With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in the midst of its fourth month, yet another talk show has decided to return without its writers.
Bill Maher announced on social media Wednesday that his HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher will return without its writing staff.
The 67-year-old is the first late-night talk show host to return after the WGA strike started on May 2, with his show’s new season starting Friday, September 22 at 10 PM.
Broadcast network late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Steven Colbert and Seth Meyers joined by another HBO host, John Oliver, for a podcast called Strike Force 5, with the proceeds from the podcast benefiting each show’s staffs and striking writers.
The announcement comes just days after Drew Barrymore announced the return of her daytime series without writers, with The Talk also returning.
Bill returns: With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in the midst of its fourth month, yet another talk show has decided to return without its writers
Announced: Bill Maher announced on social media Wednesday that his HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher will return without its writing staff.
‘Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing. It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work,’ Maher began.
‘The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns,’ he said.
‘Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily. We all were hopeful this would come to an end after Labor Day, but that day has come and gone, and there still seems to be nothing happening,’ Maher said.
He added, ‘I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.’
‘I will honor the spirit of the strike by not doing a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces that I am so proud of on Real Time,’ he admitted, which would not put him in violation of the strike rules.
‘And I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop,’ Maher contended.
‘But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint,’ Maher concluded.
While he seemed to support the writers in his lengthy statement, last week he called some of the writers’ demands, ‘kooky’ on his Club Random podcast.
Coming back: ‘Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing. It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work,’ Maher began
Issues: ‘The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns,’ he said
‘What I find objectionable about the philosophy of the strike [is] it seems to be, they have really morphed a long way from 2007’s strike, where they kind of believe that you’re owed a living as a writer, and you’re not,’ Maher said.
‘This is show business. This is the make-or-miss league,’ Maher continued, though he added, ‘I’m not saying they don’t have their points,’ agreeing with their stance on streaming platforms reporting viewership data.
He added, ‘I feel for my writers. I love my writers. I’m one of my writers. But there’s a big other side to it.’
‘And a lot of people are being hurt besides them — a lot of people who don’t make as much money as them in this bipartisan world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other, there’s no in between,’ he said.
