Amid the ongoing writers’ strike, ET has learned that ABC is putting in place plans to postpone Tuesday’s season 32 premiere of Dancing With the Stars.
The plan involves the network identifying alternate temporary programming for the Tuesday 8 to 10 p.m. time slot and crafting a new rollout plan for season 32 of the show.
A source close to production tells ET that “there are over 500 people employed for the show and the talent are allowed to work on this show under the SAG Network Code agreement, but due to rising pressure that the talent is receiving, we are preparing to postpone.”
One of the season 32 contestants, comedian and actor Matt Walsh, is planning to pause his involvement from the show in support of the writers’ strike. In a statement to ET, Walsh said he won’t be part of the show “until an agreement is made with the WGA [Writers Guild of America].”
“I was excited to join the show and did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement,” Walsh further explained in his statement. “This morning when I was informed by my union, the WGA, that it is considered struck work I walked out of my rehearsal. I have been and will always stand with my union members of the WGA, SAG and DGA. Beyond our union artists, I am sensitive to the many people impacted by the strike and I hope for a speedy and fair resolution, and to one day work again with all the wonderful people I met at DWTS who tolerated my dancing.”
During the last strike in 2007-2008, Dancing With the Stars remained in production, and similarly re-hired its writer once the strike was over. This time around, there’s mounting pressure for production to come to a halt until the writers strike a deal.
Initially, the decision to proceed with the show’s return next week stirred controversy as the strike drags on. It’s now been over 140 days of stalled negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The season 32 cast of DWTS features several members who are part of SAG-AFTRA, including Walsh, Alyson Hannigan, Jamie Lynn Spears, Barry Williams, Mira Sorvino, Ariana Madix, and Xochitl Gomez. Variety previously reported that, in light of the SAG-AFTRA strike that is also taking place, the show will not include any video packages showcasing the cast members’ past TV and film projects to comply with union rules that prohibit the promotion or discussion of former SAG-AFTRA projects.
Dancing With the Stars postponing the premiere would be in line with other TV shows.The Talk announced it will pause the premiere of the upcoming season. The show was set to return for season 14 on Sept. 18. In support of the strike, the show went dark in May.
Drew Barrymore also recently said she is pausing the return of The Drew Barrymore Show after receiving feedback from others in SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. Ditto for The Jennifer Hudson Show.
But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Deadline reports that the WGA and AMPTP had “very encouraging” negotiation talks on Wednesday.
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