Writers' strike halts some TV production

Swift19 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-07-2007, 07:35 AM

Writers' strike halts some TV production

By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer Wed Nov 7, 6:35 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - The impact of a strike by television and film writers was becoming more evident as the walkout entered its third day. Production on at least six sitcoms was halted because of the strike, and the hit ABC drama "Desperate Housewives" was scheduled to finish filming its latest episode Wednesday because it had run out of scripts.

Filming on the 13th episode of the freshman ABC comedy "Carpoolers" was also set to finish Wednesday, ABC Studios spokeswoman Charissa Gilmore said. No new episodes have been ordered.

Production on more shows was likely to be halted, and networks were expected to announce plans for alternative programming in the coming days as the strike continues.

Other shows were not immediately affected, including the talk show "Ellen," which will continue production. Host Ellen DeGeneres told her studio audience at Tuesday's taping that she was obligated under her contract to continue the show, although she supported the striking writers.

"I want to say I love my writers," DeGeneres said. "In honor of them today, I'm not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they're asking for. And I hope it works out soon."

Sitcoms that will stop the cameras include "Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, which will not return from a planned hiatus, said Chris Alexander, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television.

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus said production also stopped on her CBS show, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

In addition, "Til Death," which airs on Fox, and "Rules of Engagement," "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory," all on CBS, will also end filming, according to people familiar with production of the shows who were not authorized to be quoted and requested anonymity.

Sitcoms are typically written the same week they are filmed, with jokes being sharpened by writers even on the day of production.

The strike began Monday after last-minute negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to produce a deal on how much writers are paid when shows are offered on the Internet.

Nick Counter, chief negotiator for the producers union, has said he expected a long standoff. Writers said the next move was up to the studios.

No new talks were scheduled. Pickets were expected to return Wednesday to locations in Los Angeles and New York.

Striking writers at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank were joined by several "ER" cast members Tuesday, including John Stamos, Maura Tierney and Mekhi Pfeiffer.

"We're all in this together, so we wanted to come out and support our team," said Stamos, adding that the cast was planning to raise money for crew members who might have trouble making car and mortgage payments if the strike goes on.

"ER" executive producer and creator John Wells said the show has three more episodes with scripts in various stages: one ready to shoot, one in good shape, and one that will be reviewed to determine if it's ready to shoot as a rough draft or not.

"The issues will effect everyone in the industry — the writers just happen to be first," he said.

In Toluca Lake, near the Warner Bros. studio, writers converged on a house serving as a location shoot for "Desperate Housewives."

"We write the story-a, Eva Longoria," about 30 strikers chanted, referring to a star of the hit ABC show.

"It is a very serious business," said Larry Wilmore, a writer on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," explaining that protesters were marching "so we can get back to being funny."

The protesters were joined by actress Louis-Dreyfus.

"I'm really here because I'm a union member," she said, explaining she belongs to the Screen Actors Guild and her husband is a member of the writers guild.

"If we prevent them from working today, that's a small victory," she said.

Longoria left the house and handed out pizza to strikers.

"We are done, and we'll be on the lines supporting you," she told them.

"I have a whole crew that will have a terrible holiday season because there's no resolution," she said. "I care about people losing their homes, I care about my hair and makeup artists who can't make ends meet."

The strike immediately sent late-night comedy shows into reruns, but it was not expected to have an immediate impact on production of movies. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and many TV shows have scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.

Writers have not gone on strike since 1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.

Writers' strike halts some TV production - Yahoo! News

(yeah, saw this one coming. doesn't suck for me though as i hardly watch tv anyway.)

**Brother of Yeshua** · 11-07-2007, 09:55 AM

Oh the poor babies, only making 200K a year.

I feel so bad.

Right. These are the people in America who should be striking.

Assholes.

**Opunaya** · 11-07-2007, 10:01 AM

That's like 5k a year in Hollywood! The poor writers! ;-;

You know what's going to happen? They'll just cancel all of those shows and make more Reality-TV shows.

