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- unfettered one
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- Registered: 2006-08-31
- Posts: 138
Topic: STRIKE!!!
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 — During the last Hollywood writers strike, in 1988, David Letterman gave a blunt assessment of the quality of his show. “We have nothing to do, the writers aren’t here,” he intoned at the opening of one show. “So a guy’s gonna come in and shave me. Fifty-five minutes, ladies and gentlemen! Fifty-five minutes to go!” Viewers may want to brace themselves for a lot of similarly jury-rigged entertainment if writers and producers do not come to an agreement on a new contract by the end of the month. A strike by the Writers Guild of America, which could begin as soon as Nov. 1, would cut a ragged edge across the entertainment industry, with television and movies affected in different ways. Depending on the timing and length of a strike, some television shows would grind along just fine, while others would jerk to a halt. “The Simpsons” is safe, for instance, but light a candle for “Lost.” And reality shows, whose writers are nonunion, will become even more of a television staple than they are now. Meanwhile, moviegoers would not feel any immediate impact, because studios work a year or more in advance and have been stockpiling scripts to shoot in case writers walk the picket line. But some big franchise films, like the “Transformers” sequel, are likely to be delayed. And fans could suffer later on, as films pushed earlier into production surface with poor results in 2009. “Any time you rush movies, you disrupt the rhythm, and I can promise you the result isn’t as good,” said John Davis, a producer of “Norbit,” “I, Robot” and other movies. If a work stoppage lasts for just a few days or even a few weeks, there would be relatively little impact on the overall entertainment pipeline, producers say. Networks have between four and five episodes for many prime-time shows ready to go, while studios are wrapping and rushing into production already written movies that are not scheduled to arrive in theaters until the end of 2008 and into 2009. But one sliver of the business in particular faces immediate disruption. Late-night shows from “Late Show With David Letterman” on CBS to “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central are produced daily, with writers massaging the news of the day into comedic segments and monologues. For a time, fans should expect to see repeat episodes, as if the hosts had departed on some kind of joint vacation, networks say. In the longer term, hosts like Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” could just wing it, as Mr. Letterman and Johnny Carson did after several months of reruns in 1988. (At one point during that five-month industrywide strike, Mr. Carson filled time by looking at snapshots brought in by Ed McMahon.) Networks say some late-night hosts could return to work without violating guild strike rules: while contracts vary, a performer writing for himself is covered by a separate agreement with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. A spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East said hosts could not write any more material than they personally handled pre-strike. Daytime shows would suffer next. Soap operas like “The Young and the Restless,” viewed by some six million people a day, typically have a monthlong backlog of episodes. Because of their serial nature, soap operas do not perform well in repeats. Networks say they would try to maintain ratings during the day in the event of a strike by substituting more news and sports programming. The rest of daytime is a jumble. News writers are represented by a different union, so “Today” on NBC and the cable news channels will be unaffected — except for the bags that will form under the eyes of anchors as they are pressed to fill more airtime. But talk shows are all over the map: “The View,” which uses union writers, would be thrown into more chaos than normal, while “The Martha Stewart Show” would continue cooking right along. Of course, most viewers care about prime time. Although each network is different — with only two hours to program each night, and “American Idol,” which would be unaffected, on the way, Fox is sitting pretty — network executives say a couple of general rules apply. Long-running shows like NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” are likely to stay in original episodes longer because they are further ahead in production than new programs like ABC’s “Pushing Daisies.” And the so-called sweeps periods in November and February, when advertising rates are set for local stations, still matter. So networks will keep what originals they have for those months and leave December and January more barren than usual. Genre matters, too. Animated series like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy,” completed up to a year in advance, are strike-proof for this season at least. Much more problematic are complicated serial dramas like “Lost,” which networks typically broadcast without repeats. With the next season of “Lost” (which begins in February) only half finished, ABC has a big decision to make: Should it show the episodes that are done? Or delay the program’s return until all episodes can be completed? Of course, reality shows are not affected at all. Networks have been stockpiling reality material in the event of a strike. The CW network alone has five completed reality series ready to go: the returning shows “America’s Next Top Model,” “Beauty and the Geek” and “Pussycat Dolls Present,” and the new entries “Farmer Wants a Wife” and “Crowned,” about beauty pageants. Warren Littlefield, an independent producer and the former president of NBC, who was that network’s executive vice president of programming during the last writers strike, said the news divisions would be pushed to deliver spicy specials to plug holes. He noted that the CBS newsmagazine “48 Hours” rose to prominence in 1988. Sports, concerts and shows produced in Britain and Australia are also likely to pop up in prime time, depending on the length of a strike. NBC is already looking at the possibility of broadcasting the British version of “The Office.” The lack of a clear road map for consumers is a worry for entertainment executives. After all, movie and television fans, their allegiance already weakening as video games and the Internet eat up more leisure time, don’t need additional prodding to find something else to do. “There is tremendous fear in the industry about breaking a habit,” Mr. Littlefield said. “During the last strike, the audience wandered and a lot of people didn’t quite come back.” On the bright side, the 1988 strike played a big role in introducing at least one guilty pleasure to a national audience. Desperate for programming, Fox plucked “Cops” from a local station and placed it on Saturday night, where it continues to run.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/arts/ … ref=slogin
- BenTheMan
- Senior Vice President of Legal BS
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Re: STRIKE!!!
