Eclectic Views

    
i'd put that on my car in a second, without THEM


Daily Show isn't on that list, though I did go and fire away for all my
other favorite things. Who do I write for them?
  

    
That *is* the most perfect slogan.  Any idea as to who wrote it?

I've been reading articles about how the new season's shows are going
to be postponed because of the strike.  Is this putting any pressure on
the networks, or are they content in their ability to slap as many
reality shows on the airwaves as necessary?

If anything good has come out of this strike for me, it's been the
impetus to see lots classic movies again.  Yay libraries and yay
Netflix!
  

    
Yes, it is a great slogan.  I don't know who crafted it.

The FDL widget at

http://firedoglake.com/wga/

now includes both the Colbert Report and The Daily Show--so go get
'em, tiger!

You might also want to consider the petition that moveon.org is
currently promulgating to test the waters at 

http://pol.moveon.org/dailyshow/

It's specifically directed toward people who want to support the
writers, and get The Daily Show back.
  

    
In terms of "reality," it seems that the networks are willing to go to
the bottom or the barrel, if not lower.  I'm reminded again of William
S. Burroughs' axiom about the drug trade: "Don't improve the product:
degrade the buyer."  I think that we're fast heading toward territory
that only a little while ago (c.f., Idiocracy) would have been
considered satire.

OW, MY BALLS!, anyone?
  

    
Just sent off letters via the Firedoglake and Moveon websites; that
sure makes it easier!  I think I'll end up sending letters to all the
programs, not just the ones I watch.  One question, I noticed that
"Dexter" wasn't listed on the Firedoglake site... are Showtime's
programs being affected by the strike?
  

    

Howard, today's paper had an article stating that NBC claims Jay Leno and
Conan O'Brien plan on crossing the picket lines and going back to work on
January 2, sans writers.

Can you comment on this? 
  

    
Showtime's programs are affected by the strike, to be sure, as are
HBO's.  Not all of basic cable is covered by the Guild, but these guys
are.

Leno and O'Brien without writers?  Would you really want to watch
that?

These guys have been very supportive of the strike, and have paid
their staffs our of their own pockets when the network,
coal-in-the-stocking guys that they are, decided to fire the assistants
as a way of economizing.  

Whether the Guild will picket these two shows is TBD.  I wouldn't be
surprised either way.
  

    
I'm all for the strike, but I wonder, isn't this the best time for a
big "In Rainbows" moment?  Radiohead announced they were giving away
their next CD for donations, and sent the labels into a tumult.  What
if a star writer like JJ Abrams or David Chase came out right now and
said that until the strike ends, he's going to start producing an
Internet-based video series that *won't* be on TV?  He'd get venture
funding in a heartbeat, for one thing, and for another, I bet it would
panic the studios enough to cut writers a better deal.  

What do you think, Howard?
  

    
Your entreaties, dear WJA, most certainly do not fall on deaf ears.

A "star" writer in animation is about to announce a deal for an
internet-only series.  A couple of brand-name writers with followings
have been in talks about a company which funds its own development and
distribution, outside of the studio system.  My Board colleague, Aaron
Mendelsohn, has been exploring these possibilities with VCs as well --
see the front-page LATimes piece, STRIKING WRITERS IN TALKS TO LAUNCH
WEB START-UP, at
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-webwriters17dec17,1,299083.story

Additionally, a small bunch of writers whose names you would recognize
(not because of their wild commercial successes but because they are
among the very best practitioners of our craft) met last night to
pursue similar avenues.  We will tell you about our thoughts as soon as
there's something to tell you about.
  

    
This morning I drove downtown in darkness, met some fine fellow
screenwriters at 6am for breakfast at The Pantry, then buzzed over to
City Hall, where the city council, chaired by Eric Garcetti, was
holding hearings on the economic impact of the strike.  The hearings
ended with a press conference on the steps of city hall, in front of
the humongous Christmas tree, with Garcetti promising to introduce a
resolution calling for the AMPTP to come back to the table.  It felt
good to be among so many writers, so early in the morning, on the steps
of a building I first saw, as a child, on Dragnet...
  

    
I love it.  So what do you think are the chances that this move toward
going indy will spook the studios into returning to the table with a
halfway decent offer?

