home

Hollywood Writers Strike to Start Monday

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Fri Nov 02, 2007 at 11:29:33 PM EST
Tags: writers strike (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

The Hollywood Writers Strike will start Monday.

There will be a "last ditch" effort to avoid the strike Sunday when both sides meet with a federal mediator.

On one side: "CBS Corp.; NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; and The Walt Disney Co., owner of the ABC network." On the other: Writers Guild of America.

First casualties, probably Monday night: the late-night talk shows, from Leno and Letterman to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. All are expected to go to repeats.

After that: Day time talk shows and the soaps.

What the writers are fighting for: a fair share of the profits from dvd sales and internet programming.

What to do instead of watching tv? Read more blogs. Support the writers.

More here.

< Two Lives Lost | Rudy and Kerik: The Red Flags Rudy Didn't See >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Hollywood Writers Strike to Start Monday | 17 comments (17 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    Get rid of the TV anyway (none / 0) (#1)
    by chemoelectric on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:06:07 AM EST
    I recently became one of those who recommend avoiding the television, anyway. I used to watch way more television than average, but now I see how destructive that was. Imagine how much hobby-work we could get done if we had no TVs, and how much better our lives would be if we did that hobby-work.

    Everyone go find a hobby and do it. Listen to the radio or an audio stream; at least then you have your eyes and thus your hands free.

    NaNoWriMo! (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jen M on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 07:23:42 AM EST
    I am way behind already.

    Parent
    only real loses i see there (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 08:38:07 AM EST
    are the daily and colbert shows, the rest is pretty much drek. ok, i do watch the csi shows, and law & order. usually, i prefer to read online.

    i'm not a very good american. lol

    I don't know who's to blame.. (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 10:32:08 AM EST
    I come from a union background (Teamsters)so I understand strikes and such, so I have sympathy for the writers and their families.

    But basically,I just don't care. Outside of some sports and a few occasional TV shows... Law and Order... some History Channel.... and cable news/local news... a few PBS specials and some CPSAN..I just don't watch anymore. The sitcoms are written for 16 year olds and I can't get interested in CSI, etc...

    Of course the networks don't care, and they shouldn't. The market I represent would be very small, and no advertisers would be really interested..

    And I am especially proud of being able to say that I have never watched Survivor, American Idol., etc...

    And having been part of an industry that has had its own problems with downsizing, off shoring,etc., maybe the best thing for the writers to do is recognize that the world has changed and just walk away.

    Uh, yeah... (none / 0) (#7)
    by DA in LA on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:26:31 PM EST
    If we "just walked away" and took their deal we would be agreeing to an 85% cut in pay over 5 years.

    So, thanks, but I'm going to try to eat and stuff.

    Parent

    Hold your water. (none / 0) (#11)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 07:05:04 PM EST
    My point was that the world changes. Neither of us may like it. Trust me. The Qwest employees didn't.

    If the audience is satisfied with shows about "survivors," etc., the market for scripts will continue to decrease. That's just an ugly truth.

    So good luck,  but if I were you I'd brush up on technical writing...

    Parent

    Not worried about it (none / 0) (#12)
    by DA in LA on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 08:00:17 PM EST
    Networks can't sell survivor and other reality shows on DVD.  The money is and always will be in scripted programs.

    Parent
    That's an excellent point. (none / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 09:55:36 PM EST
    But at some point the profits off of a DVD set of say, CSI, won't cover the cost of scripts for a show that wasn't successful. Plus, as reality shows become more widely based via the H&G TV, etc, the market becomes even more fragmented.

    Again, good luck. Especially with the "made" for the Internet stuff.

    Parent

    The really sad thing is... (none / 0) (#5)
    by roy on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 10:35:28 AM EST
    ... I bet Colbert's writers could do a hilarious writeup of the strike.

    Expect to see it (none / 0) (#8)
    by DA in LA on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:29:37 PM EST
    This will cause many interesting videos to start popping up online.  What the studios are not factoring in with their stubborn position is that they are setting themselves up for what the record industry is now understanding.

    We can go directly to the interent.  There are people out there who will give us money and total control to create our own content.

    The last think Hollywood needs is a brain drain.  It's already bad enough.

    Parent

    Silencing Bush's critics (none / 0) (#6)
    by OkieFromMuskogee on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:08:00 PM EST
    The immediate effects of a writers' strike will be the silence of some of Bush's most effective critics:  Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, David Letterman, and (sometimes) Jay Leno.

    Our Republican friends are probably supporting a labor action for the first time in their lives.

    Hmmm (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 08:17:57 AM EST
    And here I thought all these intelligent smart critics on how to run the US wrote their own material...

    Are you saying they are not as smart as say, Squeaky? Edger?? Scribe?? Big Tent???

    Parent

    We'll have (none / 0) (#15)
    by Jen M on Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 08:37:42 AM EST
    to wait and see.

    Parent
    I vote for our team. (none / 0) (#16)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 09:20:44 AM EST
    In spite of their dedicated efforts to prove otherwise...

    ;-)

    Parent

    I wrote a long article about why we are striking (none / 0) (#9)
    by DA in LA on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:31:27 PM EST
    But I can't find any place to post it on this site.  I write a daily column for SuicideGirls.com (I know) and will post it there at midnight on Sunday.

    How About a Diary (none / 0) (#10)
    by squeaky on Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 01:47:30 PM EST
    email Jeralyn and ask.

    Parent
    Dadler - Here are the Katz columns (none / 0) (#17)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 09:37:49 AM EST
    I promised you in the earlier post on the strike.

    As he has "been there and done that" I thought you might enjoy his views on comedy writing, TV, Hollywood and the media in general.

    Enjoy. If you like them there are three or four more more but they delve more into current culture vs writing.

    BTW - Katz was a Demo....reminds me of me.

    And they are better if read in sequence.

    June 17

    June 22

    July 09

    July 24

    August 10

    August 27

    Hollywood Writers Strike to Start Monday | 17 comments (17 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment