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Writers Strike News Roundup: Thursday, Jan. 3

Jan 3, 2008  •  Post A Comment

Late Night TV Returns With, Without Writers
David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson returned to the airwaves last night, Daily Variety reports. Mr. Letterman, however, had the advantage of returning with his writers after his production company, Worldwide Pants, sealed a temporary deal with the Writers Guild of America last week, the newspaper says. All four shows touched on the strike, with Mr. Letterman touting a chorus line of dancers brandishing strike signs. Mr. Leno wrote his own monologue, in which he zinged NBC by saying that more people were picketing the network than currently watching it, the newspaper reports.
Leno Audience Pleased With Writerless Show
Audience members leaving today’s taping of “The Tonight Show” said Mr. Leno was funny, if a little corny, the Los Angeles Times reports. One audience member wondered how long Mr. Leno is going to be able to get away with his cheesy material if the strike continues for longer, the newspaper said. Audience members said Mr. Leno told them repeatedly that he wasn’t breaking any strike rules with his monologue, the newspaper says.
Fox Shifts Midseason Shows to Monday
Fox has moved “New Amsterdam” and “Canterbury’s Law,” originally scheduled for Friday, to Mondays, as the network sets in for a long strike, Daily Variety reports. The channel has also added a Thursday edition of “American Idol,” the newspaper says. Fox originally announced its midseason lineup a week after the Writers Guild of America went on strike. Now that a longer strike is a definite, Fox is giving its valuable scripted dramas a better position on the schedule, the newspaper says.
Writers Nix Golden Globe Waiver Possibility
The Writers Guild of America has officially clamped down on the idea of offering the Hollywood Foreign Press Association any waiver for its Golden Globes, set to air on NBC on Jan. 13, Daily Variety reports. This has left party, award and event planners in the lurch over what’s going to happen after the Screen Actors Guild informed its member that attending the Globes means crossing a picket line, the newspaper says.
Huckabee ‘Supports’ Writers, Oddly Crosses Picket Line
Picketers roamed outside NBC’s Burbank studios as Jay Leno returned to work, with Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee as Mr. Leno’s guest, Deadline Hollywood Daily reports. Mr. Huckabee told the Associated Press earlier in the day that he supported the writers, and originally thought that all late-night writers had returned to work (as opposed to just shows owned by Worldwide Pants). The Writers Guild of America released a statement giving kudos to Mr. Huckabee’s remarks, but urged him not to cross the picket line, the blog reports. Mr. Huckabee showed up at the “Tonight Show” taping, and the Guild released a statement saying they were disappointed with Mr. Huckabee’s actions, the blog says.
Andrew Krukowski

14 Comments

  1. Dear WGA,
    Happy new year. I hope you all choke on your own spit and die. You should suffer a pain ten times worse than the pain you are causing to the countless BTL people who have nothing to gain here. You selfish swine are such a pain in the ass that I can’t even stand to look at your blog anymore. I’m glad the late night shows are back. Protest all the fuck you want, you will all go to hell for the pain you have caused.
    You all deserve to get dick cancer. You fucking pussies are so selfish, that you don’t deserve ANYTHING. You are acting like a bunch of whiney bratty kids who all deserve a fate worse than death. Fighting for your rights. Bullshit. At what cost. Do you not see the harm you cause? Look around you fuck! You are no better than the terrorists who killed 30,000 people on 9/11. Osama bin Laden.
    You don’t deserve the shit you eat from your ass. Why do you eat shit out of your ass? Are you even reading this anymore. If you are, you are more stupider than I thought. Huh? I hope you still read this because there are things in here that need to be heard by the WGA. Suck!
    Love,
    Fierres

  2. Writers are so highly abused in this society of fast past show development and large studios! It is ridiculous that the person who wrote a movie only gets .04 from a $20 sale while the fat ass executive that just sits there gets $2.00!
    Without the writers we would be watching non-stop American Idol marathons!
    Support the writers or turn of your television and stop going to movies..
    Lindsay

  3. Lindsay,
    You are very misinformed. Writers can make all kinds of deals after they have produced hits or are associated with a success.
    All above the line talent can negotiate virtually any form of profit sharing or fee if they prove themselves to be valuable to a project from track record.
    And while Fierres may not be “polite” in his letter to the writers who support this strike, he is spot on. The WGA is involved in a selfish power play that is doing enormous harm to many families and without regard. If you check the record of what the WGA has been asking for over the years, you will find a arrogance out of control.

  4. Dear writers, i just want to know what you are holding out for. You are losing your fan base rather quickly, so i hope it’s worth it. More people are going to start watching movies and not paying attention to the local channels. I really enjoyed alot of the shows that were on and now i just don’t care anymore. your job is to provide the public with entertainment. Hope you all lose your jobs it’s the least you deserve for abandoning your fan base.

  5. Listen up WGA,
    Thanks to you and your selfish bullshit our construction shop is closed and some 60 people who have families to feed and mortgages to pay are suffering.My fellow employees don’t give one shit about your stupid bullshit and a bigger share of the pie. We will keep on building scenery,and your bullshit will never be of concern to us.I hope you assholes never get an opportunity to return as writers. What’s with the bullshit that a majorioty of the people out here are in sympathy with you.Get a frigging life.

