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Writer’s Strike: ‘The Talk’ Goes Dark and the Status of Daytime Dramas

By Michael Fairman

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Photos: CBS and ABC

From late night talk shows to daytime talk shows, to movies and more, the WGA writer’s strike is on and it will now affect certain types of programming first, with a potential trickle-down effect; depending on just how long it will take for the WGA to hammer out a deal with AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers).

For CBS Daytime’s The Talk, the series will now stop current production as its staff includes WGA writers.  In its place, the show had in the can a fresh batch of  episodes that they had scheduled to air this week.  If the strike continues on, the plan is for the show to air repeats if it runs out of originals.

The same tactic is being taken with the late night talk shows, which already shut down and where you will see reruns for now. Primetime dramas writer’s room are now shut down.

In the case of your favorite dramas, because the soaps have the luxury of taping farther in advance then any other entertainment TV medium, they will not be adversely affected, for now.

Given that General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless are all mostly 6 weeks ahead of air or less, they should be fine, until, if and when they run out of original scripts. As for Days of our Lives, since they tape well over 6 to 8 months ahead, they should be in a solid position through the strike … unless the unthinkable happens and it goes on for much longer than 100 days.  The last writer’s strike started on November 5th, 2007 and ran 100 days.

So how did we get here? Talks between the two sides ended late Monday when the WGA and AMPTP could not come to terms on issues of money, transparency, security, and how they viewed the basic role of writers in the burgeoning world of streaming.  Next, a strike was called by WGA leadership Tuesday morning which has featured many prominent writers, and actors picketing at studio locations all over Los Angeles and New York City

Photo: AP

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At the center of the dispute is streaming shows and more.  The WGA says that as series budgets have increased, the writers’s share of that money has over and over again been reduced.  Another issue is the use of ‘mini rooms’ for streaming shows as they utilize smaller staffs making an on-going income harder for scribes. In addition, the numbers of guild members on those staff has almost been reduced by fifty percent. These ‘mini rooms’ are where ahead of production, writers begin to break out stories and scripts.  In all, the WGA wants to see gains in compensation and residuals, a curb on said mini-rooms, and how the impact of AI, could be used instead of writers to generate new scripts.

So, what do you think about the writer’s strike? Glad they went on strike and unified for the now and the future? Concerned it will impact your favorite TV shows down the line? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

 

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Why do you think reruns would be the go-to for those three soaps? I’m just curious since it’s not how they handled it last time.

The last time (07-08) and in the 80s the soaps used scabs (or fi-core) writers. The head writer of Y&R, Josh Griffin, is already fi-core. I would assume that the soaps would take the same route this time.

I had to look up fi-core. It stands for Financial Core. In other words, a non-union employee.
Just wondering how you know that Josh Griffin is non-union, has he stated it in interviews? Thanks.

A show called The Talk need writers?! Interesting.

All talk shows have writers.

The View does not have writers. Whoopie Goldberg stated this on Tuesday morning show.. The View WILL carry on as normal

Whoopi is a moron.

Michael,
If anyone is a moron/idiot it’s Jerry McConnell on The Talk. Are you telling me his words are written for him?

I couldn’t have said it better myself That show should have said goodby a long time ago

Can we just put Nick and Sharon together again ! Please pretty please!

I’m not a fan of streaming. I could live with a couple of them, but they got greedy , and increased in number so much they probably overloaded the number of good writers pool, and diluted the cable tv offerings. And didn’t share $wise with writers and directors. Maybe that’s why General Hospital has turned into such an awful, ugly show to me. Certainly not the caliber of “love in the afternoon” type programming in it’s heyday. And who could compete with some of the steaming budgets like the Lord Of the Rings prequel from billionaire Amazon owner Steve Bezos. I realize they also offered some excellent shows, but they still aren’t worth it to me.

Yes General hosiptal is unrecognizable now.. yes it use to love in the afternoon back in the day..what can of writers have just settled for. Makes no sense to us loyal long time viewers.

The Talk had writers?!

We rode out pandemic with classic episodes but it’s too soon to do that again. Non-union writers in strikes through decades took our stories in strange directions.

lakovos,
Do you really think they aren’t strange or weird now? Look at this crap G.H is feeding us now, how can anyone take it seriously? Laura remembering the code they needed to get the weather back on track plus all the other things she remembered is way too much.

I meant they replacement writers took stories in directions not intended. Agree that current storylines are lacking. GH should move on from the Cassadine madness. It’s been done to death.

