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Already successful ‘Gutfeld!’ will be sole late-night talk show airing new material amid writers’ strike

May 4, 2023 | | Print Article

The massively popular show “Gutfeld!” will stay on the air as the late-night shows for other hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers grind to a halt during the Writer’s Guild of America strike.

Viewers will not notice any difference in Greg Gutfeld’s show as his writers don’t belong to the Guild. They are not taking part in Hollywood’s first labor stoppage in 15 years. All the other shows went dark on Tuesday.

Shows such as “The View” are still airing even without their writers. The gaggle of leftist women went on the air Tuesday as host Whoopi Goldberg apologized in advance if their banter seemed a bit rough because of the lack of writers. Considering the show’s content, it’s doubtful that many noticed it just as many likely won’t take note that the other left-leaning late-night shows don’t air.

“Gutfeld!” has been wildly successful for Fox News. Between it and “The Five” that Greg Gutfeld also co-hosts, they are arguably now the only anchors allegedly keeping the network afloat after it fired Tucker Carlson.

“Gutfeld!” averaged 1.8 million total viewers in April, which was demonstrably better than “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.” Three times, “Gutfeld!” has bested “Late Night With Stephen Colbert” in total viewers, according to The Wrap.

Gutfeld’s writing staff is reportedly smaller than most traditional late-night talk shows. He’s got some known comedians on board, including Nick DiPaolo and Joe DeVito, as well as longtime producer Tom O’Connor. His senior producer is Arash Mosaleh and Joe Machi is also on the writing staff.

The Writers Guild of America went on strike Tuesday after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it had not reached a deal with the WGA ahead of the midnight deadline.

“The decision was made following six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount, and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP),” the WGA declared in a statement. “The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.”

The statement came shortly after the WGA sent an email to members informing them that picket lines would begin on Tuesday afternoon if a deal was not reached.

“Negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA concluded without an agreement today,” the studio reps’ statement said. “The AMPTP presented a comprehensive package proposal to the Guild last night which included generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”

“The AMPTP also indicated to the WGA that it is prepared to improve that offer, but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to insist upon,” the statement added. “The primary sticking points are ‘mandatory staffing,’ and ‘duration of employment’ — Guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.”

The WGA accused studios of creating “a gig economy inside a union workforce.”

“Their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the WGA asserted. “From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

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