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Dave’s Writers Coming Back?? Letterman’s Worldwide Pants Seeking Separate WGA Deal!!
I am – Hercules!!
It looks like David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants could be the first to break away from the AMPTP to strike a deal with the writers’ guild that could put CBS’ “The Late Show” and “The Late Late Show” back in production.
From Monday morning’s Variety:
Letterman’s production banner owns the CBS latenighters “Late Show With David Letterman” and “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” and the company confirmed Saturday that it is seeking an interim agreement, separate from CBS, that could put the shows back into active production early next month.
A much better tactic, perhaps, than the one employed by Carson Daly, who rushed NBC’s “Last Call” talk show back into production without WGA writers. A report from an eyewitness and longtime AICN contributor:
Last night a group of striking writers, including a couple of recognizable names, infiltrated a taping of “Last Call With Carson Daly.” The program was wrapping up the final two episodes of the season before going dark for the rest of the year.
During an interview with former NFL great Jerry Rice, a writer pretending to be an audience member heckled Daly, claiming he “needed a writer” to ask better questions. Production assistants and NBC security swooped upon the scribe and escorted him, without resistance, from the building.
A clearly disconcerted Daly asked whether Rice would be willing to start the interview over again, which he did.
After reintroducing Rice to the audience, who replicated their cheers, another incognito writer stood up and loudly declared: “I feel so bad for the striking writers! Can I please leave?” The scribe also pointed out Daly’s use of cue cards, plaintively asking who was writing the show now.
NBC security, still expelling the first troublemaker, instantly scrambled back into the studio, then hurriedly ejected three more.
Daly, visibly rattled, appropriately enough had no witty impromptu comments to offer the perplexed audience. Rice was also addled, audibly asking: “What’s going on?” A tense Daly responded with a nod, only offering: “I know what this is about.”
After that, someone associated with the production took the stage and declared: “Anyone else interrupting the show will be prosecuted.” This same person also advised “any other striking writers” in the crowd to “leave now.”
Over twenty people scattered throughout the stands rose and dutifully shuffled out. The audience gasped at this. Daly visibly paled.
Ironically, one of this departing group had been awarded a prize moments earlier for being “such a great audience member.” The prize was a gift certificate to El Pollo Loco.
Moments later, a traumatized Daly asked Rice whether he’d “mind starting the interview again.”
The AMPTP walked away from talks with the WGA last week after reportedly offering the WGA a “take it or leave it” deal that the WGA did not take.
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During an interview with former NFL great Jerry Rice, a writer pretending to be an audience member heckled Daly, claiming he “needed a writer” to ask better questions. Production assistants and NBC security swooped upon the scribe and escorted him, without resistance, from the building.
A clearly disconcerted Daly asked whether Rice would be willing to start the interview over again, which he did.
After reintroducing Rice to the audience, who replicated their cheers, another incognito writer stood up and loudly declared: “I feel so bad for the striking writers! Can I please leave?” The scribe also pointed out Daly’s use of cue cards, plaintively asking who was writing the show now.
NBC security, still expelling the first troublemaker, instantly scrambled back into the studio, then hurriedly ejected three more.
Daly, visibly rattled, appropriately enough had no witty impromptu comments to offer the perplexed audience. Rice was also addled, audibly asking: “What’s going on?” A tense Daly responded with a nod, only offering: “I know what this is about.”
After that, someone associated with the production took the stage and declared: “Anyone else interrupting the show will be prosecuted.” This same person also advised “any other striking writers” in the crowd to “leave now.”
Over twenty people scattered throughout the stands rose and dutifully shuffled out. The audience gasped at this. Daly visibly paled.
Ironically, one of this departing group had been awarded a prize moments earlier for being “such a great audience member.” The prize was a gift certificate to El Pollo Loco.
Moments later, a traumatized Daly asked Rice whether he’d “mind starting the interview again.”
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First? And am I the only one who remembered that the Extras Christmas Special was tonight?
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Redefining "supertool" for yet another generation.
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I'd rather suffer an anal prolapse than watch this douche interview anyone. On a side note, I bet about only 2% of the people who read this site have a clue who Jerry Rice is.
