Entries Tagged 'Writer's Strike' ↓

The writers strike is officially over. (United Hollywood)
By a wide margin, too. (United Hollywood)
The strike was good for cable ratings. (Mediaweek)
Fucking Ben Affleck is now worthy of a New York Times story. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha.
Fans of NBC’s "Las Vegas" want a resolution to the cliffhanger. To quote Elvis Costello, I say, "Let ‘em dangle." These get-a-lifers want to send baby booties to NBC to make it happen. Lordy. (Buddy TV)
ABC is getting with the on-demand program. Welcome to the real world, you wacky dinosaurs. (GMMR)
Not mockery: "Raisin in the Sun" did really well for ABC Monday night. (TV Decoder)
The Jay Leno’s post-"Tonight Show" plot thickens. (NY Times)
Still hurt feelings over the Oscar videos. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Signs of the apocalypse: "According to Jim" may be renewed for another season. (Hollywood Reporter)

And finally, do you think Michael Bay knows what an asshat he looks like in those FIOS commercials where he calls everything […]

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I’ve been avoiding any more posts headed "Writers Strike," fearing your fatigue. I haven’t even been following the ins and outs of the internal SAG negotiations over who gets to vote on that contract, again, fearing that any item with the words "contract" or "strike" in it is going to make you toss your cookies. But United Hollywood today reproduced the single funniest, meanest piece of prose the whole mishigas has brought us, namely Harlan Ellison’s cantankerous and profane repudiation of the WGA-AMPTP deal. Ya gotta read it. Dude is not happy and, as we already knew, he does not mince words.
Photo: Cris Cuffaro via Harlan Ellison.com
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NBC isn’t suing anybody after all. Maybe even the Golden Globes aren’t suing anybody. But they’re definitely not both suing the WGA. Unless they are. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Writers are funny, especially when they go back to work after three months off. (NY Times)
Clips from "Dexter" (right), for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, in advance of the show’s CBS debut on Sunday. (GMMR)
Hilarious though redacted story of craven executive behavior at Dexter’s cable home, Showtime. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Another writers-back-to-work story with one really good line from a writer with academic cred who went to work for Tom Fontana: "Tom always joked when he hired me that he was going to kill the poet inside of me," he said. Joked, right. (AP)
A brutal takedown of the main NY Times writer who covered the strike. (NY Press)
Tim Robbins making a pharmaceutical drama for Showtime. That should be good. (Hollywood Reporter)

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NBC has announced the post-writers-strike fate of its shows. One press release unveiled premiere dates for series returning this spring. The other revealed that "Heroes," "Chuck" and "Life" will all return - but not till next fall, when they’ll be beneficiaries of "major re-launch campaigns."
Unlike CBS, the network wasn’t telling how many post-strike episodes of the spring series will be produced - with "Scrubs," in its final season, the big question mark there. Sez NBC:
"My Name Is Earl" (Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET), will return with a one-hour episode on Thursday, April 3; the Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" (Thursdays, 8:30-9 p.m. ET) will begin on Thursday, April 10; likewise, the Emmy-winning "The Office" (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) also resumes with new episodes on Thursday, April 10; and "Scrubs" (Thursdays, 9:30-10 p.m. ET) will come back with original episodes beginning Thursday, April 10.
"ER" (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) also will come back on […]

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Yesterday’s votes were a foregone conclusion, just the way we all hoped. Writers are back to work. Here’s the note from the WGA leaders, and the one from the moguls. But one mogul is, amazingly, not ready to come out of all-out-war mode.
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Some strike-related and some not…

Another blogger mulls the effect of the three-month layoff on viewing patterns and how that might affected the audience for bubble shows like "Samantha Who?" (TV Addict)
Our man in Kansas City mulls winners and losers in the strike, and perhaps not surprisingly, most parties fit in both categories. (TV Barn)
Once again live from New York…it’s Seth Myers’ chin! (TV Decoder)
Changing television by strike? Ad agencies see an opportunity for new modes of business, including a year-round season. (NY Times)
Benjamin Bratt as human rehab angel in "The Cleaner," coming soon on A&E. (Hollywood Reporter)
NBC apparently wants the February 2009 sweeps moved because of the looming digital TV conversion effective on 2/17/09. The peacock rightly thinks viewing patterns might be a little fucked up that week. (TV Squad)

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You have to feel bad for fans of "Jericho," despite the fact that the show, canceled last spring by CBS, returns to the air tonight.
Last spring, fans of the drama about a small town in post-nuclear-apocalypse Kansas deluged the network with nuts - a reference to Jericho’s cry of defiance in their standoff with their malevolent neighbors in New Bern. And 40,000 pounds of peanuts later, CBS agreed to come back with seven new episodes shot last fall to air this winter. That was good news. And in its own twisted way, so was the writers strike, which meant that "Jericho" would be one of the few scripted dramas on the air with new episodes this month.
But now the strike has been settled - writers are voting to end their walkout on the very day of "Jericho’s" second season premiere. So instead of getting an extra splash of publicity and […]

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No doubt the lawyers and vote-tabulators are getting busy for the WGA votes, while all over Hollywood this morning people are waking up and thinking about getting back to work. Barring some unforseen calamity, as we told you this weekend, the writer’s strike is over, and we might even get a piece of the TV season back. There should be lots of news this week about shows that are coming back - and the ones that aren’t. But in the meantime, here are this morning’s strike-related headlines…

Sunday’s email from WGA West President Patrick Verrone to the membership. Key line: There will be no picketing Monday or Tuesday: all pickets are suspended until the WGA membership votes to either end or continue the strike.
Cynthia Littleton breaks down the WGA deal, analyzing things like "imputed value" and revenue formulas. For WGA voters - and SAG-AFTRA members - only. (Scribe Vibe)
The settlement makes […]

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We could see screenwriters return to work as soon as Wednesday, after last night’s WGA membership meetings in New York and L.A. showed the scribes are ready to accept the deal and end the strike - hallelujah!
Initial reports that writers would be back at their keyboards Monday appear to have been irrationally exuberant, as union leadership wants the members to vote formally on ending the strike. Here are all of the items I’ve been able to find this morning. Yes, TV With MeeVee works the weekend when we have something as important as this to talk about!!!

WGA Boards will meet today to endorse the contract and then there will be a 48-hour "expedited" vote for the membership. That’s the word for now, anyway. (Variety)
Nikki Finke says the union membership wants the strike over. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
Writers coming out of the L.A. meeting echo that. (Scribe Vibe)
The email from the WGA […]

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We could see screenwriters return to work as soon as Wednesday, after last night’s WGA membership meetings in New York and L.A. showed the scribes are ready to accept the deal and end the strike - hallelujah!
THE LATEST: Guild leaders said late Sunday that they’ve scheduled Tuesday  membership meetings to vote on a quick end to the strike, while members will have ten days or two weeks to vote on contract ratification. Showrunners (who are also producers) go back to work Monday.
AP’s take here. Deadline Hollwood Daily’s take here. Guild email to strike captains here. Reuters version, which has a completely different explanation of voting plans, here.
Initial reports that writers would be back at their keyboards Monday appear to have been irrationally exuberant, as union leadership wants the members to vote formally on ending the strike. Here are all of the items I’ve been able to find this morning. Yes, […]

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