ABC Fall Schedule Made Entirely of Unscripted Series In Response to Writers' Strike

Around this time of year, major television networks – especially the big three, CBS, ABC, and NBC – are expected to release their fall lineup for primetime TV. This year, however, there is a rather large problem: all of their writers are on strike.

Writers are an integral part of the television production system. Unlike movies, where directors primarily run the show, in TV, the writers make all the big decisions: the showrunner and their team of writers pen the scripts, after which they are worked through in readthroughs.

Even when the scripts are being shot, there must be writers on set in case lines need to be changed or questions about the rest of the show come up. Writers are the ones who create the television we watch – so without any writers, what is there left to air?

Related: ‘The Penguin’ Suspends Production After Guild Members Refuse to Cross Picket Line

When the last writers’ strike happened in 2007-08 and the one before that, studios started leaning hard into Reality TV. However, now that the genre has developed, even those shows require writers most of the time, so that’s not as solid an option.

Even still, ABC has produced a fall primetime schedule made up entirely of unscripted series. Aside from Abbott Elementary, which they plan to show reruns of, there is not a single writer employed in producing any of the shows on their lineup:

Monday
8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
10 p.m. The Golden Bachelor (a new spinoff of The Bachelor)

Tuesday
8 p.m. Celebrity Jeopardy!
9 p.m. Bachelor in Paradise

Wednesday
8 p.m. Judge Steve Harvey
9 p.m. Abbott Elementary (Rerun)
9:30 p.m. Abbott Elementary (Rerun)
10 p.m. What Would You Do?

Thursday
8 p.m. Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
9 p.m. Press Your Luck
10 p.m. The $100,000 Pyramid

Friday
8 p.m. Shark Tank
9 p.m. 20/20

Saturday
7:30 p.m. College Football

Sunday
7 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. The Wonderful World of Disney

Related: Showrunner Praises Freeform for Doing the “Right Thing” Amid WGA Strike

ABC’s fall primetime lineup utilizes mainly game shows to make its schedule “strike-proof,” which makes it seem like they do not intend to cut a deal with the striking WGA anytime soon.

Meanwhile, CBS and NBC’s schedules seem heavy on the number of scripted series they included. NBC’s lineup listed several series from the Law & Order and Chicago families, as well as Quantum Leap, and CBS’ schedule seemed more or less unaltered from what one might expect if there were not a writers’ strike going on.

Related: ‘Venom 3’ Will Begin Filming Next Month, Despite WGA Strike

It is unclear if that means that the studios are expecting deals to be struck, if filming on these series has somehow already wrapped, or if the networks intend to try to write the shows using non-union writers who are willing to cross the picket line and receive a lifetime ban from the WGA.

ABC’s fall schedule may be strike-proof, but it may also be audience-proof. It will be interesting to see how they do this fall without a plotline

What do you think of ABC’s primetime fall lineup? What about CBS and NBC? Let us know in the comments.