Late-night hosts may be heading back to TV

[951-Riverside]

Source: MSNBC

LOS ANGELES - If you’ve been feeling a little lonely without your nightly dose of David Letterman followed by a Conan O’Brien chaser before bed, fear not, your favorite late-night talk-show host could soon be returning to laugh you to sleep.

The four major late-night hosts (Leno, Letterman, O’Brien and Ferguson) are considering a return despite the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike, according to a report in Variety.

Ratings for the late-night talk shows, which are airing reruns, have taken a nosedive since the strike began two months ago. The networks are anxious to get their hosts back on air.

But who will be first?

Carson Daly, host of “Last Call,” who is not a member of the WGA, has already returned — to the sounds of audience protests. This week, 20 WGA members reportedly infiltrated Daly’s studio audience, vocally disrupting his taping.

Looking to avoid similar snafus, the remaining hosts are reportedly in talks to return around the same time. New late-night programming could reportedly return as soon as Jan. 7, if not sooner.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22262143/

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:mad:

[Suich]

1. I'm feeling a "little lonely"

without Jon Stewart!

:)

[Oldtimeralso]

2. SCABS

If they do come back I will "Nightline" and KO reruns forever.
PS. Jay I hope none of your cars ever start again!

[Syrinx]

3. one of Letterman's writers said he hopes the show will go on

Scheft claimed that the writers won't be upset if Letterman decides to resume production.

"If you ask people on the line, they would have been thrilled if the guys just stayed off a month for sweeps," he said.

In fact, instead of looking like a rift among WGA members, he insisted that having the late-night hosts back on the air could help the writers' cause.

"David Letterman, on the air without writers . . . is the greatest ally the writers would ever have, because he would rail nightly," Scheft said. "He could be more influential as an on-air stone in people's shoes. The leverage for us might be him and Jon and Conan talking trash."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-strike13dec13,0,6164597.story?coll=cl-tv-features

[Gman]

10. At first I thought Letterman would either not go back, but be the last

one to go back. But it very well could be the best thing for the writers to have an advocate like Dave on every night railing about the company's refusal to negotiate in good faith.

[Syrinx]

36. I think that's true

Plus, I think it would be entertaining to have Dave adlib the show -- for a little while, it would probably get old pretty quick.

I wonder which option Les Moonves would prefer. That crappy reincarnation of Nightline kicking their ass, or Letterman dissing CBS every night on their own network. Tough call. :)

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. this strike has put close friends out of work

I think they would rather be called scabs than "cashier at the Apple Store" - the victims in this strike are NOT the strikers it is the production staff, minor management, administrative and maintainence people who have been laid-off, were not well paid to start with and are living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

[JI7]

5. yes, people are starting to complain about it

one guy was complaining about it when i went to get some food at this place. he said things have been slow since the writer's strike because of the decrease in catering orders.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. freelancers are hit the hardest

they have to keep up lease payments on the very expensive hardware they need for their projects, one woman is so desperate to keep up the payments on her leased cameras and editing hardware that despite being a self described militant feminist is taking editing jobs from porn companies.

[Gman]

11. Sorry, but anyone with any moral backbone

would rather be called "cashier at Apple Store" than scab. You don't always have to be a cashier at Apple Store, but you will forever be remembered as a scab. Put "scab" on their tombstones when they die.

[ret5hd]

12. No Shit! A scab is a scab forever!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. this isn't a traditional strike,

where the people being displaced by the strike are the management who would typically hang on for the strike or at the very least have their job to go back to when the strike is over.

In this strike the strikers are at damn near the top of the heap and the people who have been displaced are all below them. There aren't very many people who will take a bullet for somebody making twice what they do and has put them out of work looking for more.

People will lose EVERYTHING because of this strike and the people who lose EVERYTHING aren't going to get a thing out of it.

[MilesColtrane]

15. "In this strike the strikers are at damn near the top of the heap"

WGA member's average yearly salary $200,000

Sure, and if Bill Gates walks into a bar everyone there averages out as multimillionaires.

