\n<\/p>\n
General Hospital<\/em><\/a> and more soap opera writers \u201cface a unique conflict\u201d during the WGA strike<\/a> as many are being replaced by temporary scribes to keep the genre alive.<\/p>\n \u201cStarting next week, the show will be penned exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking,\u201d General Hospital<\/em> writer Shannon Peace<\/strong> explained via Instagram<\/a> on Friday, July 21. \u201cDaytime writers face a unique conflict during strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n Peace, who has been a breakdown writer on the series since 2021, continued: \u201cWe hate to see our characters and story lines handed over to \u2018writers\u2019 who cross the picket line. But we\u2019re also keenly aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas.\u201d<\/p>\n Peace noted that her Thursday, July 20, General Hospital<\/em> episode was the last one she wrote before the Writer\u2019s Guild of America (WGA) strike<\/a> began in May. She revealed that beginning on Tuesday, July 25, the full-time writers on the soap opera will no longer have control over what happens to the show\u2019s beloved characters.<\/p>\n \u201cStarting Tuesday, the writing team of GH<\/em> will be watching alongside fans to see what happens \u2026 for the sake of the fans, I hope the show is in capable writing hands,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut I have to also acknowledge the pain of knowing that characters we\u2019ve developed, relationships we built and stories we planned are being handled by others.\u201d<\/p>\n Peace added: \u201cStill, my hope is that if you love GH<\/em>, you\u2019ll continue to watch. You can morally support the writers AND keep the show the air! \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe.\u201d<\/p>\n In May, the Writer\u2019s Guild of America (WGA)<\/a> \u2014 which is made up of TV writers and film scribes \u2014 called for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to update their current contracts to better line up with the current media landscape. Some of the union\u2019s demands include better wages and streaming residuals.<\/p>\n Unlike their scripted TV counterparts, soap operas \u2014 including General Hospital<\/em>, Days of Our Lives<\/em>, The Bold and the Beautiful<\/em> and The Young and the Restless<\/em> \u2014 don\u2019t have the same rules when it comes to a strike.<\/p>\n Soap opera actors are employed under the SAG-AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting a.k.a. Network Code.<\/p>\n According to Deadline<\/a>, when it comes to soap operas, SAG-AFTRA negotiates with the Big 4 broadcast networks and other producers, not the AMPTP. Their current agreement goes through July 2024.<\/p>\n The Network Code, however, doesn\u2019t extend to the writers. Therefore, the long-running series will move forward with non-WGA member writers who have crossed the picket lines.<\/p>\n Soap operas, however, aren\u2019t the only productions that have been affected by the ongoing WGA strike and the SAG-AFTRA picketing, which began earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n While most shows have ceased filming \u2014 and SAG-AFTRA members have been told they aren\u2019t allowed to promote any projects \u2014 several scripted series, including HBO\u2019s House of the Dragon <\/em>has continued to shoot<\/a>.<\/p>\n