After 148 days, Writers Guild of America’s strike has officially come to an end. On Tuesday, the WGA reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which the Negotiating Committee, WGAW Board, and WGAE Council all voted unanimously to recommend.
It will now go to both guilds’ memberships for a ratification vote, which will run from Oct. 2 to Oct. 9. While the agreement has yet to be finalized, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council all voted to lift the restraining order on Wednesday, allowing writers to return to work in the interim. That vote does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.
The news comes after the WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year deal Sunday night. The Tuesday announcement made it official and lifted the work order, while the guild’s leadership awaits the ratification vote.
The writers’ strike brought Hollywood production to a screeching halt when it began on May 2. As for when shows will return, Dominic Patten, senior editor at Deadline Hollywood, gave ET an idea of the timeline for several genres of television.
“You can pretty much rest assured that late-night TV shows are gonna come back very soon after the ratification vote. I would say within days, if not hours,” he said. “You’re also gonna see talk shows that are gonna come back on, daytimers very quickly. You’re also gonna see other daytime shows come on.”
“If you’re looking at your primetime schedule, that’s gonna take a little bit longer,” Patten noted. “Because, of course, you’re gonna need actors for that. And the actors union still hasn’t even started their negotiations with the studios and streamers.”
Indeed, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) remains on strike, though they previously expressed their support for WGA’s agreement.
“SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency, and solidarity on the picket lines. While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members,” the statement began. “Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”
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