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Carson Daily? Are there that many TRL fans out there? This strike needs a solution, and soon. Too many wasted weeks have gone by, and now, it looks like there will be some caving. I just read that certain WGA strikers are meeting with venture capitalists to create a third-path into intertube entertainment partnerships excluding the traditional Hollywood methods. That might/might not work, but this isn't the time for this kind of bullshit. Xmas and New Years are only a few weeks off. To both sides: Get this goddammned strike resolved before everybody forgets about you.
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the guild is trying to capitalize on the strike and get dominion over reality and animation...which belongs to another guild. so basically they're trying to steal control from fellow people in the industry. fuck that, stick to why you went on strike in the first place.
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Of course we know Jerry Rice is... he's the guy who could always complete the onsides kick in Techmo-Bowl.
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They're trying get dominion over reality? Wow, that does sound pretty damn evil.
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You make enough money. I think of all the Starbucks staff that have to put up with your shit (you the writers) and your whining you ain't rich enough for writing crap like Big Bang Theory or Gossip Girl. Get back to work asswhipes
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Yeah, I'd walk the picket line too, so I could say I'm a striking writer rather than having to admit I write for Carson Daly.
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My faith in humanity has been restored a little this night...
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Dec 16, 2007 11:13:22 PM CST
I support George Lucas raping my BluRay, and here's why...
by maxwell's hammer
I would have killed to have been in that audience. Sounded pretty rad.
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"Hi, I'm Carson Daly and I'm a giant tool."
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Hollywood writers deserve to come out of all this with a fair deal, but is heckling carson daly the best way to get public support? Seems like he was faced with the choice of going back to work or letting his staff get laid off (during the holidays no less). It's an impossible position for him.
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I read an article that I guess I can't repost here (that being plagiarism and all) that says they're trying to organize a picket outside WWE Headquarters, and let me be the first to say that is the most dumbass move I have ever heard of. Here's three reasons why.
1) Writers for WWE programming aren't don't have the same benefits and standards as the WGA writers because of a loophole in which Raw, Smackdown, ECW, pay per views and tv specials all still fall under the sports program format, even though they are scripted and choreographed.
2) Using scare tactics to try and steal writers away from WWE will not make the wrestlers miserable or unable to compete by any means, because the wrestlers don't even want writers around. You have to understand writers are still a new asset to professional wrestling, as wrestlers used to craft their own interviews based on gut feeling and their own personas. They prefer this method to the cold, lifeless script they are handed these days. They also enjoyed being able to feel out the crowd to determine where an angle (slang for wrestling storyline) was going.
3) Vince McMahon doesn't respond well to threats, scare tactics or protests. In fact, he thrives on those things. The only thing picketing will buy them are segments on Monday Night Raw with DX and Stonecold Steve Austin verbally raping and parodying them. We're talking about a man who, after the Benoit tragedy, called out Congress live on air and said that when this congressional hearing business is over, it will end just like before, with Congress owing him money. He also has access to some of the best attorneys in the country. His people can keep lawsuits and other legal issues tied up in court for years.
If they're serious in pursuing this, then the WGA doesn't understand the wrestling business, much like most of Mainstream America. But if they choose to tangle with McMahon, they will learn this. -
Dec 17, 2007 12:34:09 AM CST
Will the gentleman with the El Pollo Loco gift certificate pleas
by dropjohnson
Wait, what's going on? Can we start the talkback over? I can't see the cue card. *purges into empty BK cup behind desk during one-shot of guest*
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Writing on that show was so crappy in the first place no one would notice the absence of writer's if they weren't sitting in the audience telling everyone else about the strike.
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You crossed a picket line in one of the most publicized strikes in recent times, dumbass. I only wished Stewart and Colbert can bypass the AMPTP and do their own thing. I couldn't care less about the rest of the tv season, but to have the Daily Show and Colbert Report down in the midst of primary season is criminal. Who else is going to call the windbag politicians (and the media that covers them) on their bullshit?
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Sweet! Leave it to Dave to go in through the backdoor!