Speaking of which, here's a feature I wrote about this subject last
month, with Howard striking a debonair pose:

http://newteevee.com/2007/11/15/screenwriters-diy/
  

    
That is such an incredible idea.  I've never understood why writers
and artists are always treated like crap when so many people make all
their money off of the creations of this small pool of people, and how
these same people would go broke if creative people decided all these
middlemen were unnecessary.  What a terrific first step.  BTW, great
interview (and photo), WJA!
  

    
I've been a WGA spokesmodel on various radio shows--I've now done
AirAmerica twice, KPFK three times, Larry Mantle's AirTalk, KRLA, and
FoxNews.  I've become adept at deploying talking points, at staying On
Message.  (Every question has an answer, every answer has a pivot which
allows you to bend around to what you wanted to say.)

Strangely, the right-wing hosts seem more engaged, more willing to
have an actual conversation.

All of this media savviness has its benefits, I suspect, but at the
end of a week of this, I feel rather silly, as if I'd been going urk!
urk! while spinning a beach ball on my nose.
  

    
I just turned on the TV and there was Leno.

He's got a band.

So union musicians are crossing the picket line?
  

    
Saw Letterman the other night.  (Only because it was a new Robin
Williams appearance.)  His writers are working too.

It may be those with steady jobs are crossing, mainly because they
have to eat.
  

    
Letterman settled with his writers, I believe.  He is management and he
wanted to get back to work, or so I understand it.  Here's the Washington
Post article on it,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802625.html
  

    
This week's New Yorker noted that Letterman and Conan were sporting
beards in support of the writers
(http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2008/01/07/080107ta_talk_mcgrath).

How are the talks coming along?
  

    
There's some controversy whether guild member, Jay Leno, can write 
material for himself while the guild is on strike. I seem to remember
from the last strike, that that was an exception, that a performer
could do his own stuff and not violate guild rules. Am I wrong about
this?
  

    
>Letterman settled with his writers, I believe.
You'll find much more reliable coverage of these events by searching
Google News than you'll find my searching the WELL.
  

    
Let me see if I can address some of these questions.

In reverse order:

Leno is a WGA member, and his show is struck.  So he can extemporize,
but not write material, even for himself.  He's been told this
explicitly.  (Whether or not he felt he would get a pass here, or was
given indications that he might, is a subject os some web controversy. 
Ultimately: who cares)

Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, which owns Letterman's show and
Craig Ferguseon's, did strike a deal, and a good one, with the WGA.  As
did, earlier this week, UA.  The idea is to fan the flames of
competition from those networks/studios who aren't yet settled.

Alas, there are no talks.  The AMPTP has now been away from the table
for 33 days and counting.  With the Pants and UA deals, as well as
conversations wit advertisers and fund managers, and continued
picketing, and the cancellation of the Golden Globes, we are doing
everything we know of, and then some, to get them back to the table.

I don't know why musicians are crossing our line.  It seems wrong to
me.  I'll ask around.
  

    
Just to clarify, in response to #68 - a non-Guild writer can write
his/her own self-performed material on a comedy/variety television
show.  For example: a non-WGA stand-up can do a routine without it
being considered covered writing.

But once you're in the Guild, it's Writing.  Even if it's writing for
you yourself to perform.
  

    

Howard, where do Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert fit in, as far as the fact
that they're now back on the air? If they support the concept of the
writers' strike -- which it seems they do in words -- why aren't they
supporting it in action?

Is it possible they're being pressured by management to show up and perform?
Is there a special dispensation for them from the WGA? And what do you think
of what they're doing on-air these past few nights?
  

    
Neither Stewart nor Colbert wanted to return without their writers. 
In fact, they issued a joint statement: "We would like to return to
work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our
ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something
as nuanced as ambivalence."

It is still possible that Comedy Central might strike an independent
deal, in which case we could get a written Daily Show--and a Colbert
"The Word" segment that actually had words.
  

    
Wait, but *The Daily Show* is back up to full speed with writers,
isn't it?  I just saw Stewart talking non-extemporaneously about the
New Hampshire primary accompanied by chroma graphics of presidents'
heads.
  

    
His first night back he did a big deal of showing there was nothing on
the teleprompter screens.