It's one thing for Jay Leno to be mocked endlessly by rival David Letterman for moving to an earlier timeslot. Far more insulting: Being branded a scab by his own union .

Maybe the reason the upcoming fall shows seem so unpromising is because we really don't know anything about them. Variety reports today that television critics and marketing executives alike are grumbling about the networks' extremely slow pace in sending out screeners and cobbling together promo clips. That's why…

When Viacom sued Google for $1 billion over copyright infringement on YouTube last year, it seemed unlikely Viacom lawyers would ever win that much. Now it will be that much harder. Judge Louis Stanton ruled that Viacom will not be awarded "punitive damages." If Viacom wins the case, any money it gets from Google…

More winners and losers from the writers strike! Winner: actor Rob Lowe, who proposed and sold his memoirs during the strike. Loser: Jonathan Karp, the Hachett publisher who placed the winning bid on them. Good thing the $1 mil didn't change hands, because once the strike was over, old Rob-O went back to work and no…

Leaders of the writers strike declared a "huge victory" over the suits when they won a larger share of revenues from internet video. Oh yes? One of those suits, Les Moonves of CBS, says the TV network learned during the stoppage that it didn't need nearly as many expensive scripts and pilots. Explaining healthy…

In which organization's Lost & Found bin would you find the following: keys to BMWs and Porsches, an iPod, a walking stick, a Republican voter's registration card, and orthopedic inserts? No, not the Dick Cheney Fan Club. Try the WGA! Items left behind after the writer's strike paint a not-so-pretty of our favorite…

The Writers Guild of America strike that has crippled our nation's entertainment industry these last few months will end today, once striking writers vote to approve the deal hammered out last weekend by their management and the producers' guild. Wouldn't it be funny if they rejected it, though? We're finally getting…

The writers strike is all but over after three long months, and following today's voting, writers are expected to get back to work by Wednesday. The strike cost Guild members about $270 million, and there will be a bloody and bitter renegotiation in three years. In the meantime, writers receive a flat fee for work…

What is online video worth in the age of YouTube? $1,200, according to the Writers' Guild of America. That's the amount the group of television and movie writers agreed to accept for work streamed over the Internet. An odd amount, and like all fixed pay for the hit-and-miss, easily measured world of the Web, almost…

It looks like the writers' strike is about to end. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner said "it's over ... they shook hands," the Times has some deal terms, and writer Nikki Finke reports a deal has been negotiated, is being drafted and will be reviewed by members over the weekend. Soon, shaving cream will be flying off…

On CNBC today, he declared an end to the writers' strike. Not so, say our Hollywood sources. The strike will be over soon, they predict, but it's not done yet. Leave aside that question: Should we in the tech industry ever have cared about the strike in the first place?

I've been on many a picket line, and what tends to happen is the whole community comes out in support of a strike: local bakeries offer free coffee and donuts, and area restaurants often stop by in the afternoon with foodstuffs. It's just the right thing to do. Taco Bell, that purveyor of food for harried workingmen…

Now that they've conquered the market for snarky/bemused strike commentary, hungry screenwriters are finding new ways to pass the time and earn small amounts of money: novel-writing, as the LAT reports! What do we learn? Well, writing a book is different from writing a screenplay, for one. Also, we have projects like…

This strike must be devastating, says a writer's empathetic friend. "Not at all," responds the writer. "Now I can just tell people I'm striking rather than simply unemployed."

The AMPTP is having "informal discussions" with the WGA today. The losers: the people who actually, "secretly" write reality shows and, as always, the people who work in animation. Let the big dogs get their internet residuals! If the staffs of I Love New York and Dora the Explorer want benefits, they should work for …

Is NBC betting on the Writers Strike continuing indefinitely? A recent press release that might have nothing to do with anything could be construed as to suggest 'yes'! "SELECT ITEMS FROM NBC'S HOTTEST SHOWS TO BE FEATURED IN SECOND LIVE AUCTION" they announce. Starting Monday the 21st, head over to nbc.com to buy up…