any union that uses the word 'guild' in its name deserves to be payed like crap. As for me, Ive got King of Queens on loop, so bring it on bitchez!
- unfettered one
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Re: STRIKE!!!
The following comes from Kristin at E! Online: The Writers' Guild of America announced this evening that the scribes behind our favorite TV shows (and movies) will indeed go on strike, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers refused to budge on the crucial issue of broadband and internet profits. Funny enough, I heard this news tonight while sitting at a table at a Children's Defense Fund dinner with Lost producer Damon Lindelof and Heroes producer Tim Kring, whose Blackberries (along with other writers, producers and directors in the room) simultaneous buzzed about 7:30 with the news that "It's on." My heart it heavy. Not so much for the lack of television we fans will have to endure (we'll get to that in a moment), but for the ripple effect this strike will have on the Hollywood industry and community, trickling down from the likes of executive producers to writers to actors to caterers to dry cleaners to office-supply workers to janitors to the wives and children of all of the above. I'm not trying to get sappy here, but it needs to be said: When Hollywood shuts down, it shuts down for everyone--not just the writers themselves. I'm told that sometime in the 24 hours, WGA members will be given instructions for when the strike will begin, and handed red WGA T-shirts that they will wear as they picket. And as of this very moment, TV as we know it is no longer moving forward. It's an oddly disturbing feeling. Many of you fans have been writing in to ask: What does this mean for our favorite shows? I have to admit, I'm still wrapping my own head around it, but here's what I can tell you: The effects of the strike will be felt first for nighttime shows such as Leno, Letterman, Kimmel and (this one's hard to stomach) The Daily Show, which obviously write scripts on a daily basis. Up next, soap opera scripts will run dry. And then, somewhere around January or February, most of the series currently on the air will run out their completed episodes and be replaced by reality and news programming, reruns or that burning log in the fireplace normally reserved for Christmas day. (Whatever the nets can muster.) So, when we're talking about Heroes, Grey's, Ugly Betty, The Office, etc., you can expect to get weepy about January. But, of course, it also depends upon how long the strike lasts. It could be as short as five days or as long as the last strike in '88, five months, or even longer. From all appearances, Lost may have the best advantage of all series, given that it has been stockpiling new scripts since June and not a single episode has yet aired. At this point, 14 of 16 episodes have been written. And if the strike does last long enough to really affect other series, Lost could very well be the only quality scripted dramas on television in February (along with perhaps 24, though it's far more behind in its scripts due to a major overhaul of location and storyline). Heroes also might not have it quite so bad. This year, producers decided to break up the season into "volumes," and the first volume is set to come to an end the first week of December. It's likely that the wait for the second volume would simply extend until after the strike is over, so at least fans would have a natural break in the storyline. And then you have the more depressing scenarios. For starters, there are producers like Joss Whedon, whose new series Dollhouse has been catapulting forward with lightning speed, only to be derailed for the time being from the strike. "I will be busy picketing," Whedon told me yesterday. "I support the guild, and I think what we are doing is unfortunate, but necessary. And that means I don't get to have my fun, but that isn't the point." It's also a grim story for new series and especially Chuck and Gossip Girl boss Josh Schwartz, whose two new series have been gaining serious momentum and buzz--but must come to a screeching halt. Sources tell me that Gossip Girl lost a cover of Entertainment Weekly because of the strike (it might not be on the air when the cover would come out) and that Chuck will not receive news of a full-season pickup until after the strike is over. "I support the guild," Schwartz told me. "But it's unfortunate for everyone, all the way around." Bottom line: We'll have our shows all this month for November sweeps, then notice a noticeable dip in new programming (as usual) in December, and will really start to see the affects of this strike in January or February.
