Writers Say Strike to Start Monday

Getting ready to stop writing for the evening here and settle down to watch the finale of Meerkat Manor (yes, seriously - the only other option is watching Ghost Whisperer, and it's NOT for the plot lines).

I've been following this story for a couple of days now and it gets more fascinating the longer it draws on. Will be interesting next week to see whether or not some of these shows will have to shut down and revert to reruns until their writers get paid. It's about time somebody pays the writers, especially for great shows like The Late Show and Conan O' Brien. I mean, who wouldn't want to pay the guy who thought up the Walker Texas Ranger lever?



Writers Say Strike to Start Monday

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2— Hollywood’s two decades of labor peace shattered Thursday night, as movie and television writers declared they would embark on an industrywide strike for the first time since 1988, when both writers and Teamsters walked out.

The writers’ union announced this afternoon that the strike would begin on Monday morning.

Unless there is a last-minute settlement, the strike will pit union writers, whose position has been eroded by reality television and galloping technological change, against studios and networks that are backed by big corporate owners like General Electric and News Corp., but are also unsure of the future.

The walk-out threatens an instant jolt to television talk shows like “Late Show With David Letterman,” which rely on guild writers to churn out monologues and skits. “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” will all revert to repeats on Monday, at least for the time being...

Read the full article at the New York Times.