As the Writers Guild of America strike continues into its third day, the jokes aren't on late night TV anymore โ they're on the picket lines.
More than 11,000 movie and television writers have stopped working after contract negotiations stalled out between their union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that represents Hollywood's studios and production companies.
The standoff could last months and shut down Hollywood production. (The last writers strike lasted from November 2007 into February 2008.) Some of the sticking points include questions over staffing levels for new TV programs and income from episodes aired on streaming services.
Since the strike kicked off Tuesday, hundreds of writers have picketed in the Los Angeles area and in New York, outside the studios and offices of Netflix, NBCUniversal, Disney, Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros. and others.
Among the signs were jokes about the artificial intelligence service ChatGPT, the wealth of studio executives and many, many references to the HBO hit Succession. Here are some of our favorites:
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One thing this writerโs strike is going to give us is elite sign content. pic.twitter.com/IYv0ijMcBh
— Nazanin Nour (@NazaninNour) May 4, 2023
These #writersstrike picket signs are so good.
— ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐จ ๐ฟ๐๐ข๐ฎ (@EmmaTolkin) May 2, 2023
โโIโM MAD AS HELL AND IโM NOT GOING GO TAKE THIS ANYMOREโ WAS NOT WRITTEN BY A PRODUCER!โ pic.twitter.com/UV4rkQGmfy
Have I mentioned how my wifeโs WGA strike signs are objectively excellent? Because they are. Theyโre excellent. pic.twitter.com/I6mJVzB5kw
— Mason Lieberman (@MasonLieberman) May 4, 2023
"LET'S REPLACE STUDIO EXECS WITH A.I." โ๐ฝ @chescaleigh #WritersStrike #WritersGuildofAmerica pic.twitter.com/92lkceffFe
— Jenny Yang is in LA Sun May 21st 4pm Self Help Me (@jennyyangtv) May 3, 2023
Several reporters today were walking around asking writers how long weโd *actually* be willing to strike. I donโt know dude, how long do you think itโll take 11,000 unemployed writers to run out of sign ideas? #wgastrong #writersstrike pic.twitter.com/C0cq81jTcF
— mah ree nah (@marinarachael) May 3, 2023