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Writers strike
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writers strike
Colbert Welcomes Back Fave Writers Tiki Barber, Judy Miller
The writers strike ended! Stephen Colbert was so excited, he introduced his entire writing staff at the top of the show, inviting them on-stage and high-fiving each one. Tiki Barber, Mr. Met, Kevin Bacon, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and disgraced former Times star Judith Miller all ended up in the lineup too. We're just glad Judy's keeping busy!
Here's a list of when your TV shows are coming back
30 Rock back April 10 with five episodes! 24 can't torture anyone until January 2009!! [EW]
30 Rock back April 10 with five episodes! 24 can't torture anyone until January 2009!! [EW]
writers strike
Tina Fey Welcomes You Back To Glorious Scripted Television
The writers strike is truly, finally, mercifully over. Here's what it means to you, the crazed television junkie hustling madly for your next fix: Writers come back right away for Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Tina Fey hustles Saturday Night Live back on the air Feb. 23rd as host while her show 30 Rock may or may not get five episodes out before the end of the season, depending on Alec Baldwin's availability. Scripted shows that will return at all this season will come back roughly between mid-March and mid-April, including CSI, Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, the Office, Grey's Anatomy and House. Heroes probably returns in the fall, torture-fest 24 not until next year. The point is, start clearing space on your TiVo yesterday. After the jump, union booster Fey's 30 Rock character takes in a lesson in hardball negotiation tactics — for managers — in an episode the WGA probably did not watch closely enough. More »
labor disputes
Writers Strike Still Not Actually Over
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 to the zero hour where the strike might affect films in production, not just crappy TV shows! This is their chance to wipe Hollywood off the face of the Earth! But they probably won't, because they all miss getting paid. In today's Times, David Carr asks, "who won"? Short answer: the writers! Truthful answer? Enjoy receiving internet residuals three years after the pilot you were unable to shop didn't get picked up, guys! (Of course, the strike cannot officially end until Bruce Vilanch sings.) [NYT] NB: Copy-editors strike continues!
show business kids
Writers Strike End Talking Points: Everyone Lost
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 that appears on the internets, and after three years "that fee becomes 2% of some of revenue the studios receive." And studios are very good at pretending they don't make any money on the internets. On the plus side, now the actors probably won't strike. And that would've actually shut down Hollywood. More »
writers strike
Long National Nightmare Of Awful Television Almost Over
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 the shelves again in Hollywood and New York, and your sad days of intelligent, two-way interpersonal communication will be over. But it will be two to four weeks before most TV production resumes, according to a smart story rushed into the front of this week's as Entertainment Weekly, thanks to writers who have forgotten what is going on, who they are and what they are doing. A taste: More »
writers strike
Taco Bell Expects Screenwriters To Work For Free Food
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 everywhere, will do no such thing, according to Trading Markets. Instead, they are offering striking screenwriters the "chance to win free Taco Bell food by injecting fun and fresh bits of wisdom into the restaurant chain's iconic Border Sauce packets." They want them to work for free, basically, for the chance to win about $260 worth of food. More »
books
"I Always Wanted to Write Novels Anyway:" Striking Screenwriters Explain It All
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 to look forward to: the Rune Warriors, a "Viking saga that's a mix of Harry Potter and 'The Princess Bride' with a little Python thrown in." More »
Happy Striking Writers
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."
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."
writers strike
WGA, Producers Resume Talks
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 real TV! [Yahoo]
lost our lease
NBC Hawks Props
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 unused "select items" from "Heroes," "The Office," "Friday Night Lights," "30 Rock" and (best of all!) "Las Vegas." Items getting auctioned listed below. More »
Solidarity!
The strike is tough on striking writer Anna Fricke, as she reveals in a Times OpEd today. She's not even wearing pants! And she's watching the Food Network! And she can't even get drunk because she's pregnant. [NYT]
The strike is tough on striking writer Anna Fricke, as she reveals in a Times OpEd today. She's not even wearing pants! And she's watching the Food Network! And she can't even get drunk because she's pregnant. [NYT]
the people, united
Directors Kill Writers Strike (Maybe)
The Directors Guild reached an agreement with the AMPTP, according to UPI and Variety. No details are available! But it might prove the end of the Writers Strike. The Directors presumably negotiated an internet residual deal with the Producers that will set a precedent that the writers will be more or less obligated to agree to. So everyone wins! Or loses! Who knows. Thank god we'll get some new House. Maybe he could've diagnosed Glenn Beck! It could've been Lupus! [UPI]
the garden of forking paths
Brokaw Must Clear Elaborate Maze To Promote NBC News, Rescue Baby Brother
Conan O'Brien, still struggling to fill out a nightly talk show without his striking writers, came upon a cunning, time-wasting plan last night: forcing his guests to make it through a maze before sitting down with him. The first guest subjected to the cardboard labyrinth was venerated newsman Tom Brokaw. Brokaw was game, as you can see in the attached clip. SAG-affiliated actors across the entertainment industry are presumably thrilled the picket lines give them a better excuse to turn down Late Night than "I'm barely coordinated enough to intro a clip, let alone make it through a rat maze." [Late Night]
Writers Pushed To The Margins, As Usual
If the wearying writer's strike is finally to be resolved, this is how it will probably happen. The Directors Guild of America has begun negotiating on the movie makers' cut of online revenues; any deal would be a model for other groups such as the writers in their dispute with the Hollywood studios. Why are the directors any more likely to come to terms? Much of the membership of the Writers Guild of America was unemployed before the entertainment industry shutdown began. The directors' union is a more elite club; the movie makers want to get back to work, because they actually have projects.
If the wearying writer's strike is finally to be resolved, this is how it will probably happen. The Directors Guild of America has begun negotiating on the movie makers' cut of online revenues; any deal would be a model for other groups such as the writers in their dispute with the Hollywood studios. Why are the directors any more likely to come to terms? Much of the membership of the Writers Guild of America was unemployed before the entertainment industry shutdown began. The directors' union is a more elite club; the movie makers want to get back to work, because they actually have projects.
point/counterpoint
The Great Strike Debate
Each day you face important issues requiring informed opinons. At work! At cocktail parties! In bed with strangers! In these situations and so many more you are expected to talk about the things everybody's talking about. Let Gawker Videographer Alex Goldberg and Defamer Videographer Molly McAleer do the thinking for you, with Point/Counterpoint. Today's topic: the writers strike.
scenes from the struggle