Didn’t the 1988 writer’s strike give us the One Life To Live storyline in the Wild West? That was really good. Erica as Ginny and Clint traveling back to the past. Anyone else remember that?

Mark
I do recall that storyline. It paled in comparison to Viki’s trip to heaven or Eterna. Still clever though.

On GH, the 07-08 strike gave us Monica as an alcoholic. Guza had stopped writing for Monica long before the strike. Wolf comes in during the strike and all of a sudden LC is in a big storyline. Once Guza came back, the story was wrapped up quickly and LC sent off into sporadic appearances until Frank and Ron took over in 2012.

I’m just wondering if this writer’s strike will affect award shows like the daytime emmys.

yes I’ve heard its been canceled fir now or this year bc of writer strike

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Robert Kelker-Kelly, ‘General Hospital,’ ‘Days of our Lives’ and ‘Another World’ Star Dies at 62

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Robert Kelker-Kelly

Robert Kelker-Kelly, who became prominent as a one of the leading men in soap operas back in the late 80s and 90s has died at the age of 62. TMZ first reported the news of Robert’s passing on Saturday, October 3 at his home in St. Peters, Missouri.

According to the St. Peters police report, officers responded to call at around 8:16 pm about an unconscious man who was not breathing, as paramedics and other EMS were en route. Kelker-Kelly had reportedly complained of chest pain shortly before becoming unresponsive and the circumstances appeared consistent with a medical event.

Officers and paramedics administered life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful in reviving Kelker-Kelly. The cause of his death is still unknown and under investigation.

Robert Kelker-Kelly

Photo: NBC

Daytime fans first saw Robert back in 1987 when he was cast as Sam Fowler on Another World. He played the role for three year suntil 1990. Two years later, he took over the role of Bo Brady on Days of our Lives replacing Peter Reckell, who at that time decided to leave the show.

As Bo, Kelker-Kelly was major in story playing opposite the likes of: Crystal Chappell as Dr. Carly Manning, Kristian Alfonso as Hope Williams and Lisa Rinna as Billie Reed. When Peter Reckell returned to his signature role in 1995, Kelker-Kelly left the show.

Next, Robert returned to his original stomping grounds at Another World but this time as race car driver, Bobby Reno who was actually Dr. Shane Roberts. His second AW stint lasted from 1996-1998.

Robert Kelker-Kelly, GH

Photo: ABC

Eventually, the actor would begin his run as the evil Stavros Cassadine on General Hospital in 2001, then make returns in 2002 and 2003. In 2013, he briefly returned as Stavros as part of the show’s 50th anniversary celebration, and made one last appearance in 2014.

Robert has also became a professional pilot full from 2003 to 2015 and had been married to former Days of our Lives star, Miriam Parrish (ex-Jamie Caldwell) from 1997-2011, but the couple divorced in 2011. Since that time, he has not remarried.

Recently, Robert was back in the news when Lisa Rinna talked about her time working with her former Days of our Lives co-star in her recently released memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.

Rinna shared on her then on-screen love interest, “Behind the scenes, we hated each other. Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies.”

The former Billie Reed and reality star even punctuated that with, “He made my life a living hell on the set of DAYS, He was horrible to me, I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games.”

Besides his role in the soaps, Kelker-Kelly appeared on primetime on Touched by an Angel and Rescue 77 , and played Bo in the Days of our Lives specials Night Sins and Winter Heat in the early 90s.

Michael Fairman TV will provide further updates as they become available on the death of Robert Kelker-Kelly.

Now, share your remembrances and condolences on the loss of Robert Kelker-Kelly via the comment section below and let us know of all his daytime roles, which was your favorite.

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Hayden Panettiere’s Cause of Death Revealed

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Hayden Panettiere

On Tuesday, September 22, the Greenville, South Carolina Coroner’s office ruled that actress Hayden Panettiere’s death was an accident, attributing the 36-year-old’s passing to be a combination of toxic effects from fentanyl and other drugs that were in her system.

Panettiere was found unresponsive on Sunday, August 16. There have been numerous reports and sources speaking to various outlets about the manner in which the Nashville and Guiding Light alum died, but nothing was certain until now.

The Greenville County Coroner’s office shared that fentanyl, combined with 4-ANPP, Alprazolam (also known as Xanax), Methocarbamol (a muscle relaxant) and Quetiapine (used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia but is sometimes prescribed to treat depression), were all found in Hayden’s system.