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the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPTP
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They could negotiate with each studio separately, but the fear is that this could cause rifts among alliances throughout the industry -- and encourage the other unions (the SAG and DGA) to do the same thing, if these unions feel it's necessarily. There have been rumblings that it is NBC/Universal and CBS who are holding things up (and these are the studios whose television networks have not been doing so well). My prediction is that if there is no significant movement in resolving this strike by the end of January, then the WGA will negotiate separately with Fox, Disney/ABC, Warner Bros, and any individual production company that wants to sign with the WGA's agreement. This strategy would effectively shut out NBC/Universal and CBS. This would definitely affect the fates of Battlestar Galactica and Heroes.
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Then they shouldn't be striking in the first damn place. They're risking guaranteed money which means guaranteed food for their kids in order to make a statement??? You should call child support on their asses!
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...but hassling Carson Daly? Really? Please show some class.
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I commented on it in the Who talkback due to David Tennant's amusing cameo. That said, there haven't been mention of a number of shows lately (30 Rock's last new episode was last Thursday, for example). I don't know if it's to show some sort of solidarity with the writers or something, but I miss the funny talkbacks. I really do.
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Are correct. The producers are wrong. Daly crossed the picket line. What he (Daly) did was classless.
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writer's in her audience would own. i might actually watch that pos show for one episode. no i wouldnt. but at least i'd read about the protest.
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The strike is still on? Do many people even know that??? For that matter, does anyone actually give a shit anymore?I have to say at this point in time, I've actually lost A LOT of interest in TV, and I had already come to the conclusion that most of the movies that Hollywood churns out these days are utter shit, too. And as evidenced by the dramatic drops in ratings of network TV this year...as well as a generally soft box office...I think I speak for A LOT of people who are actually enjoying getting AWAY from the TV or the theaters and who have found all-new ways to spend our free time.So here's some bad news for you writers out on the strike line: we're in no rush to see you to come back. In fact, many of you SHOULDN'T come back for being the utterly talentless HACKS that you are. When it comes to most of these writers -- certainly the current crop working in TV -- I'm reminded of the old joke of the egotistical person who comes barging through the door, thumping his chest in complete arrogance, and who loudly proclaims, "I'm back!"...at which point another person simply responds, "Were you gone???"Seriously, don't hurry back on our account. Take all the time you want to stay away from your keyboards. And I'm especially looking at you, Staff Writers for THE BIONIC WOMAN...
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Carson Daly may be annoying and untalented, but he's not a member of the WGA and by producing his show he's not breaking the picket line. Yeah, it sucks NBC essentially strong armed him into coming back on the air, but the fact that by being on the air his technical staff gets paid makes him more sympathetic than the writers on this one.
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What a mind numbed wimp. The show must go on!!
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Carson to lay off his staff putting even more people out of work that will in now way benefit from the strike that they are on? Yeah, we get it, the writers are striking and drinking coffee and Carson daly is a tool, but dont do whatever you can to put even more people out of work.
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At least one person in the TV industry has enough balls to stand up to the writers. Those first two audience members should be prosecuted if possible. Why do people on strike always act like they're 10 years old. Grow the fuck up like the rest of us.
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I'm sick and tired of the way the Guild has behaved during this strike. I hope the studios stick it out and destroy this fucking union.
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...but I do it from the comfort of my bed. To know people are heckling in person makes me want to smile. Can't stand the show.
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...and we start getting hit with a bunch of reality shit to fill the vacant slots in the lineups, hopefully we'll see this strike situation resolved pretty quickly.
Until then, L O S T and Jericho will be a couple of the only new original scripted shows that we're gonna see anytime soon.
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What happens to the studios when they "win" and the creative people decide to not come back at all and release shows as downloads, OnDemand, DVDs, streams on a new website, or completely on their own?
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Dec 17, 2007 11:54:12 AM CST
“Anyone else interrupting the show will be prosecuted.”
by supertoyslast
I wonder what a heckler would be prosecuted for? Creating a public disturbance? Of course, here in the UK if someone heckles during a Labour Party Conference, they are arrested under anti-terrorism legislation.
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It is amazing to see some people on here supporting the corporations. The big news is that Leno and O'Brien are going to taping new episodes in January http://tinyurl.com/367jhp
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As someone else said, his show is not a union show, so he's not breaking the line. That being said, it's been widely reported he only came back because the network was going to cancel his show if he didn't keep going. I don't give a crap about Carson... rag on him for not having talent if you want, but don't rag on him for the strike mess -- he's not in control of the situation he's in. Unless you somehow think that because the WGA strikes, it's justified that his show gets cancelled (whether it's justified otherwise is another thing altogether).
