The Writers Guild of America strike is still going strong, which has The Young and the Restless fans questioning if, or rather when, the show will run out of new episodes.
On May 2, 2023, the writers that are part of the Writers Guild of America union went on strike after contract negotiations stalled.
Several shows were immediately impacted, like late-night talk shows and Saturday Night Live, which all went and have stayed dark since.
Variety has reported that the strike could very well go three months or longer as there have been no new talks since the strike began.
That isn’t good news for Y&R and other daytime soap operas in the critical summer months.
So, let’s take a look at when the hit CBS daytime drama could head back into reruns.
When will The Young and the Restless run out of new episodes?
It’s no secret that Y&R shoots a few weeks in advance. As fans will recall, when the show shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Young and the Restless had about four to six weeks of episodes in the can.
The shooting schedule hasn’t really changed since then, so the show could run out of new episodes as early as next week. If six weeks of new episodes were filmed, that would end the new episode run in the middle of June.
CBS has yet to comment on the state of Y&R or plans to deal with the writers’ strike.
That bodes well for fans. No news means business as usual so far, and new episodes are hitting the airwaves.
There’s a chance that the strike will not impact new episodes of The Young and the Restless at all.
Here’s how head writer Josh Griffith could still write a new Y&R episode amid the writers’ strike
Unlike with the pandemic when production was shut down, the soap opera could still crank out new episodes amid the writers’ strike.
During the 2008 writers’ strike, head writer Josh Griffith went financial core to allow him to write the show still. According to Soap Central, that means he still paid his union dues but gave up his voting rights in the WGA.
The Young and the Restless could also hire scabs or non-union writers to prevent a shutdown and keep the show on the air.
Unfortunately, it’s a wait-and-see game for new episodes of Y&R amid the writers’ strike. New episodes are still airing, and the cast hasn’t mentioned anything about a shutdown.
Both of those things are very good news for fans.
Stay tuned and keep checking back because as new details regarding the writes strike and Y&R emerge, Monsters and Critics will have them for you.
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
