‘Don’t you wanna know how Yellowjackets ends?’: the best signs at the writers’ strike

Gina Gershon marches with protesters during the Writers Guild Strike on Wednesday in New York. Photograph: JNI/Star Max/GC Images

It’s not exactly breaking news that writers are funny – but anyone who needs a reminder can take a look at their strike signs. For the first time since 2007, more than 11,000 WGA writers behind television’s biggest hits have put down their pens and stopped working after contract negotiations with major studios failed. The ensuing picket lines in New York and Los Angeles are filled with signs making fun of Netflix, Quibi and greedy executives. But the best material is reserved for ChatGPT: one of the writers’ biggest demands includes a ban on AI generation of scripts for film or television.

Writers at Netflix’s New York headquarters. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Outside Netflix in Los Angeles. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The playwright Jeremy O Harris, right, at Netflix in New York. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A writer’s dog joins the protest in New York. Photograph: Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Demonstrators at Netflix in LA. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/AP

At Netflix in LA. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/AP

Outside Netflix in New York. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

On the picket line in LA. Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA

A dog becomes a walking picket sign in LA. Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA

Signs in Los Angeles. Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP

Outside Paramount Studios in LA. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

A sign outside Paramount. Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP

Protesting outside Universal Studios in LA. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Outside Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/AP