And even if I was some anti-Guild New Media Douchebag hater, I still wouldn't watch Stewart or Colbert (of those listed above, the two I was watching before the strike), as most of the funny on those shows is in the scripted segments - Stewart's headlines, Colbert's "The Word".

http://tinyurl.com/2b6lpc

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I'm a little surprised that not only the actors and actresses themselves, but some of the producers and writers seem to frequent this site.

NoodlesHahn, Stewart has never really gone after pundits? I don't know what show you watch, but Stewart goes after pundits with way more venom than even the politicians. Do you remember the whole 'Hannity and Colmes' incident? Or his constant barrage at Robert Novak ('Douchebag of Liberty'). And people forget that Stewart took over the Daily Show and made it popular when Clinton was still in office. No matter who's in the White House, there will be plenty to make fun of.

Going on Strike hurts everybody EXCEPT the actors/writers/producers/owner s. Everybody else has to suffer so that writers can make more money, while they see NOTHING. FUCK THE WRITERS AND THEIR GREED

Now let's say I only wrote for that show and one other, and I busted my ass for four years before moving on.

Now let's say that the same network that cancelled my shows and put me out of work is suddenly making ad revenues off the website broadcasts and getting paid for the DVD box set, but I'm still not seeing a dime.

Is it really so much to ask that the people who wrote the goddamn show get an extra two cents on the dollar in residuals for that? I mean, considering ABC had nothing else to put on their website, which is why they dredged up a show that aired 14 years ago? Y'know, since nobody wants to watch their shitty fucking unscripted show about GODDAMN CELEBRITY IMPERSONATORS, which was hosted by a woman whose last name was (I shit you not) Merkin?

Plain and simple: ABC is profiting AGAIN off the work of those writers, and the writers aren't getting paid. Do you honestly mean to tell me you're all such huge emo pussies that you consider it more important for Jared Leto to get residuals than the people who wrote the show he was on? What, he needed more eyeliner?

Plain and simple: when a huge multinational media conglomerate is making billions of dollars off of somebody else's hard work, those people should get paid for their work--not fucked out of their mortgage payments by a bunch of coked up moneygrubbing rat bastards.

And the whole 'reality' thing is part of a strategy so that if this happens again, the networks won't be able to rely on reality shows so heavily. But it's all part of negotiating. It's true, this issue of jurisdiction is contentious, and it's part of what's driving a wedge between the two sides. But greedy? I don't think so. Once again, it's the AMPTP who has walked away from negotiations. Not the writers. Which is why they've filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board to get them to return to the table.

'venom' - I'm glad you support the writers. It's just that this erroneous 'six-figure salary' thing is what leads to all the uninformed, ignorant and ridiculous statements I've seen here and elsewhere, that writers are being 'greedy.' Like, say, those of DJSpoonfed. I won't even go into every dumb statement in his post. But one - "Going on Strike hurts everybody EXCEPT the actors/writers/producers/owner s" is especially ridiculous when writers are not working, not making money, and are losing jobs. They'd much rather be working and supporting their families, I think. But they've acknowledged that this is an important fight that affects members of every Hollywood union. Those with means (certain actors and writers) have actually raised money and participated in charity drives to help staff who are out of work (not just writers). It may be a drop in the bucket, but it's a heck of a lot more than the producers are doing. Anyway, you gotta hand it to a guy who complains about greed and then admits he pirates everything.

and another thing about that animation issue. I keep on reading in blogs that animation writers DO want to be covered by WGA benefits, because their own union sucks. So it's not like the WGA is strongarming them into joining.

IOW, we have yet to see a deal with a ton of zeroes on it for any reality show to go into second-run syndication. And once everyone knows who won Survivor, nobody cares. Okay, and in the case of Survivor, fewer and fewer viewers are caring anyway anymore.

The other problem with reality tv is that with only a small handful of exceptions like Survivor or American Idol, a successful reality tv show also has on averager a much shorter lifespan.

Ask NBC if they'd really swap their L&Os for Idol, or if CBS would lose their CSI shows before they'd drop Survivor and the Amazing Race. Spike TV dropped big bucks on CSI and Star Trek syndication rights, not Survivor or even Fear Factor.

Oh, and it's not the WGA who's mucking the pool. Verrone is ready and willing to negotiate whenever Nick Counter decides to come back to the table. And this isn't about money for the AMPTP. It never was. If it were, they would have acceded to the WGA positions a couple of months ago. They know how to crunch their numbers, and they've said they've already lost more than what the writers are asking for over the next three years (reference the MPAA report to the Los Angeles City Council on Friday).

There are egos involved, to be sure. AMPTP negotiator Nick Counter is the dude who got the great deal on DVD with the writers and actors, and he's determined to give nothing on the Internet. This is also Counter's last major negotiation cycle (writers now, actors in about six months) before he retires, and he wants to maintain his anti-union legacy.

Counter may have expected the WGA to buckle like in '88, but this is a very different, far more energized and unified union. Also, SAG knows that the WGA's fight is SAG's fight, and we're (I pay SAG dues) 100% behind them.

In 1988, the writers didn't know the value of movies on VHS (later DVD), let alone the value of television series. This time, the feature and TV writers are well aware that they're all doing essentially the same thing for the studios and the networks - producing content. Just as film and TV actors have relaxed a lot about going back and forth and working in both avenues, so have the writers.

In short, it ain't the writers denying you your fix of Lost or Heroes or 24 or whatever you're into. It's the AMPTP.

I support the writers strike, but everyone else has to eat, pay their bills and support their families. The writers will get more leverage though once SAG goes on strike -- and Letterman on the air being a mouth-piece for the writers isn't a bad thing.

---GIVE THE COSTUME DESIGNERS THEIR RESIDUALS!!---

possibly because that is not their responsibility???

possibly because the AMPTP backed them into a corner???

as to who's shooting themselves in the foot, the studios and tv networks have already lost more money on this strike than what the writers are asking for the next three-year contract.

the barriers to entry into the tv networks' game are falling fast. within five years, so many people will have their big screens directly connected to the Internet that anyone with a few investors and a vision will be able to start their own web portal through which they deliver original high quality scripted serialized dramatic and comedic video programming - aka what we now recognize as a tv network.

great writers will be able to find work in those places, or get all entrepreneurial and start their own portals. while they look rich and powerful and they're being quite stubborn right now, it's the networks and studios that are floundering and suffering an identity crisis and simply not recognizing that in a entertainment world with far lower barriers to entry, good relations with creative talent will be the difference between relevance in twenty years, or being dumped like an old 8-track audio player.

So, who needs Oscars???

Pee-hole.\