http://www.eztv.it/index.php?main=tvnew … _news=1107
- Witchy
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- Posts: 31
Re: STRIKE!!!
It sucks and I hope it does not last that long. But if it does I bought this year allot of dvds and I still have to watch them. Also I got 2 great places where I play allot of games online. So I am covered. I do understand that they want more money and I do hope they get what they want. But I sure will miss my shows.
- draiz
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- Registered: 2006-03-18
- Posts: 126
Re: STRIKE!!!
Grrr, and here I was all riled up about Joss' new show Dollhouse... Looks like we won't see it anytime soon! You gotta hate unions!
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one..." Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
- daluwe
- Pinky
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- From: Tirol
- Registered: 2006-01-26
- Posts: 531
Re: STRIKE!!!
for more information on the topic: here is a blog of an insider: http://aphrodite33.livejournal.com/153491.html and this one is also very interesting: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
- Registered: 2007-11-08
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8 Reply by Orb 2007-11-09 02:52:25 (edited by Orb 2007-11-09 02:54:13)
- Orb
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Re: STRIKE!!!
draiz wrote:Grrr, and here I was all riled up about Joss' new show Dollhouse... Looks like we won't see it anytime soon! You gotta hate unions!
Knew someone would say this. Not whatsoever. Go watch something like The Big One to see how shitty things can get without them. It's not the Guild members fault this is happening, I don't know the details but I'm sure what they were asking for was reasonable and turned by people making a thousand times their salaries. As Joss Whedon says, "unfortunate, but necessary."
"Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman. Champion of the Sun. You're a master of Karate and friendship for everyone." --Electric Dream Machine
9 Reply by draiz 2007-11-09 12:03:37 (edited by draiz 2007-11-09 12:07:40)
- draiz
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Re: STRIKE!!!
Orb wrote:draiz wrote:Grrr, and here I was all riled up about Joss' new show Dollhouse... Looks like we won't see it anytime soon! You gotta hate unions!
Knew someone would say this. Not whatsoever. Go watch something like The Big One to see how shitty things can get without them. It's not the Guild members fault this is happening, I don't know the details but I'm sure what they were asking for was reasonable and turned by people making a thousand times their salaries. As Joss Whedon says, "unfortunate, but necessary."
Yeah I know, I was just venting... Sometimes, it's good to rant and rave about something even though in the end, I'd be pretty pissed if I was in their shoes. And I haven't seen The Big One but I try to take everything Michael Moore says with a grain of salt since I saw sicko last night and the way he talked about the french healthcare system was a bit too idealised...
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one..." Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
- daluwe
- Pinky
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- From: Tirol
- Registered: 2006-01-26
- Posts: 531
Re: STRIKE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk this sums it up pretty much, why the writers are striking. check it out.
- Orb
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Re: STRIKE!!!
So they get 4c on a $19.99 DVD and want +4c after having been shafted all these years... it's worse than I thought. Thanks for the link daluwe.
"Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman. Champion of the Sun. You're a master of Karate and friendship for everyone." --Electric Dream Machine
- daluwe
- Pinky
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- From: Tirol
- Registered: 2006-01-26
- Posts: 531
Re: STRIKE!!!
yeah, i think they are pretty shameless ..... i mean 4c, come on, how do they think the studios going to survive!?!? i wouldn't bother to pay 10c more each dvd, if i could be sure, the writers would get the 10c.
- BenTheMan
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Re: STRIKE!!!
if the writers are smart, they'll join forces with filesharing groups to rock the studios big time
- pamelajaye
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- Registered: 2006-09-19
- Posts: 22
Re: STRIKE!!!
