Ever since the early ’80s the over-the-top spectacle that is the game show PRESS YOUR LUCK taped its Whammy-laden episodes in Southern California; all but recently from, as announcer Rod Roddy would intone with his voice cracking like a pubescent fanboy FROM TELEVISION CITY IN HAAAHLLY-WOOD!! Later next month a new prime time season will be taped, likely for summer scheduling, with the fetching Elizabeth Banks back again to rescue an ABC very much in need of a competitive unscripted series that doesn’t feature anyone with a criminal record. But a new chapter is apparently about to begin based on the news which was announced yesterday by HOODLINE ATLANTA’s Marc Washington:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Season 7 is slated to be in production from April 11 to 26 at Fayetteville’s Trilith Studios, based on information sent to IATSE Local 479, the union that represents most crew members…The move shifts the tapings to the Atlanta area after previous seasons were filmed in Los Angeles…Game shows have been steadily drifting toward Georgia, and this is one more example.
Indeed, PYL will join fellow Fremantle franchise FAMILY FEUD and renewed GSN series THE PERFECT LINE and FLIP SIDE in the A-T-L. Were these the most significant defections, most of us could sleep a tad easier. But based upon a far more significant story from the WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Ben Fritz and Nate Rattner that dropped yesterday, it’s merely part of a far larger and disturbing trend:
Hollywood studios are making significantly fewer movies and television shows than they did just a few years ago. The ones they do make are increasingly being shot in other countries and states that offer more generous tax subsidies. The result: a 30% drop in employment from a late-2022 peak for actors, carpenters, costumers and the hundreds of other professions that make movies and TV shows, according to Labor Department data.
The nightmare scenario is playing out in Los Angeles, where a century-old entertainment economy is evaporating with no signs of a turnaround on the horizon. Many worry Hollywood will soon resemble Detroit after the decline of the auto industry, with corporate headquarters still located here, but little of the actual work.
The raw numbers are daunting: Per Film LA, in 2021 the number of Los Angeles-based production days–which includes a gamut that also encompasses photo shoots, student films, documentaries, short films, online content, music videos and industrial videos–was 37,709. In other words, on any given day more than 100 projects were available for people to earn a few bucks and, perhaps even more importantlu, hours toward health insurance coverage renewal. In 2025, this soup-to-nuts number had fallen to 19,694. That’s a -48% decline for those of you scoring at home. Specific to television, that negative figure skyrockets to –64%. What was a 78 per cent advantage that television production had over “all other” is now a -22% disadvantage.
Moreover, ProdPro supplied a sobering reminder that a disproportionate amount of this movement is straying far farther away from the Left Coast than Hotlanta. Within the “peak TV” bubble that my old boss John Landgraf has made a cottage industry out of–scripted TV series with $40M+ budgets–in 2021 there were 251 such productions occurring as the streaming era was exploding–slightly more than half of the total of 490 his crackerjack researchers were able to track. In 2025 that number had fallen by -40% to 149 at the same time that the “ROW” (rest of world) had actually INCREASED by +4%. And they now make up 63% of the global total.
In short, not good.
It’s now officially enough of a crisis to attract the attention of those outside the entertainment industry. The WSJ duo shared this anecdote as Exhibit A:
U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove was finishing an acupuncture session recently when the woman pulling needles out of her back surprised her with a question: “Can you do anything to help bring back entertainment jobs?” The California Democrat shared the story at a recent congressional hearing in this Los Angeles suburb home to Disney and Warner Bros. Witnesses testified about the devastation caused by a nationwide downturn in television and film production that has hit California particularly hard. Noah Wyle, star and executive producer of “The Pitt,” called it “a near cratering of our once thriving industry.”
Hollywood studios are making significantly fewer movies and television shows than they did just a few years ago. The ones they do make are increasingly being shot in other countries and states that offer more generous tax subsidies. The result: a 30% drop in employment from a late-2022 peak for actors, carpenters, costumers and the hundreds of other professions that make movies and TV shows, according to Labor Department data.
California currently is at a political crossroads as well, with a gubernatorial primary roughly two months away where the two current leaders are both Republicans. With a system that promotes only the top two vote-getters to the general election there is a very real possibility that the state could flip red. Those of you who follow my social media know I’m flabbergasted that not a single Democratic candidate respected the crowded No Kings pep rallies this past weekend enough to make an appearance. I’m even more flabbergasted none of them have seized upon this issue to offer ever a plausible game plan to address it. For that matter, neither have the Republicans. This is hardly the bilateral hill to die on.
There’s a noble effort being spearheaded by my fellow history buff Randy West to preserve the legacy and integrity of Television City despite the fact that CBS no longer directly owns the property. They’ve already been able to rebrand it with a remarkably consistent font choice from the days when the OG PRESS YOUR LUCK was one of its inhabitants. If all goes well, construction should be completed in time for next year’s Diamond Anniversary celebration of the property, which West will naturally commemorate with another edition of his deep-dive books, tentatively titled FROM TELEVISION CITY IN HOLLYWOOD. Huzzah. Maybe it’s time for his supporters to pay a tad more attention toward finding ways to better ensure that something new will actually get produced there?
Until next time…