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I dont think its so much people supporting the corporations, but I do think its really shitty that striking writers tried to heckle someone who is one of the only people keeping below the line people employed.
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It's time to get over "the evil corporations". The tactics used by the WGA have been disgusting, and when the average salary is a cool quarter million I have a hard find finding sympathy for a union that tries so hard to keep young writers out.
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It doesn't matter whether or note Daly is in the Union. You stand behind your fellow workers when there is a strike. Producers make millions. The writers, the people who actually put words in the mouths of hosts like Daly, deserve a piece of the pie. Writers write the words that all actors, hosts, and anchors speak. They deserve what they are asking for.
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Yeah you're right, they do deserve more. But they ant go around acting like martyrs or childish jerks when the studios find ways around their strike.
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"You stand behind your fellow workers when there is a strike." And if you think that your "fellow workers" (from a union you are not a part of, mind you) are acting like childish gits? Not only is it completely within Daly's right to bring back his show (crappy as it may or may not be, I don't care enough to watch and find out), it is also within his, and anyone else's, right to call the WGA on their childish behavior. I'm just sad that Daly isn't publicly denouncing the WGA for this. This whole "if you don't support the writers, you're on the wrong side" idea, to people that aren't within their union, is asinine. Everyone's free to make up their mind on who's points they believe to be valid. This is *not* a cut and dry "one side right, one side wrong" issue.
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Dec 17, 2007 1:48:50 PM CST
"You stand behind your fellow workers when there is a strike"
by happybunni
Uh.. The writers don't seem to follow that code of ethics, so why should anyone else? Do you know how many people are out of work because the writers have forced the shows to stop, so they should get better pay? The writers at least get strike pay, with hopes of a raise, everyone else just gets fired.. Hopefully they all found new jobs by now, if not I feel for them and their families this Christmas. Way to go writers, you guys are selfish.
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I am talking about the designers, the electricians, the computer people, the set builders, the assistants, the logistics people, the buyers/sellers, the camera crew, the sound people, there are a hell of alot of people out of work because of this strike and the writers honestly do not seem to give a second thought about anyone but theirselves.
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Not only do they not seem to give a second thought about anyone but themselves, they also seem to expect those adversely affected (those people you mentioned who are getting fired included) to actually support them and be on their side. "Oh hey, I'm only out of a job, but hey, go writers, you guys are right because you make a lot of noise! I hope you get a better deal while I go find a new job! Thanks!"
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Sorry - one of my grammatical pet peeves.
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Please provide your source on that one. I'm extremely skeptical of that.
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Seen it listed in multiple stories on Variety, E! and several other sites following the strike.
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Heckling Carson Daly? Give me a break. The strike talks broke when the WGA insisted on sympathy strike measures and demanded to bring reality and animation writers under their wing. What does that have to do with internet residuals? Enough of this "everyone needs to support the writers" stuff. The rest of the crew need to eat and they have gone in solidarity long enough. It's asinine for the WGA to demand everyone follow in a line when they are not part of their union, nor will they reap any benefits of this. I support the writers to get internet residuals and the compensation, but as far as increasing the power of the WGA? Sorry, you are overstepping. They need to drop the bullshit, get back to the table and negotiate a settlement. The WGA is acting like prima donnas.
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I guess to whoever thought writers did what they did for the love of it was dead wrong. They clearly love their salaries more than their fans. They should have taken the first deal, it was way better than what they had, I did support them but how they slapped away that deal was stupid and greedy. Producers are greedy, it's the way it's always been and always will be, WELCOME TO SHOW BUSINESS, think they would have figured that out by now? Fuck, stop ruining your own shows and I have no sympathy for those writers whose new shows get cancelled in their first season because of this because they brought it on themselves.
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Yep, Conan and Leno will be back in January, and they arn't bringing their writers with them. Thank goodness, hopefully more shows can start doing this and put the WGA in its place.
