Today is being a really bad day for me, as my computer is about to explode or something, which would undeniably result in a loss of data I don’t want and can’t really afford.
I’m working on fixing this whole messy situation asap, but it’s eating an awful lot of time - amongst other thing. Sadly, so, this means I am not able to work on this blog as much as I had planned and wishes to, all apologies.
I will try to post my review of the last episode of Heroes, and I used to hope that I could watch & review House too, but nothing is for certain. As a matter of fact, it looks very unlikely given how things got messed up, I need a minute to cry.
(one minute later…)
Okay. Well, some things are for certain, though, like the fact that Reaper will have to stay on my DVR and I’ll have to wait this weekend to watch it… As for my favorite doctor, I hope I’ll be able to see it tomorrow.
Anyways, I’m going back to my whole mess.
Sorry about the trouble.
You’ve probably heard how studios claimed that they couldn’t pay the writers for the use of their work online because it was such a new media, and they didn’t make any money out of it, nor could they even be sure they ever will. All lies. You know it, I know it, writers know it, and they know it too.
Here’s a nice video provided by United Hollywood where people such as Viacom chairman, President and CEO of Walt Disney Company, CBS CEO, NBC chairman and others proudly declare how many millions, I mean billions they are making and intend to make from those new media, and how whether you watch shows on TV, on your iPod, on your computer or wherever you want, they’ll get paid the same.
Maybe that’s why they also tried to call full episodes you watch online or pay to download “promotion”…. And it’s because of those assholes we will get a shortened butchered season, and people are loosing their jobs! Sometimes I wish I could torture people to death with my mind…
* Apparently studios are really not willing to help the strike be over soon, they’re not even willing to negotiate. Instead, what they do is try to find other ways to get some shows back on. For instance, it’s been reported that NBC was looking for guest hosts to replace Leno starting on November 19th. It seems no one wants to be the one crossing the picket line, besides, what would they be saying ?? (I wonder if they asked Ellen though…)
* Rumors were that some networks (like Fox or CBS) had fired all of their showrunners, since they did not show up for work. This is not the case, but they did threaten to file lawsuits against their top show runners if they do not immediately go back to work and complete their non-writing duties. Showrunners have already explained that they were writers as well and supportive of the strike, and would not perform their non-writing duties as long as the strike was in effect, sending a clear message that they were all “united in the fight against corporate greed” and hoping it would make studios react.
They also said that if only one lawsuit was filed, none of them would return to work. All they’re asking is for the studios to come back to the negotiating table, so that a deal could be worked on. If the studios agreed, they would be willing to complete production on several already written episodes. Of course, studios are winning about money loss and other non-sense.
* There might be hope, a little, as it’s been reported that certain Hollywood agents were “really in the middle of this right now“. Read that those professionals whose job is to negotiate for writers and studios all the time are trying to speak to both sides and set up a meeting, so that negotiations can resume.
* And yes, while the Los Angeles Times might not find the strike worth mentioning, as illustrated above at least not everyone is keeping it silent. Entertainment Weekly’s cover features Grey’s Anatomy Katherine Heigl, Conan O’Brien and The Office’s Steve Carrel all three with ducktape on their mouths, as a symbol of the strike, asking “How Long Before The Writers’ Walkout Silences Your Favorite TV Shows ?
Damon Lindelof, co-creator and executive producer of Lost, wrote a very interesting piece in the New-York Times, in which he explains again what the strike is all about, why all writers are striking and why - as heartbreaking and hard that decision was - it was the only possible choice for them.
He first reminds that television as we know it is dying, and system such as TiVo were only a glimpse as to what the future of television is and where it will come from : the Internet.
Soon, “the rectangular screen in your living room won’t really be a television anymore, it’ll be a computer. And running into the back of that computer, the wire that delivers unto you everything you watch? It won’t be cable; it will be the Internet.”
Being the TVoholic that I ma I really do not like this strike, as you can imagine, and I urge every other TV fan or viewer to strike as well, in the common hope for this issue to be resolved sooner than later.
The strike is now entering its second week, and yet a couple of days back it still wasn’t big enough of a news for the Los Angeles Times to mention it. Just look at their front page, there are literally no mention of it whatsoever. And that after the WGA strike rally was a huge success with over 4 000 person showing up, making it the biggest in the guild’s history !!
