Official WGA Writers Strike thread.

[KneeCo]

Seems kind of odd not to have a thread given that it's kind of a big thing and there's a bunch of TV fans around here.

* The Strike has been on since Nov 5th.

* It doesn't seem like an end is in sight. The networks are mostly re-arranging their schedule well into the new year in anticipation of a prolonged strike.

* Talk shows like the Daily Show or the network ones have gone into re-runs this week. Letterman, Conan, Stewart and Leno have all sided with the writers. Presumably, if they ever cross/the strike goes long they would return with more interview weighted episodes (Ellen returned the day after the strike and "out of respect" for her writers, didn't do a monologue).

* Arnold Schwarzenegger has made it a priority to resolve the strike (and while I do think almost everything about the guy is a joke, he has a pretty good track record in these kind of things).

* Speaking of the Daily Show, news came out this week that John Stewart is paying the writers of the DS as well as the Colbert Report (he's an exec prod of both) out of pocket for at least the first two weeks of the strike.

* Fox has shelved "24" until they are sure the show can run a repeat free season, has its been doing for a few seasons now.

* ABC's LOST has 8 of 16 episodes prepared for next season. Supposedly, it happens that the 8th ep ends in a cliffhanger, and ABC is going to run the 8 eps they have as planned.

* Sitcoms are fastest hit by the strike, because they write episodes very last minute and because the way a lot of them work requires writers on set.

* "The Office" is probably hardest hit because a lot of their cast are writers, who have penned eps of the series, including Steve Carrell and BJ Novak. They are refusing to work during the strike. "The Office" only has one episode left in the can.

* The issue at hand is how much/little writers get paid for DVD sales and online broadcasts; collectively called "new technology". More and more, the money made from TV shows is in season set DVD packages, and the broadcasting of episodes online, either through a site like itunes at a cost or through the networks website attached to ads.

* Writers want to get more of this new pie, while networks will hear nothing of it. The standard network line is something to the effect of "the profitability and sustainability of these new technologies is unquantifiable at this early stage so we can't restructure the pay scale at this time";

*however some people have been more harsh, from Entertainment Weekly:
"Currently, for every dollar spent on a DVD, writers receive about one-third of a penny. They would like, instead, to receive about two-thirds of a penny. The AMPTP's first response to this was to waste weeks by advocating a complete abolition of the residual system. Why, they argued, should writers get paid anything for their work after it's released? Studio chiefs who are smart enough to know better even hauled out a tired old maxim attributed to the late MCA titan Lew Wasserman — ''My plumber doesn't charge me every time I flush the toilet'" (this argument of proximity contradicts the standard understanding of compensation for written work used for fields like film, music, books, ...).

* Truthfully, it's hard to look at the facts and not side with the writers, however I do believe they've done a horrible job of getting the story out there. TV news coverage especially, while devoting a lot of time, has been hugely polarized to covering the strike and anecdotes about different TV celebs attached to, rather than the issue. If the writers can educate the public and more the fight to the PR arena, I think their chances of being satisfied go up huge.

* While the New Yorker article a few weeks back indicated "The Wire" has wrapped shooting for its final season, theres no official word I've found about it coming back or not.

*Some other OOT favs and how many eps they have left prepared:
- 30 Rock: 5
- Friday Night Lights: 9
- Heroes: 5
- The Office: 1 (half-hour)
- Prison Break: 6
- Pushing Daisies: 4
- Scrubs: 9

[Dudd]

The Wire's finished and ready to go in January, so I really don't care too much about this strike.

[eviljeff]

there's a thread in the lounge

[Wires]

[ QUOTE ]
there's a thread in the lounge

[/ QUOTE ]

Except that there are a lot more television threads in this forum than in the lounge and I'm sure there would be solid participation from OOT.

Significant events are often posted across different forums (Michael Vick, Dog, etc...)

Ultimately it's up to NT but I would think this thread would have good legs in OOT.

[Wires]

[ QUOTE ]
Truthfully, it's hard to look at the facts and not side with the writers

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Technology has changed to allow the media to be disseminated in new fashions. I don't think it's unreasonable for the writers to request their fair share - it certainly isn't as if they are being unreasonable in their demands (imo).

This is especially true for shows that are so writer driven (30 Rock, The Office). A monkey could write According to Jim - it doesn't matter since people who like the show are probably John Belushi fans (I guess). The Office doesn't go anywhere without their writers.

Edit: Since film writers are compensated better than their television colleagues, I wonder if they are willing to stand firm or if their could be a rift between the two groups.

[Senor Cardgage]

[ QUOTE ]
there's a thread in the lounge

[/ QUOTE ]

Plenty of people never set foot in the lounge and would never see that thread. In the case of topics like this which aren't directly under the heading of a particular forum, I think it's fine for multiple "community" forums to have similar threads.

Anyways, I'm going to miss The Office and Lost most. I really, really hope this gets resolved in a couple months. And I hope when it is resolved, they come up with a sensible plan to actually air the remaining material from these seasons. Maybe have the programs run new eps in the summer? I don't know.

Also, as far as the 8th ep. of Lost ending in a cliff-hanger, I'm pretty sure the same can be said for EVERY ep. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[kipin]

I can't believe how stubborn both parties are being on this.

At first I thought the strike would be a joke because there are so many people who want to write that I figured the networks would just find writers outside of the WGA.

Now I understand the WGA kind of works like the mafia, and any writer who works outside of the WGA gets blackballed.

I think somethings gotta give and the power is in the writer's hands right now. It just sucks because the consumers will end up paying for the writer's higher wages.

And I'm sure the price won't reflect just the extra 1/3 of a penny the writer's want but an extra something else for the executives.

[Yeti]

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/11/c...iter_talks.php

this guy sounds like a retard heh

[CrazyEyez]

[ QUOTE ]
The standard network line is something to the effect of "the profitability and sustainability of these new technologies is unquantifiable at this early stage so we can't restructure the pay scale at this time";

[/ QUOTE ]

What a load of complete crap. Yeah I'm sure networks can't quantify the assload of money they've made on TV->DVD sales.

I'm normally vehemently anti-union but based on the information I'm aware of I'm with the writers on this one.

Perhaps this is apples and oranges, but I liken Alexander to the writers and Jerry/NBC to the networks.

[bottomset]

[ QUOTE ]
The Wire's finished and ready to go in January, so I really don't care too much about this strike.

[/ QUOTE ]

good enough for me as well