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is to just sit back and let the WGA writers keep painting themselves in a bad picture. There's already been the constant reports of hundreds of staffing jobs cut because of the strike, there's the strike pay that the writer are benefiting from while their staffing counterparts receive nothing, there's the average amount of money that these WGA writers make on an annual basis that doesn't necessarily make things sympathetic to their cause, and now there's this stuff going on of the writers heckling shows that aren't even in WGA affiliated. Keep making it easier for the studios to look better and better writers. And to whoever mentioned earlier about the WGA keeping young and new writers out, you're absolutely correct. The WGA is a self-serving union that overstaffs their own writers into every TV and movie production out there so that their members keep getting the jobs, keep getting the money, and keep new and young writers from taking any of their work and offering to do it for less money.
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If you keep reading articles, particularly ones that analyze the strike talks, you'll find that the AMPTP has been coming up with figures like that, but never supply any statistics to back up where their figures are coming from. They've been asked numerous times where that particular salary average came from, and no proof of that statistic has been forthcoming. Whatever people may or may not think about the writers (I'm a supporter of the writers, myself), independent journalists have for a while been verifying that the AMPTP is making unsubstantiated claims in their press releases.
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Look, BK, Lawblog, and other studio plants:
The writers are fighting for any piece of the new media pie; the AMPTP doesn't even want to talk at all because they can save money inundating us with reality crap; why don't they use the Carlton Cuse Lost webisode proposal http://tinyurl.com/389v3n as a basis for negotiations and stop this emotional tirade back and forth?
As a matter of fact, you guys supporting the studios should realize that the MEDIAN pay for writers is $30 grand; of course, if you average the pay of the famous guys who get the sometimes overpaid checks with the poor ones, you'll get a high average.
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Dec 17, 2007 4:31:47 PM CST
So writers acting like disruptive douches is heroic or something
by tallboy66
I realize it's Carson Friggin Daly, but, come on? That's just really lame.
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It's not only the studios making up the numbers. How can you realy blindly support the WGA when ther head negotiator skips a meeting to attend a benefit concert prompting the studios to walk out of talks. Then the WGA files a complaint that the studios are not negotiating in good faith.
Face it, the WGA is an outdated piece of crap, and after this strike is resolved they need to take a serious look at their leadership. -
They weren't writers, they just realized that this was a way to get the hell out of "The Carson Daly Show" taping.
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Well corporate shills get paid, no wonder there's so many. Probably a few poor sods who don't realize the news they watch is put out by the same companies as the AMPTP.
What I think bewilders some is the notion that the writers have been working for years on a bad deal, but the situation is changing so the bad deal is getting to where they won't be able to pay the bills. The "average" writer has never sold a script. Then you have thousands of writers who sell occasionally. In between they live on residuals - the old style is going away and the new style isn't in the deal.
I'm not a writer and the industry slowdown hurts my prospects, yet I support the WGA 100%. The industry is caving in over too much greed, and I'd measure the writers' greed against the producers' any day. Most writers don't even own a condo. Sound like any producers you know? -
Dec 17, 2007 5:10:58 PM CST
There's some asshole writers outside my building in the morning
by novaman5000
And they do everything they can to block traffic and make getting into the lot a nightmare every morning. I get that you guys just want your dues, but as soon as you start being assholes to people whose only crime is that they also work for the studio you're fighting with, then you begin to lose my support. Grow the fuck up. As much as I hate Carson Daly, these writers were douchebags, plain and simple.
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It's far from blind support. How can you support the AMPTP when they end talks because the WGA refuses to concede points without receiving concessions in return? Or when they argue that there shouldn't be an objective third-party mediator present? All you have to do is read the statements issued by the WGA and AMPTP--the WGA statements lay out the position and the current offer on the table, while the AMPTP statement spends its entire time attacking the writers and screaming about how greedy they are. I always trust the people who stick to the facts. And your response to me shows mistakes by the WGA, but not blatant manipulation of the hard data, which is exactly the kind of questionable behavior by the producers that should make everyone question their claims about the WGA.
