Comedy Central Not Laughing About (Possible) Writers' Strike (Next Week)

[Hissyspit]

http://nab.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=208777

Comedy Central Not Laughing About Writers' Strike

(Multichannel News) _ Politicians may be in for a treat this Halloween: Two of their most cutting critics, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, could be sidelined by a looming TV writers' strike next week.

A strike by the Writers Guild of America would likely ' at least temporarily ' defang The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. In all of cable TV, Comedy Central's late-night marquee series would most immediately be impacted by a writer walkout -- and possibly be forced to go into reruns.'

The guild's contract with TV producers and studios expires at the end of the day Wednesday, Oct. 31, and the union's members have already authorized a strike. Both sides were negotiating late last week, but in a worse-case scenario there could be a walk-out when the pact expires Nov. 1.

The guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers remained at loggerheads over various issues http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6485950.html?industryid=47200&q=WGA, notably deadlocked over how writers should be compensated for content that is reused or created for new-media platforms; the union's demand for higher residuals for DVDs; and whether basic-cable shows should be broadly covered by the new contract.

[SoCalDem]

1. I'm pissed that they took the week BEFORE ..off

At least they could have worked up until the strike happened..:grr:

[Radio_Lady]

2. Yes, it did seem as if it was all re-runs all the time the past week.

Hissyspit, thanks for your original post.

Respectfully,

Radio Lady in Oregon

[riverdeep]

3. Scheduled guests for this week:

Michael Gerson (op-ed for Wash Post), VALERIE PLAME WILSON!, William F. Buckley Jr. (still around?), Seinfeld.

Sucks if comes to pass. I would miss Colbert even more.

[annabanana]

4. If Comedy Central is smart.,

they'll throw money, bennies, job security, & perks out the wazoo at the writers until they can get them to agree to nice long contracts.

They've got a gold-egg laying goose that needs a little pampering.

[riverdeep]

5. On the other hand,

I only watch Stewart/Colbert on there, and loathe or am uninterested in virtually everything else. 'Mind of Mencea'? The writers need to be giving back some of that money.