their fall premieres last week and are yet to announce their new return dates as the end of the strike draws near.
Notably, during the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, “Dancing With the Stars” continued its production and subsequently rehired its WGA writer once the strike concluded.
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