Ray Richmond: The WGA and SAG-AFTRA walkouts wreak havoc on awards season, but Emmy voting continues

Ray Richmond
·6 min read

It’s hard out here for an awards show, and the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes aren’t helping. Not that this should be a major consideration for those walking the picket lines this summer in the blistering summer heat, but one of the most valuable metrics by which their work quality is measured – the Primetime Emmys – got postponed late last week from September likely to January 2024. If it does turn out to be January. that will create an even more crowded-than-usual logjam around the beginning of the year, competing with the Golden Globes and Critics Choice competitions.

It’s noteworthy that final-round Emmy voting will still be taking place as scheduled between August 17 and 28, but it looks like the actual ceremony is being delayed some four months or close to it.

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SEE2023 Emmys postponed indefinitely due to actors and writers strikes

Patience is not necessarily a Hollywood virtue, but plenty of it will be necessary to get through the rest of the summer and fall. Let’s remember that the awards shows have already been mightily challenged over the past three years due to COVID, continuing to drop ratings as well as one brand’s (the Golden Globes) implosion and near-disappearance for good. But the strikes won’t go on forever. There will be settlements, hopefully ones that are equitable for the rank-and-file.. Things will return to normal, whatever we perceive that to be.

But for now, it’s going to be a rough slog. Actors can’t promote their shows or films. Writers can’t write. Marketers can’t market. Promoters can’t promote. An industry steeped in creativity can’t create. It’s all absolutely essential and ultimately for the greater good in getting union members to livable wages and away from Artificial Intelligence rendering them obsolete, but it’s still jarring to see the business of show in such a state of paralysis.

Let’s take a look at where things stand as we head into August, typically the homestretch runup to the Emmys:

SEERay Richmond: Actors join writers on the picket line for first time in 63 years

THE EMMYS

Without writers or actors (and most other crafts supporting them in solidarity), there was never going to be an Emmy show happening on schedule (September 9 and 10 for the Creative Arts Emmys and Sept 18 for the 75th Annual Primetime Emmys ceremony). No one, for instance, was interested in seeing a repeat of the fiasco that went down in 1980 (which I covered for the L.A. Daily News) when the SAG strike resulted in precisely one actor of the 52 nominated performers showing up: the late Powers Boothe. He won, but it’s thought that his decision to go negatively impacted his career.

It’s tough enough today to attract viewers to a show packed with performing nominees and presenters. Having stand-ins simply wasn’t going to fly with Fox and the TV academy. So now, January looms, assuming the unions settle by the fall. The last time the Emmys were postponed came in 2001 due to 9/11, which pushed it to November 4. “What would bug the Taliban more than a gay woman wearing a suit in front of a roomful of Jews?” Ellen DeGeneres quipped in her opening monologue that night. Of the terrorists, she said, “I think it’s important for us to be here, because they can’t take away our creativity, our striving for excellence, our joy. Only network executives can do that.”

One thing that’s smart: keeping final-round voting anchored in August. Were that to be delayed by several months, voters might be hard-pressed to recall how they were leaning in the various categories. Far more prudent not to put that off.

SEEWriter-producer Rick Cleveland explains what’s behind the WGA strike for many trying to make a living in the business

THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT

Several of the bigwigs are coming in August and September: The Venice Film Festival kicks off on August 30, Telluride on August 31, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 7. Venice in particular has been the launching pad for many a successful Oscar campaign in recent years. “The Power of the Dog,” “”Tar,” “The Whale,” “A Star is Born,” “La La Land” and “Nomadland” all has their world premieres there. This year’s lineup is scheduled to include Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein drama “Maestro,” Sofia Coppola’s Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” David Fincher’s “The Killer” and Ava DuVernay’s “Origin.” But they’ll have to do it minus the glitter of stars on the red carpet, subbed instead by producers and directors, which of course ain’t the same.

THE OSCARS

There is obviously more lead time before the Academy Awards are seriously affected by the strikes – given that they don’t take place until March 10, 2024 – but not as long as you might think. Serious Oscar campaigning essentially takes up a good half of the year. The first possible issue would be the Governors Awards on November 14 that are set to honor Angela Bassett and Mel Brooks. Those two could be expected to show up as planned, because their Oscars would be honorary. But other actors probably wouldn’t attend, making for a muted celebration, indeed – though producers and directors could go in support of Brooks.

If the SAG-AFTRA walkout goes on, say, through November or close to it, it would wreak all kinds of havoc on the Oscar promotion machine.

SEESean Penn supports writers strike, says studios are committing ‘human obscenity’ on A.I. issue

THE SAG AWARDS, GOLDEN GLOBES AND CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

Even though SAG could grant a waiver to allow for its own awards to go forward and invite its members to attend, it’s difficult to see what the motivation for doing so would be. Yes, its people would enjoy a moment in the spotlight, but they would also be helping promote films and TV/streaming shows that they’re striking against. Then again, the next SAG Awards aren’t scheduled until February 24, 2024. The Golden Globes are slated for January 7, Critics Choice for January 14. And the rescheduled Emmys? Maybe January 8 or 15?

However, January is still five months away, and we have to believe that both strikes will settle well before then. If they don’t, Hollywood will have far more serious problems on its hands than those presented by awards show postponement and rescheduling.

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