Also: NBC pulls two shows – but one is moving to digital. Fox 32 downgrades local show; Bless The Harts renewed for season two To say Chicago stations had a busy week is quite an understatement: in addition to reminding viewers (constantly) about re-scanning their sets, news stations were covering the second Chicago Public School Teachers strike in the last […]
Here we go again? The story in Tuesday’s New York Post suggests another Writer’s Strike may be on tap, ten years after the last one crippled Hollywood for one hundred days. The Writer’s Guild of America is slated to start negotiations on March 13. The current three-year contract ends on May 1 – timed to coincide with the Upfront presentations […]
While there is currently labor discord in the NFL and with public employees in Wisconsin, there is labor peace in one place where there was turmoil nearly four years ago – Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America and The Association of Motion Picture of Television Producers – who represents the major Hollywood studios and the television networks – reached a […]
This slogan isn’t just for Chicago Bulls and Chicago Bears fans… It’s also used for a TV season that has been plagued by audience erosion, increases in alternative viewing options, and of course – a writer’s strike. TV Week analyzes the season remembered more for viewers fleeing for the exits from prime-time television more than anything else.
Maybe its the writers’ strike. Maybe its the Cubs’ post-season run. Maybe its the Blackhawks’ resurgence. Maybe its the Celtics and Lakers making noise in the NBA playoff race. Maybe its the hugely successful NFL post-season. Whatever it is, sports is gaining viewers from a year ago, and all sports are benefiting. Even a Cubs exibition game from nine days […]
So, who won and lost in the just-concluded writer’s strike? Aaron Barnhart of TV Barn breaks it all down. One notable winner: Nikki Finke of LA Weekly and her Deadline Hollywood Daily blog, which proved more reliable than the trades (notably Variety) and the mainstream media in breaking the latest developments in the strike. One notable loser: David Letterman. All […]
All right, the strike is finally over. Now comes the toughest task of all: trying to win the viewers back. When Major League Baseball went on strike in 1994 and when the NHL players were locked out twice in the last fifteen years, it hurt both sports tremendously, and some teams are still feeling the effects. Locally, the Chicago White […]
It’s finally over. With 92.5 percent of the vote, the WGA on both coasts voted to return to work effective on Wednesday, ending the 14-week strike which cost everybody involved – the networks, the advertisers, the city of Los Angeles, the studios – and the writers. Snoopy: (c) United Features Syndicate, Inc.
WGA West and WGA East are expected to vote on Tuesday whether or not to accept the tentative agreement hammered out by the studios and the guild. If the writers accept the deal (and that is likely the case), production could resume on many TV series by midweek. The WGA Strike Central section on the sidebar of this blog will […]
Click here for details. UPDATE: At 2:51 p.m.. Details are emerging of the tentative agreement. You can click here to read.
And in only six days. All right -Writer’s Guild, AMPTP – your turn. Let’s end this strike.
Finally, some good came from the writer’s strike… NBC will air a paired-down version instead. In other news, the guild has signed a side deal with United Artists, allowing the writers who work there to return to the job. This latest incarnation of the studio is partly joint-owned by Tom Cruise and long time production partner Paula Wagner.
The first deal the Writer’s Guild made since the strike began is for Late Show with David Letterman. The new interim deal covers not only Letterman’s show, but Craig Ferguson’s as well, since Letterman owns his show and Ferguson’s (a main stipulation in the CBS deal when he came to the Tiffany Network in 1993.) New shows began January 2, […]
Good news for fans of the Comedy Central duo. The bad news is, like everybody else, they’re returning without their writers.
He will join Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien in doing shows without writers on Jan. 2.