Hayden Panettiere Guiding Light

Photo: CBS

GUIDING LIGHT ALUM’S DEATH IS STILL UNDER AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION

Meanwhile, the Greenville Police Department shared there is still an ongoing investigation into this case. “Our detectives will continue to follow leads and gather information as we work toward resolving this case,” the department shared.

That is, because despite Panettiere’s death being ruled accidental, authorities continue investigating whether anyone might be criminally responsible for providing the star with a lethal substance. It is being shared that this is  “cross-country investigation” stretching from as far as South Carolina to California.

As we previously reported, TMZ shared on September 14 that law enforcement officials believe Hayden’s “long time drug dealer” may have been the person responsible for supplying her with an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl which she took the morning of her death.

Panettiere “had been temporarily staying” at the apartment in Greenville, the coroner’s office said in August. Authorities did not say whose apartment it was but it was said to later be an Airbnb. It was Hayden’s on-again off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach who called 911 the afternoon of August 16 to say Panettiere was unresponsive, according to police reports.

Hayden Panettiere, Charles Esten, Nashville

Photo: ABC

HAYDEN PANETTIERE IMPRESSED IN EVERY ROLE SHE PLAYED

Soap opera fans still remember Hayden’s as a very young Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live from 1994 until 1997, and then her signature daytime role as Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1996-2000.

She later went on to star on the Music City primetime soap opera, Nashville from 2012-2018 on ABC and CMT where she played country and western singer, Juliette Barnes opposite General Hospital alum, Jonathan Jackson (ex-Lucky Spencer), who played her love interest, Avery Barclay.

Over this past weekend, Jackson, Charles Esten (pictured above), Connie Britton, and others from the cast of Nashville gathered for a memorial service in Hayden’s honor to pay their respects for their beloved co-star.

So, what do you think about the ruling in the death of actress Hayden Panettiere that it was an accident involving toxic effects of fentanyl combined with other drugs and medications she was taking at the time? Share your reactions via the comment section below.

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Soap Alums Remembered During In Memoriam Segment at 78th Emmy Awards; Patrick Muldoon Omitted

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In Memoriam Emmys 2026

During last night’s 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, as it does every year, the television academy paid tribute to those in the industry that they’ve lost over the last year; since the previous Emmys held each year in September.

Starting with an emotional tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara by three of her co-stars, Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and Dan Levy and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin, the segment then dovetailed into Noah Kahan performing “Bridge over Troubled Water” as the faces and the names of those being remembered were shown on the screen.

Daytime soap alums, who either stayed in the genre for the majority of their career, or went on to primetime success as well, were honored including: Anthony Geary (Luke, GH), Hayden Panettiere (Sarah, OLTL, Lizzie, GL, Juliette, Nashville), James Van Der Beek, (Dawson, Dawson’s Creek, and Stephen, ATWT), Gil Gerard (Alan, The Doctors), June Lockhart (Mariah, GH), Patricia Crowley (Mary, Port Charles and GH), Randolph Mantooth (Clay/Alex, Loving and The City, and Richard, GH) and Jon Cypher (Alex, ATWT and Arthur, Santa Barbara).

Photo: TVAcademy

THOSE HONORED AND THOSE WHO WERE NOT

However, in a glaring omission, the producers of the In Memoriam failed to include Days of our Lives beloved star, Patrick Muldoon who played the OG Austin Reed and also Richard Hart on Melrose Place. Muldoon passed away in April of this year at 57.

After Kahan concluded his performance, a special tribute to Rob Reiner began with Jamie Lee Curtis taking to the stage to share some warm words about her late friend.

In a ironic and sad twist, Curtis shared ,“Last week, Robbie won an Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his beautiful work on The Bear, and he now holds the record of 48 years for the longest gap between acting Emmys, which was previously held by his father Carl Reiner, at 37 years.”

Reiner, who along with his wife, Michele Reiner were killed by their son, Nick Reiner, is currently awaiting a decision if he will stand trial. Prosecutors on Tuesday, shared they will not seek the death penalty if he is convicted at trial, but instead life in prison. Curtis said of Rob, “He was generous and kind and funny as hell, and a friend to all. We all miss Rob and Michele and all those we lost this year.” The Emmys then faded to black and went to commercial break.

So, were you happy to see those who you know from their work in soap operas included in the 2026 In Memoriam tribute at the Primetime Emmys? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, in case you missed it, you can watch it below.

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