According to Comicbook, ABC’s hit series Abbott Elementary season three could be affected due to the writers’ strike recently announced. The Writer’s Guild of America has gone on strike banding together many individuals going against major studios which will affect many shows in the upcoming months such as Abbott Elementary. Writer Brittani Nichols (Suicide Kale) spoke with Democracy Now! and told them that the episode order could most likely be shuffled around due to the conflict. Nichols also explained how that behind the scenes studios are making their profession into a gig economy.
Nichols said, ‘’That was up to each individual writer, how much they were going to deal with people looking to have the materials turned in by yesterday. I know a lot of people wanted to turn their stuff in, because then, you know, if you complete your assignment, then they have to pay you. Even though we’ll be on strike, you will have completed your contract. So there was a lot of pressure on writers. And, you know, that shows exactly what our labor is worth. When we withhold our labor, people panic. People were scared that there wasn’t going to be anything in the pipeline to go out and create, and that’s true.”
Nichols continued, “We are going to continue to withhold our labor, and that means everything from not taking meetings to not putting anything in that pipeline to not showing up for work. And that means that shows might get delayed. Abbott Elementary was supposed to go back to the room this week. We are a show that writes while we air. And so, if this strike goes on for a significant period of time, our show will not come out on time. And that could change the amount of episodes, which people, I’m sure, will be very upset about. It could change the air date. It could change a lot of different things, because there just will not be things going into that pipeline, there will not be us participating in anything that will bring profit to this industry, and that is going to cause a disruption. That’s what we’re counting on.”
The show’s star and creator Quinta Brunson’s (Quinta vs. Everything) thoughts on the strike are below: