‘TV’s Top 5’: Breaking Down the AMPTP Counteroffer and WGA Response

Welcome to the 228th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.

Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).

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This week’s podcast — the last until Sept. 8 as we’ll be off for Labor Day — takes a deep dive into the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers’ counteroffer to the Writers Guild of America, as well as the union’s response to it.

Here’s how the episode plays out:

1. Mailbag, strike edition

In place of our traditional Headlines segment, we return to answering listener questions, and this week explore if artificial intelligence replaces critics and why some reality show hosts continue working during the strikes.

2. Strike Zone: the latest

Hollywood’s studios and streamers this week released their counterproposal to the Writers Guild and the union responded — twice — to what it dubbed the AMPTP’s efforts to splinter scribes.

3. League benched

Amazon un-renewed A League of Their Own (and The Peripheral), citing the strikes delaying both shows’ return to 2025. This segment looks at what happened and provides analysis on why.

4. Mailbag, regular edition

In the midst of Peak TV, why are viewers re-binging older series like The Vampire Diaries, Suits and The West Wing?

5. Critic’s Corner

As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on Ahsoka on Disney+ and season two of Apple TV+’s Invasion.

Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at TVsTop5@THR.com.

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