Strike clock set to Monday(Writers(WGA) Strike)

Variety ^ | 11/01/07 | DAVE MCNARY

[Santa Fe_Conservative]

Hollywood's holding its collective breath about a writers strike as prospects for a last-minute deal evaporated.

Some 12,000 WGA members could go on strike as early as today. But the emerging consensus was that the official start of the work stoppage would be at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

Waiting until after the weekend would enable the WGA to hit multiple locations with pickets on Monday morning and notify members of the Teamsters -- the only Hollywood union that's told individual members that they should honor picket lines. It would also allow the WGA to assert that it had given the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers one last chance to revamp its proposals.

[Santa Fe_Conservative]

Goodbye television. Of course you just KNOW most of the screenwriters will break the union rules and will ghostwrite undercover just like back in the strike of 1988 for certain shows that didn't want scabs to write.

[af_vet_rr]

There’s actually been some decent stuff on this season, but it sounds like we’ll get stuck with a lot of “reality” shows.

[DakotaRed]

If all the writers go on strike, the up side is that all of the outspoken bigmouth celebreties braying on against the war on terror and such, will have nothing to say.

[Ingtar]

I wonder if they have enough episodes of 24 in the can to rename it 12 for this year.

[Smokin' Joe]

Does this include the writers for the newsreaders as well?

Hmmm. Sounds like one of those ‘horrible’ Gubmint shutdowns to me, where nonessential personnel get the day off. (If they are nonessential, why are we paying them, anyway?)

[Secret Agent Man]

OMG there won’t be anyone writing tired drivel for washed up liberal actors to read?

[Santa Fe_Conservative]

Newswriters actually have their own union, which may strike over at CBS later this month...

[Don W]

WGA=Writer’s Guild of America?

NO. WGARA?

Who Gives A Rat’s A** ?

[karnage]

It will be interesting to see how many politically-active celebs refuse to cross the picket line - or even join it.

... Crickets...

[television is just wrong]

Television is just wrong.

I decided that on the last strike.

I have friends and relatives in the industry. I still think Television is just wrong.

[Enchante]

YAWN. The drones of the WGA can just go away, as far as I’m concerned..... I almost never watch any of their product anyway. The world can do just fine without them (my world, anyway!). Let TV be sports all the time, plus news footage if we could ever get rid of the liberal anchors and producers, along with classic movies (the good ones) and existing historical documentaries (the good ones). They can take all their lousy sitcom and drama crap and shove it where the sun won’t shine.

Generating bad new content every week is just an employment program for leftist hacks.

I’ll be happy to re-shape the TV landscape for America and we won’t even need a WGA anymore!!

[GOP_Raider]

The unions in the biz don’t make things any better. In fact, I think they’re a main reason why it is, as you put it, wrong.

[napscoordinator]

This is so stupid. They cry about ratings and then they do something selfish like this. This could be the destruction of television as we know it. 1988 they went on strike and they never recovered. They are the most stupid people alive. It is stunning that they are pulling their own plug on the life support. And I am one person who actually loves to watch TV!!!! Not too many of us left and they are pushing us away too. Dumb!!!!!!!

[Nathan Zachary]

Good! I hope they are locked out forever. I’m sick and tied of one sided attacks on our government and country. I’m sick and tired of fag and lesbo TV. I’m sick and tired of minority TV and laugh tracks. No matter what sitcom, I hear the same person laughing every time there is a punch line.

[Joe Boucher]

T.V. writers go on strike and nobody notices or cares/

[cbkaty]

Oh the humanity....

How shall we carry on without Letterman (wiping tears from my eyes)?

[MrPiper]

T.V. writers go on strike and nobody notices or cares

Must agree, the TV in my house is not hooked to cable or antenna, just to the DVD player. Old John Wayne movies ya know!

[television is just wrong]

my stepfather, (an actor) was in that movie.

[Joe Boucher]

No Oprey or dr. pill?

[RayChuang88]

I think what really worries people is that if the WGA strike drags out it could merge with the potential SAG/AFTRA and DGA strike starting in July 2008. Now THAT will cause a financial disaster, with several entertainment companies forced into bankruptcy (and GE forced to severely write down losses at NBC Universal).