Another Emmy-Winning TV Show Shut Down Due to Writers Strike
Adam Scott's Severance had its production halted in New York as the Writers Guild of America's strike continued. The Apple TV+ series was in the middle of filming Season 2 at York Studios, but members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Teamsters refused to cross the picket line, reports Deadline. This is the second Apple TV+ series impacted by the strike after Maya Rudolph's Loot stopped production in Los Angeles last week.
The Writers Guild of America began the first work stoppage since 2008 on May 2 after it and the major Hollywood studios failed to reach a new contract. Writers are seeking better wages in the streaming era and a commitment to longer work periods and larger writers' rooms. Even though scripts may have been completed before the strike began, many shows have stopped production in solidarity with the writers. The WGA's strike guidelines bar writers from doing any writing services, including work on scripts finished before the strike began.
WGA members on strike walk the line for a sunrise picket at York Studios in the Bronx and Westchester, shutting down production on “Severence,” as members of IATSE and Teamsters respect our picket line. #ShutItDown #SolidarityForever #WGAStrike #WGAStrong #1u pic.twitter.com/BGA0dZFf1S
— Writers Guild of America, East (@WGAEast) May 8, 2023
Other shows halted because of the strike include Hacks, Billions, The Venery of Samantha Bird, Evil, Daredevil: Born Again, Night Court, Unstable, Yellowjackets, Abbott Elementary, and Cobra Kai. Late-night shows went dark immediately, with NBC, CBS, and ABC airing reruns of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! since the strike started. CBS' daytime show The Talk was also halted.
Severance was created by Dan Erickson, with episodes directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle. Scott stars as Mark S., a worker at Lumon Industries, where employees undergo a mindwipe procedure called "severance." The procedure creates a second consciousness within their minds that is only active when they work, so they can't remember anything they did outside the office. When Helly R. (Britt Lower) joins Mark and his team, Mark soon realizes that nothing is as they seem at the company. The cast also includes Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette.
The series earned critical acclaim, picking up Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for Erickson, and Directing for Stiller. Scott, Turturro, Walken, and Arquette all earned nominations for their performance. Severance's innovative main title won Emmys for Outstanding Main Title Design, while Theodore Shapiro won Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score).