Talk shows hit by writers' strike

Picket lines have formed outside New York and Los Angeles studios
US TV's two top late-night talk shows have become the first casualties of the writers' strike which is threatening to bring Hollywood to a halt.
The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno both aired re-runs after their scriptwriters walked off the job.

The strike has been prompted by a disagreement over royalty payments.

Top-rated prime-time show Dancing With The Stars aired as usual, but its hosts had to improvise without scripts.

No new negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been scheduled after last-minute talks broke down on Sunday.

'Hunkered down'

Writers want higher fees, or "residuals", derived from work released on DVD or online.

The producers' chief negotiator, Nick Counter, said they were "hunkered down for a long one".

"From our standpoint, we made every good faith effort to negotiate a deal, and they went on strike," he said.

"At some point, conversations will take place. But not now."

The writers say the next move is up to the studios.


Heroes' audience "won't be left in the lurch" said its producer

"My hope is that it won't be too long," said writers' negotiator John Bowman, who told Associated Press that the two sides were talking behind the scenes about arranging further meetings.

"We have more reason to get together than not."

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I also found this on another forum I am a member on:

By Silver N. on yahoo answers:

Show your support by spreading the truth about the situation:
A writer friend of mine sent this to me:

I wrote a movie (I am a WGA member) and received a whole 4 cents per copy sold. Yes, I am not joking! That is about what a writer gets on a DVD sale. 4 pennies! The people who press the DVD make ten times that. This is one of the main issues the WGA strike is about. Please spread this info around to people so they realize the writers are not being greedy. If the studio sells a DVD for 12.99/copy, where does all the money go? Shouldn't there be some fair % sharing?

And about the greedy execs... It's not like they get a bonus for screwing the writers. They just make more money for a company. The studios want the crappy DVD deal to be extended to new media (like i tunes). "How about NO!" Oh wait, that is a line from "Austin Powers," which by the way made the studio about 2 billion dollars. What if a writer never wrote those words? Then where would all those studio expense accounts be?

Really, without the writers, there wouldn't be these shows for the companies to make money on. IMO, they need to share the wealth. And I don't care who the actor is, they are not worth $20 million per movie. Maybe some of that money should be used to pay the people who work behind the scenes and pay the actors less.

I hope they get what they want. But Boooooo! They're putting Conan in repeats!

I'm only worried about House and Supernatural, those are the only shows I really watch.

While I wholeheartedly support the writer's striking, they definately have a legitimate claim, the potential effect it could have on the final season of Scrub's is annoying. Such a quality comedy in its seventh and final season may not get to have a proper finale. They have only 12 of the 18 episodes written and filmed so should the strike not end soon, the final season may end after only 12 episodes. The possibility of putting the final episodes on DVD has been put forward if the strike doesn`t end soon, so it should eventually getting its 'proper' ending though.

Heroes and the Office are getting their seasons chopped in half as a result too.

I don't get it...just fire these bums and find new writers...is that so hard?

I haven't heard much about Supernatural, but I suspect it might be safe. It seems like they have a pretty dedicated team of writers (including creator Kripke, and some producers) who are notorious for engaging with fans, and taking in their concerns over the shows direction. I can't see them turning their backs on the show, especially with the current concerns in regards to low viewers. More than likely they'd take this opportunity to really push Supernatural forward while other shows are on hiatus

I hope so! The more people who actually find out about this show, the more likely it will to have a few more seasons. I am really shocked that more people don't watch it. From what I read, the writers on SPN knew this strike was most likely going to happen and wrote a few extra episodes. whether this is true or a rumour I can't verify, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

First, sorry you won't get to see new episodes of your favorite television shows. My sympathy only goes so far when it's contrasted to people making a good living.

And second, yes, it is that hard. There's a very strong writers guild. Any professional writer who takes a job outside the guild, and especially if doing so has them crossing a strike line, they will have to hide this forever or they will never be admitted to the guild and have a very difficult time getting writing work on television ever again.


Unless you are being sarcsastic.