Here's the real number we should look at.

WGA member's median yearly salary $5,000.

Half make more, half make less.

Don't buy into this "divide and conquer" mentality. You either stand together, or you stand for nothing.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

20. or you can stand under an overpass

because of this strike completely INNOCENT BYSTANDERS are facing TOTAL FINANCIAL RUIN - and the people who have taken television out of production over rebroadcast royalties aren't the people collecting a few dollars a year in royalties on a decade on radio jingle or old novel.

My friend now chilling at the Apple Store thinks he can hang on financially for another 3 months, beyond that he is looking at bankruptcy. And he is living much less of a hand to mouth existance than most working people in Los Angeles are. On top of that his wife is expecting a layoff notice in the new year.

Tina Fey getting a cut of 30 Rock being sold on iTunes is NOT at the top of his momentary list of concerns.

[Gman]

18. NO, this is a strike

there is no such thing as "traditional" strike or anything else. It is a strike. You cross the picket line, you're a scab for life. You will forever be remembered as a scab. You have it on your tombstone. You're buried in the scab cemetary. You're the lowest form of life on earth, a scab. Scabs sell out their brother and sister union members for their own benefit. That makes them the lowest form of life on earth.

An old-timer once told me that the definition of a unionist is where if you're on strike, and you are down to your last $5 and your brother union member has nothing and he needs to go buy food, you give him your $5.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. yes there is such a thing as a traditional strike

In a traditional strike it is the blue collar labor against the management of a single employer. And the white collar labor is usually taken care of by the employer during the strike.

In this situation, the white collar writers are on strike and the blue collar labor who is responsible for the production of their work into television has been thrown out on the street. They aren't on strike, their just unemployed.

[truthisfreedom]

7. It's hurting the entire industry. Even in Minnesota the film industry is hurting as a result of the

strike.

Nobody wants to see the writers suffer, but this is ridiculous.

[customerserviceguy]

26. You've hit on the real reason

the late-night shows are coming back. They're absolutely essential to Hollywood being able to sell movies. All the stars, co-stars, and even the directors go on these shows, and millions more in box office result. You're not going to have people sitting on multi millions of dollars of production costs waiting for the writers and the moguls to settle things.

[Bigmack]

8. Jon Stewart....

could come back on anytime. He doesn't need writers. All he has to do is just read the fucking news and raise his eyebrow and go "Ennnh?", and we'd all fall out laughing.

Bushco has been writing his best material for years.

[napi21]

9. Does this mean there's no progress in the writers strike?

I have to admit I haven't read anything about it in over a week. I was hoping the pressure on the business side would be soon forcing them to give in since almost all the top season shows would have to go to reruns beginning in January.

[MilesColtrane]

16. The studios and producers walked away from the negotiating table two days ago.

That's a violation of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935

Under Federal law it is the duty of both the employers and the workers to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement.

Giving one side an ultimatum then walking away to go on vacation, while people are losing money on both sides, is morally and legally wrong.




WGA files NLRB charges against AMPTP

(UPI ) The Writers Guild of America filed charges Thursday with the National Labor Relations Board accusing movie and TV producers of failing to bargain in good faith.

The WGA has been striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since Nov. 5. The AMPTP broke off negotiations last week and no new talks have been scheduled.

"It is a clear violation of federal law for the AMPTP to issue an ultimatum and break off negotiations if we fail to cave to their illegal demands", the WGA said in a statement Thursday.

"We are in the midst of the holiday season, with thousands of our members and the membership of other unions out of work. It is the height of irresponsibility and intransigence for the AMPTP to refuse to negotiate a fair agreement with the WGA".

The guild repeated its demand that the AMPTP immediately return to the negotiations, rather than going on vacation, so that this town (Hollywood) can be put back to work.

Copyright 2007 United Press International

[napi21]

17. Thanks for the update. I'm certainly on the side of the writers in this.

I was shocked when I heard they haven't received any raise in 10+ years and they they don't get ANYTHING for their products on the net! It's just another example of excessive greed and the I got mine so the hell with you attitude!

