Paul Dailly
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The competition for the Mirrorball Trophy will kick off as planned.
Deadline reports that ABC is moving forward with the Tuesday, September 26, 2023, premiere of Dancing With the Stars Season 32.
The news comes one day after a deal was reached between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Shortly after a premiere date for the hit reality TV series was revealed this month, it emerged that the show was picketed because it employed a WGA writer.
Veep star Matt Walsh, a competitor this season, announced he would be stepping away from the show until a deal was reached.
“I am taking a pause from Dancing with the Stars until an agreement is made with the WGA,” he said in a statement to Deadline.
“I was excited to join the show and did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement,” he said earlier this month.
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“This morning when I was informed by my union, the WGA, that it is considered struck work I walked out of my rehearsal.”
“I have been and will always stand with my union members of the WGA, SAG and DGA,” he added.
“Beyond our union artists, I am sensitive to the many people impacted by the strike and I hope for a speedy and fair resolution, and to one day work again with all the wonderful people I met at DWTS who tolerated my dancing.”
At the same time, Variety reported that ABC was exploring possibly delaying the season premiere.
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There was also increased pressure for actors like Alyson Hannigan and Mira Sorvino to pull out, but it was later revealed that actors were cleared to work for the show under the Network Code agreement.
The show’s delay would have been disastrous for ABC because the network had been promoting the big return to ABC after one season on Disney+.
When ABC announced its fall schedule earlier this year, it was deemed relatively strike-proof because everything was unscripted.
But there have been some changes in recent months, with The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise moving from their planned Monday bows to Thursday.
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With the WGA strike’s end in sight, the network will be hoping the SAG-AFTRA strike ends next because it will allow its scripted roster to come back.
There’s no telling when fresh episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, and The Good Doctor could air, but if episodes are written when the actors’ strike is over, it will clear the way to get episodes in the can.
What are your thoughts on the return of Dancing With the Stars going ahead?
Are you surprised it came this close to being pulled?
Hit the comments.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.