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So THIS is what the strike has now laughably come to. These morons actually now think that by going to a taping that the average person has ALSO come to see (the type oftaping where the seats are routinely filled by out-of-staters who just wanted to see a Hollywood show being filmed while they were out here in LA on vacation) and by acting like total assholes AT the taping, that THAT is somehow going to gain them public support.Riiiiight. Because after all...as we all know from our own personal experiences whenever anything like THAT has ever happened in our own lives...the average person just LOVES IT when an event that they've gone out of their way to see gets completely ruined by a loud mouthed jerk trying to cause a disruption. Good one, moron writer. People just love THAT attention-seeking tactic. Great battle plan once again, WGA! (Insert mocking eye roll here...)But as so many others have noted here, you really DO have to give Carson Daly a break. He really IS caught between a rock and a hard place and is facing the same no-win situation that all of Hollywood is facing now: namely, do you put EVERYONE out of work -- especially at Christmas or for even the next few foreseeable months to come -- simply because the writers have a gripe? Should EVERYONE...even NON-union people and other creative workers in the industry who DON'T get residuals AT ALL and who WON’T benefit one tiny bit from the strike or its outcome be forced to lose their entire income, too?Seriously, I have something to say -- FUCK YOU, WGA. Fuck you right up your greedy shit stained ass. As an LA resident, I am now up to 3 neighbors in just my apartment building alone –- as well as a few other friends on the outside -- who have actually been told that IF the strike isn't settled the week or so after New Year's that they're going to be let go. That’s totally let go. NOT "go home and sit it out and we’ll maile you a check", but they will actually LOSE THEIR JOBS COMPLETELY because post-production companies have now started to lay people off due to a complete stoppage of post-production materials which their jobs and their trades depended on.But, hey, I'm sure all the pro-union WGA butt kissers will now start posting away to tell the rest of us big dumb apes how misguided we are about unions in general -- that we have no respect for labor history going all the way back to the coal mining days because somehow the hazards of old style wooden mine shafts has something to do with rich, pampered, prime studio lot office crybabies. And then, in the biggest HYPOCRITICAL CROCK of all, they'll likewise say that IF we don't support the writers, then it's clear that WE don't care about the "common working man" and his plight -- even though the "common working man" is EXACTLY who is losing their job right now. And best of all they'll then actually have the gall to tell us it's actually a GOOD THING on behalf of the poor, poor struggling writers -- you know, like the goons at the TONIGHT SHOW who pull down an exceedingly healthy 6 figure salary for simply churning out crappy jokes -- that totally innocent people are now losing their fucking CAREERS and full-time JOBS over this. Because, hey, if that's what it takes for the writers to get their money, so be it. Everyone else is disposable. Since no one else involved in the creation of a movie or TV show didn't actually write the show, that means to the WGA that no one else ever contributed anything worthwhile to the creation OF the final movie/show. So fuck 'em. Let ‘em all lose their jobs.Who cares about NON-union workers who aren’t even a part of this fight making rent or being able to feed their newborn baby? Who cares about the lowly production worker who is a Daily Hire and who was even lucky to get 2 days work per week -- and as a result struggles every month to make his own mortgage payment as well. Fuck ‘em all. So long as the guys who ALREADY made a MILLION bucks from writing TRANSFORMERS (between upfront fees and a nice little residual scheme that was ALREADY in place) can now milk ANOTHER few hundred grand out of the system, THAT’S all that matters.So, no prob. I'm sure my neighbors won't mind working at Target for minimum wage, all so the totally closed door, nepotistic hiring practice, WGA all-boys club can become an even BETTER PAYING and an even TIGHTER closed door, nepotistic hiring practice, all-boys club. And so they can make an even bigger land grab for themselves, since they're now trying to bring other things under their self-controlling "we want to lock out everyone else" Union umbrella -- which were issues that weren’t even a part of this strike to begin with.Which is the REAL ugly truth that this strike has revealed, and which is where the writers lost me and pretty much the majority of people out there. Because everyone realized this was ONLY about the money and ONLY about the rich wanting to get richer. It’s the overly spoiled and clueless rich fighting the overly spoiled and clueless rich. And again as others have noted, it's pretty damn telling this time around that the writers ONLY care about increasing THEIR residuals, and they don't give a shit about anyone else in the creative process. They don't give a shit about other union personnel getting better residuals too -- and, hell, they CERTAINLY don't care if NON-union people get any residuals AT ALL to compensate them for their contributions either.Nope, this is a true "I got mine, you get yours" kind of strike -- which is EXACTLY the type of money-grubbing unionized work stoppage that makes the average person turn their back on the strikers completely. Hence why this strike has garnered next to zero public interest or support overall. And that's why this strike is failing so badly and the studios are smart to just ride it out till after the New Year starts, at which point they WILL start hiring all-new writers to restaff their productions, much like Reagan as President