  6. How do you black list writers in 2008?
    All of the above.

  7. AMPTP, spred the wealth and settle the strike. Nothing created, nothing to sell again and again and again!

  8. I can say that listening to both sides of this issue I do not have any sympathy for the writers. Writers if you want to get residuals for your work then put up the money to produce your own shows and own it outright. Your just dam lucky that somewhere along the line they created residuals. Why shoudn’t teachers get residuals for all of the earnings their kids make during their lives that they taught? But I guess the free market is working and you have convinced others that your talents are worthy of such compensation. If I was a Producer I would do what Ronald Reagan did to the Air Traffic Controlers –FIRE YOUR ASSES and replace you all with folks who want to work. (I am sure there is some monopolistic clause in the WGA agreement that prevents this from happening) Based on most of the crap you write anyway (not all of you but there is a lot of crap)there must be folks out there who can do an equally crappy job as you. I’m sure there are a lot of talented writers who would love to be given a shot to work in your industry but who have been kept out by the “elitist” union rules that seem only to exploit their own memebers. Further, I note that your not a bunch of cash strapped individuals and I cannot feel sorry for those that earn more money per episode then most people in the world make in a year. If the free market works like it should you will get what you deserve. No one knows what that will be but I hope they fire you all and bust that elitist union you belong too. Good luck on line at the welfare office. I hope you like working at MacDonalds!!

  9. These producers that people hate are also quite important to the process, many have invested time and money into projects, not to mention without a good producer a show may lack a direction. Let’s face it everyone is important to the TV and movie processor, everyone from the execs down to the stage hands. What you need to do is determine what is fair compensation vs risk vs talent pool for a particular position.
    These producers and execs have a whole company to take care of, and the WGA is looking out only for themselves and frankly they aren’t doing a very good job of that. People love bringing up the residuals on internet or DVD, but there is much more to their demands. I think most would agree that increasing compensation for these things is a fair demand. But they also want power over other aspects of industry so they can cripple it completely.
    What angers me most about these guilds, is that the guild heads are still being paid while those on the bottom rung of the ladder may want to go back to work but can’t and are suffering because of no paycheck. The WGA needs to take their power demands off the table and focus once again on residuals and residuals only.

  10. I just want Grey’s Anatomy back. Thats all.

  11. How long is this going to go on???? I need my Grey’s Anatomy!

  12. I also have no sympathy for the writer’s. You get residuals based on your writing, it is up to you to be a good negotiator. You have abandoned your fan base, put many people out of work due to greed, and hurt television ratings in general. If you wanted to strike you should have done it off season not during the middle of new episodes. I think all writer’s should be replaced and not have the opportunity to create anymore residuals.

  13. It is disappointing that people who strike, people who are fighting for their honest rights, are made to feel like criminals, especially by a bunch of idiots who are just upset because they can’t see their favorite TV show.
    As for the person whose shop was shut down; it is regretful that things like this happen but it is often the consequence of any strike and is the kind of thing that greedy corporations count-on happening to help them pressure their striking employees to knuckle under. Remember, any strike where people are trying to get honest pay and benefits for honest work, in the writers’ case – actually providing the product by which said corporations can make their millions, should be praised. Corporations would like to eliminate all unions. This would be a disaster! Corporate greed has to be checked. They must remember that all work, by them and by us, is a partnership and is based on trust. We all work together to maintain the existence of companies and organizations that benefit the livelihood of both.
    The next time you see someone fighting for what is right, support them; as they should support you, to achieve and maintain a higher, and more equal, quality of life for everyone!!
    By the way, I am not in the entertainment industry, just in case some bonehead thinks I’m one of the striking writers!

  14. I Agree With Everyone Who Thinks They All Should Be Fired. There Greedy Assholes, Try Living By A 40,000 A Year Or Less Paycheck To Paycheck And Then Youll See That What You Make Is Waaayyyy More Than Enough. Try Struggling To Make Rent And Car Payments Each Month For Awhile Then You Should Realize That What You Get Is More Than Fair. I Swear I Hope All Of You Get Fired And Replaced For The People That Actually Want To Have A Job In Hollywood Like Yours.
    My Favorite Show Is Smallville And This New Season May Be Shorted 7 Episodes And If That Happens Im Gonna Be Soooo Pissed Off How Can You So Called Writers Live With Yourself Shortening The Best TV Series Known To Man? Why Even Shoten It Why Cant You People Just Make Thos 7 Episodes Up In The Summer Time Or Something And During The Season 8 Break Next Year Air Them Then Or Just Air Them This Summer….
    I Thought The Point Of Making Us Wait An Extra 5 Months For LOST Was So We Could Have 16 New Episodes In A Row Without A Break? Now I Heard That You Will Only Air 8 Until You Lazy Asses Get Back To Work? Thats Ridiculous, If You Knew About The Strike You Should Of Just Aired The First 8 Back In September And Went On That 2 Or 3 Month Break Again Like Last Year That Would Have Been Perfect Then You Could Of Atleast Given Us Those Extra 6 Episodes….
    Im So Glad All Of The Late Night Shows Came Back On I Hope You All Lose Money From That….
    I DONT SUPPORT YOUR CAUSE What So Ever AND I HOPE YOU GET JACK. Get Over It And Get Back To Work You Lazy Asses.
    Oh Yeah I Heard That After The Writers Strike Ends Its Possible For An Actors Strike….

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