**Brother of Yeshua** · 11-07-2007, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opunaya

That's like 5k a year in Hollywood! The poor writers! ;-;

You know what's going to happen? They'll just cancel all of those shows and make more Reality-TV shows.

Oh dear lord. That's the last thing we need.

**Opunaya** · 11-07-2007, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother of Yeshua

Oh dear lord. That's the last thing we need.

Yeah...24-hour Fear Factor/Survivor TV Station or something of that ghastly nature is going to come out of this.

everyone's favo · 11-07-2007, 01:06 PM

This is more serious then you guys think....as a writer, I'm appalled by what you guys are saying. There are guild members who don't even make close to 200k a year. Some are lucky to make 40k, which is just enough RIGHT NOW. The cost of living in America is increasing. If you don't believe me, just look at houses around your neighborhood. Five years ago, in my old neighborhood, you could get a house for less than 80k. Now you can't find anything for less than 150k, and this is in a POOR neighborhood. Where most of the people rent the houses they are living in.

The writers who are only making 40k a year might not have a job when they come back. Why do you think they were rushed to finish those final scripts? If they didn't finish the scripts, they might not have a job. Deadlines were rushed, and all because of this strike.

Did I also mention we get NO royalties from internet downloads and DVD sales? Its sad enough for me to hear about people illegally downloading movies and episodes. But its even worse when the same people complain about the cost of the same DVDs they are illegally downloading. Why does it cost more? Because of people like you, who illegally download, that makes it harder to survive in this business.

A movie just makes the cut at 1.5 mill. Your not profiting until you reach 2 mill.

And Opu is right, we will be getting more reality shows. Its not like reality shows weren't on top of the Neilson anyway, it just sucks that this is what TV has come to.

There is not a lot of writers who make 200k either. You have to be Spike Lee or M. Night to make that. Then again, who cares, were nothing but money hungry bastards anyway. Not like we should be aloud to live the dream of doing what we love for a living.

Do me a favor, and think before you speak.

**Opunaya** · 11-07-2007, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by everyone's favo

This is more serious then you guys think....as a writer, I'm appalled by what you guys are saying. There are guild members who don't even make close to 200k a year. Some are lucky to make 40k, which is just enough RIGHT NOW. The cost of living in America is increasing. If you don't believe me, just look at houses around your neighborhood. Five years ago, in my old neighborhood, you could get a house for less than 80k. Now you can't find anything for less than 150k, and this is in a POOR neighborhood. Where most of the people rent the houses they are living in.

The writers who are only making 40k a year might not have a job when they come back. Why do you think they were rushed to finish those final scripts? If they didn't finish the scripts, they might not have a job. Deadlines were rushed, and all because of this strike.

Did I also mention we get NO royalties from internet downloads and DVD sales? Its sad enough for me to hear about people illegally downloading movies and episodes. But its even worse when the same people complain about the cost of the same DVDs they are illegally downloading. Why does it cost more? Because of people like you, who illegally download, that makes it harder to survive in this business.

A movie just makes the cut at 1.5 mill. Your not profiting until you reach 2 mill.

And Opu is right, we will be getting more reality shows. Its not like reality shows weren't on top of the Neilson anyway, it just sucks that this is what TV has come to.

There is not a lot of writers who make 200k either. You have to be Spike Lee or M. Night to make that. Then again, who cares, were nothing but money hungry bastards anyway. Not like we should be aloud to live the dream of doing what we love for a living.

Do me a favor, and think before you speak.

Believe me, I know ALL about being a writer and not getting paid for it...hell, I'm worse off now than when I wasn't writing things...but that doesn't mean I'm not going to make fun of these people. Remember, and this is key: I'm an asshole.

But, TV itself isn't sweating THAT bad just yet, at least...most of the sitcoms and whatnot, since they have so many filmed ahead of time. The ones that are really suffering are the late night talk shows, like Jay Leno and whatnot...not that I really watch TV to begin with.

