Monday was move-in day for the writers of CBS’ Fire Country who spent the morning unpacking boxes in their new (larger) office space on the Radford lot, an upgrade from the crammed bungalow/trailer they occupied last year, possibly in recognition of Fire Country ending the 2022-23 as the most watched new broadcast series.

It was also a return-to-work day for the 11-member writing team (and support staff) of the firefighter drama on the day the first wr

iters rooms reopened after the five-month WGA strike. It is led by showrunner/executive producer Tia Napolitano as well as executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan who co-created the series with star/executive producer Max Thieriot.

As they all gathered around the table in their new writers room for the first time just after lunch, the group shared their thoughts about the strike and starting work on the new season after a very long break and amid ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, teasing a bit what to expect in Season 2.

While there are some nerves –“I think that we’re all a little bit like, can we still do this?,” Rater said — the long break also has its upside. (Without the work stoppage, the room would’ve reopened in May-June.)

“We’re all pretty rested,” she said. “And we’ve all read books, had life experiences.”

Said Napolitano, “I feel energized, and honestly, Season 2 is not a continuation of Season 1. It’s the next chapter, and I think, having had a rest from Season 1, we feel like we’re ready to come back even stronger and shock everybody from the second the episodes start to air when we’re finally out there.”

Life experiences during the strike

Co-executive producer Natalia Fernandez spent most of her picketing hours with a paperback book in hand, walking and reading.

“I also play piano now, and I started a veggie garden. I went to Italy and traveled a little bit everywhere,” she said, adding, “I have little kids; they were off for the summer.”

Co-executive producer David Gould’s dad passed away during the strike.

“In its own way, I was grateful to have that time to be there with my dad and also to process this loss,” he said.

A big believer in how “it’s very important that I live a life and experience things on a personal level and out in the world in order to bring those experiences into here and hopefully get them on the screen,” Gould and his 22-year-old son went and played baseball at San Quentin prison during the strike. A couple of guys Gould played against are getting into a prison fire program, just like the main character in Fire Country.

The CBS Studios series stars Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict with a troubled past who, hoping to redeem himself and shorten his prison sentence, volunteers for the California Conservation Camp Program in which prisoners assist the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The San Quentin team, they were very curious and asking about the strike, and they said, we’re super supportive of you guys. That’s a population that, network television is very important to them; they don’t have Amazon and Netflix,” Gould said. “A couple of guys watch the show; they were fans and really appreciated our intention of showing the family stories and the humanity.”

Supervising producer Barbara Friend teaches screenwriting/TV writing in the summer for The University of Texas’ Los Angeles program.

“To see the strike through their eyes — and these are young people about to come into it — was really cool,” she said. “They’re obviously freaking out a lot, very scared, but excited for what their future could be if we were successful in our strike and our deal, and I feel we were.”

Along the way, Friend converted a few Gen Z-ers who had never watched network TV into Fire Country fans.