The minute the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) declared a strike on July 13, we knew the summer TV landscape was no longer safe. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since early May, but now their fellow TV and film actors will join the picket lines after 12:01am on July 14. But what does this mean for currently airing shows?
Celebrity Family Feud just premiered its 10th season on ABC on July 9, featuring some of the hottest celebrities in Hollywood duking it out in the name of charity. Each episode has the teams competing in the traditional Family Feud format, except all the prize money at the end goes to a charity of each team’s choice. The premiere episode saw the cast of Yellowjackets, with the older cast competing against their teen counterparts.
Future announced guests include The Wonder Years, the cast of Haunted Mansion, Becky Lynch, Big E, Seth Rollins, and more from the WWE, among others. Understandably, a good chunk of these guest stars are members of SAG-AFTRA, and thus, if they were to film the show during the strike, they would be crossing the picket line.
What this means for Celebrity Family Feud is the show can still air any already filmed episodes, even if they feature SAG-AFTRA members. However, those union members cannot promote or participate in the press regarding the show, as that is usually tied to a SAG member’s contract. Assuming the previously announced episodes are already filmed, the show has four more episodes left to air.
Can Celebrity Family Feud keep filming during the strike?
Whether the show can keep filming depends on what kind of contract Triple Threat Productions, the company behind Celebrity Family Feud, has with SAG-AFTRA. The acting union represents an array of talent, from traditional film and TV actors to talk show hosts and journalists to reality stars and radio hosts. The only actors on strike right now are those under TV/Theatrical contracts. The rest of SAG is still going, including those who perform on non-scripted TV.
The key deciding factor in the show will be if Steve Harvey goes on strike with the rest of SAG-AFTRA. His contract for hosting Celebrity Family Feud is most likely tied to a non-scripted TV guideline. So he is not obligated to stop hosting once the strike goes into effect. However, the show airs on ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, one of the major players in the SAG-AFTRA negotiations. It might be seen as crossing the picket line if he were to continue hosting future episodes of the show. Then again, the long-time TV host is no stranger to his share of controversy.
In addition, the list of potential guests for the show would significantly shrink, as any SAG-AFTRA members on strike would not be able to appear on the show without crossing the picket line. Similarly, any reality TV stars or talk show hosts who are SAG members, even though they’re not on strike, would be seen as crossing the picket line if they appeared. SAG-AFTRA has already said anyone caught crossing the picket line will be reprimanded accordingly, so it’s safe to say we won’t see any guild members doing so.
The safest thing for Celebrity Family Feud to do is stop production for the time being until the strike is over, as it would prevent issues between its host and potential guests on the show. Even though the 10th season was ordered with 10 episodes, it’ll take a lot of work to film those last four after July 14.