[high density]

13. I'd rather see them air some 10+ year old shows

I think Leno's show did this for a week. The idea of watching a scab version or reruns of recent episodes is not appealing at all.

[Gman]

19. Everyone should remember that

if these show hosts go back to work, if you watch that show, you're crossing an electronic picket line which makes you a scab like anyone that goes back to work.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. damn the working people trying to earn a living!

so should every camera man, make-up artist, editor and security guard in Hollywood just not eat until the writers get their 1/16th of a cent on iTunes TV episodes?

[alarimer]

23. No they shouldn't

The writer's union should have done something about those people as well as their own. I know I am not going to sit out of work so someone ELSE can make more money.

[Gman]

24. Yes.

Why are you so anti-labor? You sound like a right winger making whiney excuses for why they can't honor a picket line.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

25. mill town rhetoric doesn't apply here

This isn't a strike that has shut down a single business and the only people out of work are the strikers. This strike has shut down an entire industry and has thrown the lives of tens of thousands innocent bystanders into financial turmoil.

People I love are in danger of total financial collapse because of this strike and they have nothing to do with the writers royalties. Lets see you support a family in Los Angeles selling iPod's.

[Gman]

37. Wah! Wah! Wah!

[TommyO]

38. A production worker strike at GM doesn't affect others?

Of course it does. It affects suppliers, car dealers, businesses that spring up around the factories. You're lying when you say that a blue-collar strike affects nobody but the workers themselves. When UPS drivers went on strike, did it affect only the drivers who went on strike, and UPS. Of course not, you would be daft to think anything else.

[ReadTomPaine]

28. Want to end the strike?

How about you, your friends and the rest of the people who feel affected by this situation join the WGA and shut down Hollywood completely in a proper, general industry action? If you really want to end this, that would do it overnight. You'd also be doing a service to unionized labor across the nation by showing just what solidarity among workers is capable of.

Or is it easier to hop into bed with the devil and start puckering up? If the best idea you can come up with is to side with studio executives - the most powerful & wealthy people in the industry, at the expense of its weakest & lowest paid workers, then I don't give a damn how uncomfortable the strike makes you. You deserve every moment of the pain.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

29. that is asinine, many writers aren't even eligible to join the WGA.

You can't just join the WGA in solidarity - and if you are eligible to join the WGA you have to fork over $2500 plus dues.

While I am somewhat sympathetic to royalties for online use of content - this is not a battle worthy of shutting down Hollywood and destroying the lives of people who were living hand to mouth to begin with. Suzy make-up girl and Steve the lighting guy are not the ones taking the 1/16th of a cent out of their pocket.

[ReadTomPaine]

30. If these people don't like working with a unionized industry they can find another job

One of the costs for having workers rights and reasonable wages in a given industry is honoring picket lines when strikes occur. There are alternative careers paths perfect for people who have a problem with labor. You named a few yourself, actually.

The fact that some people in entertainment don't have enough money to make it past a financial disruption of this type is an argument for support of labor and the creation of strong unions, not a reason to deny them. If everyone thought the way you do about this, we would all be working for wal-mart wages quicker than you can say "GOP".

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

31. This is NOT the labor struggle of our generation,

This is a unique situation because the strikers make significantly more money that the people who have been furloughed by the strike. The bourgeoisie are the ones on strike - as for other unions, many of those who have been fired because of the writers temper tantrum were unionized with contracts that addressed their treatment in a 3rd party strike. Nobody is going to keep people employed who have nothing to do for a potentially long period. Likewise no union is going to break out their strike fund for those were laid-off.

But I suspect if the Enron executives had unionized you would have called their prosecution union busting.

Hell, riddle me this - about 10 years ago I worked in an office in an industrial park that was home to some dozen unrelated businesses. One of the companies went on strike when the company began taking direct hires as apprentices instead of the unions apprentices. (The real issue was the union apprentice program was openly racist and sexist) the picket line went up outside the office park and I continued going to work.