And...I'm posting this too:

**Brother of Yeshua** · 11-07-2007, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by everyone's favo

This is more serious then you guys think....as a writer, I'm appalled by what you guys are saying. There are guild members who don't even make close to 200k a year. Some are lucky to make 40k, which is just enough RIGHT NOW. The cost of living in America is increasing. If you don't believe me, just look at houses around your neighborhood. Five years ago, in my old neighborhood, you could get a house for less than 80k. Now you can't find anything for less than 150k, and this is in a POOR neighborhood. Where most of the people rent the houses they are living in.

The writers who are only making 40k a year might not have a job when they come back. Why do you think they were rushed to finish those final scripts? If they didn't finish the scripts, they might not have a job. Deadlines were rushed, and all because of this strike.

Did I also mention we get NO royalties from internet downloads and DVD sales? Its sad enough for me to hear about people illegally downloading movies and episodes. But its even worse when the same people complain about the cost of the same DVDs they are illegally downloading. Why does it cost more? Because of people like you, who illegally download, that makes it harder to survive in this business.

A movie just makes the cut at 1.5 mill. Your not profiting until you reach 2 mill.

And Opu is right, we will be getting more reality shows. Its not like reality shows weren't on top of the Neilson anyway, it just sucks that this is what TV has come to.

There is not a lot of writers who make 200k either. You have to be Spike Lee or M. Night to make that. Then again, who cares, were nothing but money hungry bastards anyway. Not like we should be aloud to live the dream of doing what we love for a living.

Do me a favor, and think before you speak.

These writers are working for some of the biggest moneymakers there are. I know there are writers out there that suffer, but i doubt it's these ones. I arbitrarily picked 200K. My point is there are plenty of people who suffer way more than these guys, and they are bitching about what they get if someone downloads the show that they only produced the idea for, which is a small part of a finished television show (albeit an important one). So they strike because of a few pennies from each download? Seriously?

And thanks, but I don't pirate stuff. So maybe you should take your advice, and think before you speak as well.

acutelyaware · 11-07-2007, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brother of Yeshua

These writers are working for some of the biggest moneymakers there are. I know there are writers out there that suffer, but i doubt it's these ones. I arbitrarily picked 200K. My point is there are plenty of people who suffer way more than these guys, and they are bitching about what they get if someone downloads the show that they only produced the idea for, which is a small part of a finished television show (albeit an important one). So they strike because of a few pennies from each download? Seriously?

And thanks, but I don't pirate stuff. So maybe you should take your advice, and think before you speak as well.

Yes, but consider the ratio...the are other people working on the same production the writers are working on and they probably dont get as much as others and probably work just as much or hard or more. In comparison to what others in this business make, it is pretty low, but if you were to compare it to normal white collared workers-it is immense. I think it is alright to compare to the people they are sharing thier profits with. To dish out that much money to actors, sports people, basically anyone in the public eye, is a differnt story. But that is not the issue here.

**Brother of Yeshua** · 11-08-2007, 12:02 PM

1. I am 99.9% sure these people have enough money to survive comfortably. Hell, my wife and I barely make 30K a year with our earnings combined, but we manage to live quite comfortably. If they are struggling, maybe they are trying to live beyond their means, which is not the companies fault but their own.

2. They're merely producing entertainment. I mean, I watch my share of TV and movies (mostly movies) but the money that flies around in that enterprise is obscene, and I don't condone people saying "well these people get to make millions, so why shouldn't I?" IMO no one needs to make that much money in a year. If you can get it, good for you, but I'm not gonna pity you becuase you aren't.

I work with kids that no one else wants to have anything to do with, including their families. I work with kids convicted of everything from simple assault to murder, and that have suffered from all sorts of abuse from various people. I barely make 25K a year. But I don't go on strike. I work because it's doing a service for individuals who need it and a service for the community at large (rehabilitating youth). But you can bet your ass I deserve a hell of a lot more than 25K a year for the shit I put up with.

Maybe if everyone tried to simplify a little bit every once in awhile, we wouldn't be the mountainous nation of consumerism and debt we now are.