I haven't read most of the posts (come on - my brother expects me to read deadlinehollywooddaily and united hollywood.com and I haven't even done those) so please forgive me if this is old news there are a lot of posts around on this, I just chose Joss's fans send networks item to save shows - now the fans are doing a cross-fandom band to support the writers (cause no writers = reality shows) check it out at http://whedonesque.com/comments/14772#more (and scroll up for the header) again, apologies if you already posted this.
- Registered: 2006-03-30
- Posts: 11
Re: STRIKE!!!
hah, did you guys see the latest niptuck? Christian says "reality is the future, in fact, reality is the present, no overpriced writers..." I wonder if it was related ^^
- daluwe
- Pinky
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- From: Tirol
- Registered: 2006-01-26
- Posts: 531
Re: STRIKE!!!
it definitely was related ..... nip/tuck rocks!!! this show is just so awesome!!!
- BenTheMan
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Re: STRIKE!!!
I think thats a scary vision ... reality shows only and I'd be forced to read ... oh god, I got goosebumps.
- Orb
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Re: STRIKE!!!
Here's the latest on the Writer's Strike: TVGuide.com wrote:Folks, we may finally be getting somewhere. The WGA at the conclusion of Wednesday's talks said in a statement, "For the last two days we have had substantive discussions of the issues important to writers, the first time this has occurred in this negotiation." The topics on which progress was made include union jurisdiction over the Internet and reality TV, but the issue of compensation for online streaming still appears to be a major hurdle. "We remain committed to making a fair and reasonable deal," says the AMPTP in its own statement. "We believe that there is common ground to be found between the two sides that will put all of us in the entertainment industry in a better position to survive and prosper in what is a rapidly changing modern, global marketplace."
"Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman. Champion of the Sun. You're a master of Karate and friendship for everyone." --Electric Dream Machine
19 Reply by Mxyzptlk 2007-12-10 14:23:52 (edited by Mxyzptlk 2007-12-10 14:29:44)
- Mxyzptlk
- Ass Kicker
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- From: Sweden
- Registered: 2006-05-03
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Re: STRIKE!!!
Can't we send the network owners nuts or..... horse shit or something?... Just read about the pen thing.. sounds pretty good...
- BenTheMan
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Re: STRIKE!!!
fed ex doesnt service hell
- John Locke
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- From: Chocoland
- Registered: 2005-10-24
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Re: STRIKE!!!
Yeah, there's a site out there where you can send boxes containing 12 pencils each for a dollar. Sadly, I've lost the URL, but if anyone's interested, I can try to find it.
singyour ownkind ofmusic makeyour ownspecial song
- From: Sweden
- Registered: 2005-11-03
- Posts: 144
Re: STRIKE!!!
John Locke wrote:Yeah, there's a site out there where you can send boxes containing 12 pencils each for a dollar. Sadly, I've lost the URL, but if anyone's interested, I can try to find it.
Did you mean this site? http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/200 … oguls.html
- lockdude
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Re: STRIKE!!!
ellkay wrote:John Locke wrote:Yeah, there's a site out there where you can send boxes containing 12 pencils each for a dollar. Sadly, I've lost the URL, but if anyone's interested, I can try to find it.
Did you mean this site? http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/200 … oguls.html
I just sent 5 boxes. Come on people the nuts worked for us, so whip out that visa check card and let go of a few $$. The writers deserve our support after all the hours of entertainment we've had. I mean if you think about it, the writers are responsible for most of what we like about TV and movies and almost none of what we don't like.
24 Reply by zsigger 2007-12-22 21:59:38 (edited by zsigger 2007-12-22 22:02:57)
- From: Iceland
- Registered: 2006-11-08
- Posts: 78
Re: STRIKE!!!
...where do you send pens?.. random delivieries of pens don't say much. Direct to the point joint effort to the right people say a lot -sorry, found the link above.. putting out for a box
- johnno28
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- Registered: 2006-08-15
- Posts: 64
Re: STRIKE!!!
Does anyone has any idea when the strikes looks like ending?
Don't hate the player hate the game. Denaus Up the mighty Fords and the Mighty Storm!! <By the way that is my car hehehehehehe
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