With Hollywood production disputes grinding, and almost all production at a standstill, anxiety began to creep into Zain Habboo’s home in Chevy Chase, Md.
She and her husband recently finished the latest season of HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones,” but now they’re worried that new episodes of favorite shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale” will be significantly delayed.
What on earth are they going to watch?
Ms. Habboo, 49, quickly realized he had options. He can revisit classics like “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development” with his 17-year-old son. She can join him in watching the show he stars in, like all 62 episodes of “Breaking Bad.” He still hasn’t seen any of the “Mission Impossible” movies, and he’s barely made a dent in the Oscar-nominated movies from the past four or five years.
For many viewers, Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes will soon be felt in the form of altered movie release schedules and prime-time lineups filled with game shows, reality TV and reruns.
At the same time, the pause in new scripted material gives many viewers a moment to catch up after the breakneck pace of the so-called Peak TV era, where dozens of shows aired each month.
“I have a Netflix queue that’s so deep and so long, it would take me months or a year or two to get through it all,” said Dan Leonhardt, a 44-year-old engineer who lives in Copenhagen. “And that’s just Netflix! I also have a Max subscription.”
The slowdown represents a big change from previous years, when viewers were flooded with a fire hose of content — a record 599 new scripted television premieres last year.
On an almost daily basis, viewers find themselves clicking past new shows on their TVs, often ones they’ve never heard of, trying to figure out from a one-sentence description whether a series like “Altered Carbon” on Netflix or “The Path” on Hulu are worth their time.
For streaming services, the strategy is straightforward: The more shows they produce, the more opportunities they have to attract subscribers. The number of people who watch any given show is not as important as the number of people who pay for the service.
So the promise of a constant stream of new stuff has become the hallmark of the streaming era. One of the remaining questions as the labor stalemate continues is whether viewers will start canceling subscriptions to streaming services in droves as fewer new shows and movies become available.
For many, however, a slower output is good, giving them time to pick their way through streaming libraries, one missed TV series and movie at a time.
Emily Nidetz, a 41-year-old in Madison, Wis., said she was relieved that production for the reality series was not affected and that there was still plenty of sports to watch. And though he’s worried about a slowdown in prestige shows, he said he can always stop by a Facebook community page for The Ringer’s podcast “The Watch” to get some ideas.
“If you go on the Facebook page and write, ‘Hey, I really love “The Bear,” tell me what to watch,’ there will be like 400 responses,” he said.
Tasha Quinn, a 36-year-old therapist from Chicago, said there was a moment last year when she was so overwhelmed by the conveyor belt of new series that she finally had to take a break. HBO’s “House of the Dragon” was the breaking point.
“I did it in two stages, and it wasn’t finished,” he said. “There’s too much hype, and too many other things coming out at the same time. I was like, nope, I’m too overwhelmed, I’m too overstimulated, I’m just going to go back to my comfort shows. I’m going to watch ‘ The Office.’”
said Ms. Quinn whose labor disputes had him worried for a while that new episodes of the dystopian workplace drama “Severance” on AppleTV+ would be delayed — but then he quickly realized the upside.
“I can take my time without everyone talking about what happens next,” he said, adding that he’s currently finishing “Following.”
The length of the labor disputes will determine the length of the disruption. Actors have been on strike since July 14. Writers have been on picket lines for more than 100 days. Formal talks between the writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, were held Friday for the first time since early May. There is no set dialogue involving the actors.
Third-party researchers believe that most streaming services should be well insulated if the strikes last another month or two — though that risk increases as production runs longer. is closed. The sheer volume of content in their streaming libraries is one reason studios initially said they could face strikes, at least in the short term, a pointed message to writers and actors currently without pay. (For example, “Suits,” a USA Network show that debuted in 2019, is recent rising to fame on Netflix.)
Leaders of the Writers Guild of America, the union representing thousands of striking screenwriters, recently said it was “disinformation” that the strike “would have no effect because streaming services have libraries and some products in the pipeline. “
“It is not a viable business strategy for these companies to close their business in three months – and counting – no matter how hard they try and pretend it is,” they said in a note to members.
Many viewers say they support the striking writers and actors. said Ms. Habboo that he believes they are not being compensated fairly, and is “a huge bummer.”
However, when asked if he would cut any of his streaming subscriptions, he was emphatic. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Cancellation is never an option.”
Mel Russo, a 56-year-old yoga teacher who lives in Brooklyn, said the Max service alone “could keep you busy for the next 10 years, to be honest.”
“I think what’s happening is disgusting,” he added. “But I’m not in agony about it as an observer and as a hobbyist.”
Streaming services seem eager to capitalize. Last month, Netflix rolled over released a new banner“10 Years of Netflix Series,” which shows viewers dozens of older titles from its library.
Eric Martinez, a 25-year-old video producer living in the San Francisco Bay Area, has become a huge fan of the HBO series “Euphoria.” But the earliest that show would return for a third season is now 2025, so he looked for an alternative.
On his Amazon Prime page, Mr. Martinez has been seeing a tile for the show “The Boys” for a long time. The superhero series was one he thought he had no interest in. But as time passed, he finally gave up. “I’m enjoying it, and I’m glad I started it,” he said.
Not every viewer needs a new old show to watch.
Brenda Stewart, a 71-year-old Nebraskan, said she and her husband often fire up their Roku and watch reruns of older series including “CSI” and “Murder, She Wrote. ” He is also a big fan of re-watching movies like “The Lion King” and other Disney classics.
Ms. Stewart, who has six grandchildren, said episodes of “Bluey” usually play over and over in her house after the kids are done. And, sometimes, it’s not exclusively for little ones.
“It’s a cartoon series for kids, but I’m not going to lie – it’s for adults too,” he says, laughing. “There are things in there that just make me laugh.”