once infamously told the Air Traffic controllers "Hey, you don't want to work? Fine. I'll just go hire all-new people who DO."And trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I have a friend with ties to the legal departments of two of the major studios here in town and he told me their attorneys are already preparing the paperwork and contracts that they'll be offering new, non-union people to acquire their writing services or to buy their scripts. And if the WGA wants to try and play hardball by doing an end-run around the Producers by saying "We're now going to negotiate with the production companies or networks on a show by show basis to try and put the squeeze on you", the Producers and Studios have already decided that finding all-new writers is an equally fair end-run as well. And trust me, once you open THAT flood gate this is OVER in a very ugly way. Because what the WGA has always failed to take into account is just how many would-be up and coming writers would instantly cross the line in a heartbeat to simply get their first big sale or to simply take the money and run. Hey, I've used this analogy before and I'll use it again -- if you're stacking beans at the supermarket OR you're slugging it out at your crappy copywriting job with dreams of one day seeing your script produced, if a studio offers you thousands of dollars for it now...especially with a recession looming on the horizon...are you REALLY going to turn their money down?
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Of course, if you simply want proof that demonstrates JUST how utterly retarded these writers have become while they're out on the strike line...and if you want to see JUST how far they have their egotistical heads up their own asses...you have to look no further than the mentally challenged Poster Boy who heckled Carson Daly by standing up and declaring, "Maybe you need writers to ask better questions."Are you kidding me? What a total DOLT. Yeah, good point you made there, moron. Because as we all know, BEFORE the strike began, those amazingly talented WGA writers at THE CARSON DALY SHOW were turning out SUCH scintillating interview questions and they were really earning their big buck paychecks. I mean, you all remember how THE CARSON DALY SHOW -- pre-strike and back when it was written by that crackerjack WGA unionized staff -- was doing SUCH a tremendous job of creating truly insightful questions for Carson to ask each night and how their writing work was renowned throughout the industry and the nation. Why, back before the strike began, Carson Daly's pre-written union-created interview questions were regarded right up there alongside the likes of Ed Murrow when he was trying to get to the bottom of the latest news story (insert another mocking eye roll here...)Talk about a bunch of talentless hacks being TOTALLY deluded about their so-called writing skills. So with that in mind, here's a late breaking news flash to the writers still out on the strike line. Here's why your strike is in such seriously bad shape...(1) The general public at large (middle America, if you will) STILL thinks you're a bunch of spoiled brat, whiny cry-babies who should be thankful you even have the incredibly glamorous and cushy jobs that you do -- certainly when your jobs are compared to the types of jobs that the average hard working American has to put up with to bring home their own weekly paycheck...(2) Again, compared to the average hard working American, the public also still thinks you're VASTLY OVERPAID for producing the sheer crap and schlock that you do, which is why you've also failed to get any kind of major support behind you...(3) And in fact, as the winds of a potential recession begin to blow even harder now, and as people are more sympathetic to the plight of their neighbors or others financially (certainly as home foreclosures reach another all-new high), you REALLY lost the support of the general public once you put so many innocent NON-union and even fellow union workers out of work completely and cost them THEIR entire livelihoods, too. Hey, nothing breeds sympathy for a strike like using the "shoot for maximum damage" machine gun approach of taking out EVERYONE ELSE around you, in a Pyrrhic rage, so that you send the baby-like message that if you don't get YOUR way then NO ONE will survive...(4) And worst of all, as if the writers could have slit their own throats more, as more shows go into reruns and as people spend less time in front of the boob tube...that is, as they head back to reading books or surfing the Internet or even spend more time just talking to fellow human beings...the strike has snapped the majority of viewers awake and made them realize just how SHITTY current movies and TV actually are. So the strikers failed to realize another core concept: never let the companies or the public realize just how disposable or easily replaceable you actually are.So here's what the strike has REALLY made people realize: the strike has made the average viewer realize just how much there really needs to be a major weeding at the WGA itself and at the networks and the studios. That a lot of these writers SHOULD be canned and they SHOULD be out on the street looking for another profession because they utterly suck ass as writers. In short, before these goons put one more innocent person out of work, most of America would like to see many of them gone instead. Which is certainly the core sign of staging a piss poor strike. Namely, when people would rather see you disappear instead.In fact, I've made this joke before, but it's still 100% true: If the strike keeps the writing staff of THE BIONIC WOMAN from EVER touching a keyboard again, then I hope this strike lasts a few more YEARS because that could only be a benefit to our society as a whole. And I’m sure we could all start thinking of shows or their hack-like writing staffs that SHOULD be sent home for the simple benefit of the art form alone...
