Chicago Fire hasn't been rescued from the blazing showdown between creative and corporate Hollywood.
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NBC announced on Wednesday, July 19, that season 12 of the hit Firehouse drama series has been pushed from the network's fall lineup amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. The rest of Dick Wolf's One Chicago lineup, including Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., will also see their new seasons put on hiatus.
The shows, which typically air back-to-back starting on Wednesdays in September, will air reruns instead.
There's no end in sight to the picketing. Members of the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) have refused to return to writer's rooms and sets until their demands have been met, which include residuals for streaming and regulations on artificial intelligence.
Writers and actors are both fighting to ensure extra pay for streaming. As it stands, they receive little to no compensation for streams, whereas the compensation for reruns on cable typically sustains a writer or actor until they can find their next project. Even Mandy Moore, who joined the picketing with her former This Is Us co-stars, has been vocal that her hit series has paid pennies in streaming residuals.
The WGA also wants a guarantee that writers' rooms will not be downsized by the rise in generative text AI. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA wants a hard ban on companies using digital replicas of their likeness.
So far, negotiations have failed to produce an agreement. Even Tom Cruise couldn't save the day -- the Mission: Impossible actor stepped in last month to bridge the gap between parties, but any headway made toward reconciliation has since fallen apart.
All networks are feeling the effects of the ongoing strike. CBS will start airing reruns of Yellowstone to fill the gaps in their fall lineup. And there will be a sharp rise in unscripted programming, such as reality and game shows, until a compromise can be found.
