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]
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…
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…
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…
People Aren't Watching More YouTube Because Of The Strike
This YouTube site, it could be big! Pew Research says YouTube's grown 18% since the writers' strike began, and the BBC says that means people are looking to the web to fill the video void, a story bloggers predicted last fall. The New York Post claims the same. Wrong: YouTube's growth isn't much faster than usual;…
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…
Gorilla Apologizes To Letterman, Demands Office Supplies
Gawker regular Brian Van shot this picture outside David Letterman's Ed Sullivan Theater. We saw that sketch last night (23 striking writers, a guy in a Spider-man suit, Moses, and a guy in a bear suit all fit in a Jamba Juice—classic stuff) and we still have no idea what this gentleman's sign is about.
Writers Do Matter! (Sorta)
Ever since the late night talk shows returned to the air, Leno has been beating Letterman in the ratings, as he has for a good dozen years. This despite Leno still working without his writers (a terrible, uncomfortable sight), all of whom are still on strike. Letterman's production company's deal with the WGA gave him…
Chris Beam Will Be Colbert's Next Non-Union Guest
Slate political reporter and IvyGate founder Chris Beam is going to appear on "The Colbert Report" tonight! He emailed all his friends! He's so excited to be crossing that picket line. Scab. (Email after the jump!)
Letterman Shaves Strike Beard!
On the same night that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to their shows sans writers, David Letterman, one of two late night hosts with his writing staff, finally shaved off his strike beard. With the help of a barber and a straight razor, Letterman returned from the commercial break with a smooth (if slightly…
Strike Beard Special!!!
Yesterday we showed you our strike beard and asked you for yours. You responded with a pouring out of hair both touching and in a way disgusting. Our inbox was clogged with wiry black hairs that weren't ours. I'm sure the writers, however, appreciate it. After the jump our special bonus Strike Beard gallery. Send your…
Golden Globes Canceled!
The Golden Globes have been canceled due to the ongoing writers strike. "[T]he Hollywood Foreign Press Association instead will merely make an announcement of the winners," according to Nikki Finke. Exciting! We've learned to live without writers, but can we live without... awards shows? Do we want to live in that…
2nd bigwig lib backs out of 'Colbert'
Now Naomi Klein turned down Colbert! Didn't anyone tell her and Katrina that the Colbert writers' "strike" is just an elaborate meta-media joke? No...? [NYO, Previously]
Striking writers face staff strike, unable to pen treatments exploring dramatic irony
Internecine fighting among those smug striking writers? The New York Post is thrilled! As they report today, the WGA East is facing strike action from their own paid staff. These Newspaper Guild-represented employees negotiated a new contract with WGA management last October, but it hasn't been signed yet. Staffers…
'Nation' Ed Won't Cross Picket Line For Colbert
Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel just became maybe the first invited guest to publicly decline to appear on a strike-hobbled Colbert Report, which returns to the air without its writers on January 7. It's going to be a sad January for a lot of liberals totally unaware of their dogmatic humorlessness. [NYO via No…
Graydon Carter will celebrate the Oscars, strike be damned
Vanity Fair will hold its annual Oscar party no matter what the situation of the WGA strike. If acrimony between producers and writers continues, the ceremony could be shortened and high-profile nominees could boycott it. We can dream. [FishbowlNY]
No Picket Line To Cross At Ed Sullivan Theater
Happy return of the Late Night talk shows day! Tonight, our long national vaguely annoying situation preceding the nightmares is over. Letterman, Conan, Leno, and the Scottish guy are all taping new episodes for air tonight. Above, Richard Blakeley photographed Letterman's Ed Sullivan theater, quietly free of…
Finke Photographed, Rewarded By 'Observer'
The Observer declared occasionally nutty but totally must-read WGA strike chronicler and studio nemesis Deadline Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke their "media mensch of the year." ALSO they found an ultra-rare kinda recent photo of her! Finke, who used to be the Observer's West Coast editor, is unapologetically on the…
Looks like those striking Writers Guild members have one more reason to justify their demand a share of Hollywood's Web profits. Turns out consumers are 47 percent more "engaged" in video ads on computer than those screened on regular TVs in living rooms. That could be because they're simply paying more attention in…
This Is Television Without Writers
NBC execs have their hands deep inside sad puppet Carson Daly—having told him that his entire staff would be fired if "Last Call" didn't go back on the air—and so the poor (but unfired!) staffers have taken to the stage themselves, performing stupid human tricks. Oh boy. How bad is writer-free "Daily Show" going to…