Worst than that, the WGA march on Fox was reduced to a very brief story on page 2, in the Business section. And the paper used an unofficial estimate of 3 500 that one may wonder where they got it, because WGA’s estimate was of 4 000 while LAPD’s estimate was of no less than 5 000.
With the huge financial power the studios have thank to the incredible benefit they make off of DVD sales & on-line content, along with such misinformation, it’s hard to expect massive support for the writers by those who aren’t looking it up in the Internet, to get their facts right.
Whether you’re a TVoholic, a TV addict, obsessed with TV or only a (regular) TV viewer, whether there are dozens of series you watch every week and couldn’t live for, or you only follow a couple, as long as you do watch (and love) TV, I can only assume that you are supporting the writers.
Some people are trying to portray them as overly rich people demanding even more money, but the facts are very different. What they basically want is to be able to survive in the years to come, what this is about is all the writers who need residuals in order to make a living. A residual isn’t a handout or an allowance, it’s not a lottery or an annuity from a slip and fall accident at a casino.
A residual is a deferred payment against the lifetime value of a script. A residual is what allow writers to earn money for their work as long as the given work does generate money, a residual is what allow writers to earn money while unemployed at times, and at any given time many writers are unemployed, that’s how the job works.
Somehow studios seems to consider writers as close to nothing, but we viewers know they are of high importance, we know that Lost would be nowhere without his amazing writing staff, with know that the brilliance of Hugh Laurie’s acting on House couldn’t exists without writers, because acting a blank page doesn’t get you nowhere. We do know that The Office is not a documentary, and that it wouldn’t work or make us laugh as much without its writers, we do know that McDreamy would mean nothing without a writers.
Because we do watch TV, we do like it, and we do know better.
Here’s a open letter sent to the governor from the creator and executive producer of ABC’s Brothers & Sisters, Jon Robin “Robbie” Baitz, :
”
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
I am writing to you on the fourth day of a strike by The Writers Guild of America, of which I am a member. I am also, as you know, the creator and one of the executive producers of the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, a show you commended for its contributions to the economy of California during a memorable set visit some months back. I am reaching out to you to ask that you step into this very ugly minefield and do everything in your power to bring the two parties together. Before it becomes a quagmire. Without a quick resolution that nominally satisfies both parties, production will shut down, which is already starting to happen. The actors, the crews and the staff on TV shows are even now laid off. (I am especially agonized by the effect of this strike on the crews, who keep the entire business functioning and who work much harder than anyone else, period — which I am sure you know, given the fact that you’re an old hand.) And beyond the crews, the ill effects will seep into an entire economy at the mercy of this faulty, ugly, and unproductive negotiation.
Here’s just another little video from the picket lines, with Lost’s Damon Lindelof and Desperate Housewives‘ Marc Cherry explaining again what they’re asking for, why they’re asking for it, and I still find it so unbelievable that the studios would deny such a simple, easy and logical thing.
- Hey, can we get paid for our work ?
- No! Shut up & write some more, I need more billions I want to buy a new country for my wife!
Creator of Buffy amongst other things, Joss Whedon is outside on the picket line, with all of his writer friends, as well as other friends like Alyson Hannigan or Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother.
And during a little break, Whedon sent a little something from the front lines to all his fans, and others, about the strike and why it is so important :
If you still are unsure about what the strike is all about and what writers are asking for, here’s a nice little video where it’s all very well explained. Worth a look, but I should warn you : there’s a little background music, and it’s too loud, and it gets pretty annoying real fast. Other than that, it’s all good!
By fred | November 14, 2007 
They also said that if only one lawsuit was filed, none of them would return to work. All they’re asking is for the studios to come back to the negotiating table, so that a deal could be worked on. If the studios agreed, they would be willing to complete production on several already written episodes. Of course, studios are winning about money loss and other non-sense.
Whether you’re a TVoholic, a TV addict, obsessed with TV or only a (regular) TV viewer, whether there are dozens of series you watch every week and couldn’t live for, or you only follow a couple, as long as you do watch (and love) TV, I can only assume that you are supporting the writers.