Was I a SCAB as I went about my business at an entirely unrelated business?

Will somebody show up to desicrate my grave?

Should I have respected that picket line so those guys didn't have to work with women and immigrants?

[ReadTomPaine]

32. You've already said that you aren't willing to do what it takes to end the strike...

So there's clearly something here that you value more than the well being of these 'loved ones' you've cited and it seems to involve an ideological problem with the labor movement. The heart of your objection to this strike isn't about anyone else or their problems. It's about you and your problem.

You need to acknowledge this is where it starts for you, before you can understand why it's an error of judgment in the first place.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

33. your like a suburban teenager in a Che™ hoodie calling for revolution

a solidarity strike wouldn't resolve this dispute, Hollywood is already shut down - and even if there were to be a great strike in Hollywood no union was going to put up their strike fund to support the writers, who were a generally unpopular lot long before this dispute broke out.

The people I love who are being hurt by this sure as hell aren't going to be helped by another strike. It takes a pretty long time for the gains (if any) of a long strike to catch up with the lost wages and benefits.

[ReadTomPaine]

34. The fastest way to end the strike is to support it.

If that's your goal, get cracking - there are a hundred ways you can help. But that's not your goal here, all your talk of care and concern for others well being notwithstanding.

You don't support workers rights by siding against the labor movement during a strike. It's as simple as that. The harder it is to make that choice, the more important your support becomes. The success of collective action requires the mass support of those involved in the dispute. If you have loved ones being affected, that means you should be involved, too.

Every advantage that you have today over a factory worker in China you can thank a union for providing to you - in many cases at the cost of real blood and pain, not just a tough holiday or tax season - and you have those rights today whether you are in a union or not. They are like that grandfather who keeps giving you 100$ bills every Christmas no matter what an ungrateful bastard you eventually grow up to become.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

35. your working from the assumption every strike is rational or even virtuous

would you have respected the picket line of the guys who were fighting against the hiring of women and minorities? Or would have you just said they were fighting for their sons futures?

I support some strikes and not others, I support some unions and not others. I make judgements I don't just spring into reactionary action when somebody walks off the job.

I support workers right, I don't support a bunch of overpaid assholes using an exclusionary guild to launch a show stopping strike over a pedantic issue for which any agreement will be rapidly obsolete and in a media where the most popular sources of content are totally unlicensed. Do you submit royalties to the WGA for your use of Youtube or Bit Torrent?

Read up on the history of the WGA, their personal track record for the type of "solidarity" your calling for is terrible.

[EClark5483]

27. I feel bad that this is affecting so many, but...

What's going to happen when the Internet takes over? The way I see it, the white collar guys are gasping for more money and are wanting to tap into something that will eventually be their downfall anyways... The INTERNET.

I personally, am one of those types of people who does not watch TV really much at all... Maybe the nightly news, and sometimes CNN. It's not that I am complaining about the programming I see on TV, it's just not very appealing to me either way. The writers to me personally, are nothing special.

Being an owner of several different forums with several different themes, I can say I have seen better creative writing done by the average everyday common forum poster, over anything have seen on TV in the last 20 years.

That being said, I think there is definitely a place for displaced blue collar workers affected by the strike, that place, is being the person helping the evolution of Internet content to the end user.

Youtube, IMO is only the beginning of what MEDIA will evolve into when it comes to what we see.

A case to make AGAINST TV/MOVIES, is BPL technology. A technology that has a way to go still, but has companies like AT&T, Time Warner, DishNet, etc, all shaking in their boots. It has the potential to ELIMINATE these companies with 1 simple electric line.

It's just one more technology that is making the PHONE COMPANY obsolete.

Media content... like what is shown on TV by the writers who are on strike... is heading down that same path.... it just won't happen as soon as the extinction of the phone company, but it will happen.

If I was one of the blue collars worried about the white collars on strike now... I'd be even more worried about what happens when the white collars are also deemed useless technology.
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