Should you hate Conan and Leno for going back on the air ?
By fred | December 18, 2007
There were only rumors at first, but then official announcements from the network and press release from the hosts themselves followed, leaving no doubt that both Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien would indeed come back to work, and have their show back on the air starting January 2nd, 2008.
While stating that they were only doing so reluctantly and only in order to save jobs - as this move would allow for about a hundred non-writing staff members per show not to be let go - questions are are rising in the mind of many people, and writers’ supporters : wasn’t this move just a cave in to NBC’s demands, will this not be seen as an act going against the writers’ strike, should we or should we not hate NBC’s late night hosts ?
While I obviously don’t claim to have all the answers, I’ll give you my honest opinion on that one, as this very same issue has been haunting me for a little while now, I’ve thought about it and I think I stand by what I first said, my first instinct.
Which is that I do understand the highly conflicting situations these guys were in, and it’s easy to say that they should stand by their beliefs, and the striking writers, and not go back on the air. It’s easy to see such a move as an admittance to the network’s pressure, but it’s not so black or white.
You also have to consider what has been said on the press releases, that while writers and members of the WGA themselves, there was also the jobs and lives of many others, non-writing staff, on the line here. And yes, the same truth could be said about a lot of others shows, fully scripted shows like Life, Lost, House, How I Met Your Mother, Pushing Daisies, and plenty others, all scripted series are in the same situation of having non-writing staff in jeopardy, and people on the verge of loosing their jobs as well.
You could say it’s unfair that the ones working for Conan or Leno would get a special treatment, and that for reasons completely unrelated to special deals or progress made regarding the issues of the strike, unlike what Letterman is trying to do for his people. But let’s look at it the other way : those are people they have been working with for many many years, people they value, some might be friends, and they have a chance, they have an opportunity to save their jobs.
Why shouldn’t they take advantage of the situations they’re in, and allow all of the people working on their shows to actually keep their jobs, if they can ? Sure, when producers and showrunners left and went out picketing, putting the life of their own shows on the line, they did not choose the easy way, and yes they put the life of many jobs at risk as well, but it was important to send a strong message of unity.
Letterman and WGA signed a deal !! » I Watch TV!
Statement from WGA East President about late night shows » I Watch TV!