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You should be on youtube taking it to wgaamerica and their little propaganda videos. I can't do it alone and no one will listen to reason.
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just like he did in 88 stick a fork in the writer's this strike is done.
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They know how to make art bigger than it would be on its own. If the writers had their way, everything would be pretentious indy film. You honestly think Cloverfield is going to be high art? Or Transformers? Or Dragonball: The Movie? Nope. It's the STUDIOS who put those deals together.
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And where the hell are the singing cats, Dave?
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Way to jump on the bandwagon of saying writers are overpaid as it is, just because they make more than you.
It has nothing to do with what is 'deserved'. Bill Gates doesn't 'deserve' hundreds of billions of dollars in contrast to the measly pay packet of a life-saving doctor. But that's what his industry is worth.
Now, when you start to look at film and television budgets, there's a lot of money going through these things -- millions upon millions upon millions. And the writer gets a very small slice of that when the show would not exist were it not for writers.
I know film and television is a collaborative effort, blah blah blah -- but it's the one job, right at the beginning of the process, that really can't be dispensed with. Who is going to write film and TV if there are no writers?
You can pick up a 16mm camera and some equipment and make a feature film with one person, if you desire, and as Robert Rodriguez proved. But who makes a feature film without a script? Nobody.
So, the writers back down because of assholes like you, and they go back to work. In 10 years, there is no hard copy media anymore...everything is streamed over the internet.
Currently, writers get a few cents for every DVD sold of their work, and some residuals for when their shows and movies enter syndication. Sounds fair to me.
But if they accept the current shitty agreement for new media, they get nothing when the move takes place to non-physical media. Not even a few cents.
The WGA are being stubborn to a degree, but they are ensuring the future of a writer's right to receive due compensation when money is made from their work.
You can sure as fuck bet that Tom Cruise will still get his $2 per viewing when new media is introduced mainstream.
A deal should be struck where writer's get a percentage of every use of their work IF it makes money. If it doesn't make any money, then there's no percentage to divide up. End of story.
To you, writers are overpaid. But in the high profit industry they work in, they are still ranked rather low on the pay scale. And that needs to change. -
Too bad the writers didn't research ahead of time; they might have realized there is about zero chance of this being actionable. I wish they had stuck it out and derailed the entire show.
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To all the production staffers, all the crew, camermen, makeup, effects teams, composers, assistants, all of you who are behind the scenes and make sure the wheels turn each and every day, who are also out of work due to the writer's strike, who now are wondering how to pay the rent, how to make sure your kids have a nice Christmas, how to make the car payment this month, TRY to have a nice Christmas and you can thank the WGA when you have to take a second mortgage or find a new lower paying job, or maybe two jobs, just to make ends meet because the greedy fucks at WGA want more more more. Oh - and the writers who DIDN'T want to go on strike...who want to WORK...? How can they pay their WGA dues?
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Dec 20, 2007 12:38:14 PM CST
According to some old coalminer's song, I have to pick a side
by sick fixx
So, if I have to choose, I would choose to be a lousy scab than be a man. Instead of being a union man, I'd be a thug for J.H. Blair. That's which side I'm on.
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Well Said.
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Whether you agree or disagree, the sad truth is that the underdogs of the production are really getting the screw here. Both sides need to kiss and make up.
I miss the 1990's.
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