Posted on 11/06/2007 7:28:04 PM PST by Libloather
Strikes Halting Production On 7 Shows
Writers Guild, Producers Deadlocked Over Revenue From DVDs and Downloads
Nov 6, 2007 8:31 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS News) A producer of the hit ABC show "Desperate Housewives" says the show will stop production because it has run out of scripts due to the writers strike.
Alexandra Cunningham says filming of the show's 10th episode of the season will finish on Wednesday.
She says ABC will run out of new episodes to air before Christmas.
Meanwhile, production has stopped on at least six sitcoms filmed before live audiences because of the Hollywood writers strike.
"Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, will not return from a planned hiatus on Wednesday. said Chris Alexander, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television.
Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus said production has also stopped on her CBS show, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
In addition, the sitcoms "Til Death," which airs on Fox, and "Rules of Engagement," "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory," all on CBS, will also end filming, according to people familiar with production of the shows who were not authorized to be quoted and requested anonymity.
It was not immediately clear how many of the shows might already be finished.
Network officials referred calls to companies producing each show.
The first strike by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years got under way with pickets on both coasts after last-minute negotiations on Sunday failed to produce a deal on payments to writers from shows offered on the Internet.
Right now, the writers get nothing and they want 2.5 percent of the profits, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker. The studios and producers are offering far less, claiming the technology is too new and their profits too slim.
No new negotiations were scheduled.
Pickets returned to studios in Los Angeles and New York as the strike by the Writers Guild of America entered its second day
In Toluca Lake, Calif., near Warner Bros. studio, writers converged on a house that serves as a location shoot for "Desperate Housewives."
"We write the story-a, Eva Longoria," about 30 strikers chanted, referring to one star of the hit ABC show.
"It is a very serious business," said Larry Wilmore, a writer on "The Daily Show," explaining the protesters were marching "so we can get back to being funny."
Shooting continued inside the house despite the protests, said Chandler Hayes, a spokesman for ABC.
The protesters were joined by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
"I'm really here because I'm a union member," said Louis-Dreyfus, a member of the Screen Actors Guild whose husband is a member of the writers guild.
"If we prevent them from working today, that's a small victory," she said.
In New York, strikers picketed outside Silver Cup Studios in Queens, the site of shooting for "30 Rock" and "Gossip Girls."
The strike began Monday after last-minute negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to produce a deal.
"People seem pretty upbeat and determined for now," reported CBS Radio correspondent Claudia Peschiutta from the picket line outside the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank on the strike's first day.
"The question is, how will people feel if this strike drags on as long as the last one strike went on for in 1988? That one lasted for more than five months, and it would be difficult for some of these writers to be without a paycheck for that amount of time."
The walkout immediately sent late-night comedy shows going into reruns.
It will not immediately have an impact on production of movies or most prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and many TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
Nick Counter, chief negotiator for the producers union, said he expected a long standoff.
"We're hunkered down for a long one," he said Monday. "From our standpoint, we made every good faith effort to negotiate a deal, and they went on strike. At some point, conversations will take place. But not now."
Writers said the next move was up to the studios.
"My hope is that it won't be too long," said John Bowman, chief negotiator for the writers.
Some producers were torn about trying to keep filming finished scripts.
Tim Kring, a producer and writer of the NBC hit "Heroes," said he had to revise the ending of the show's 11th episode on the chance that it might be the last one to air this season.
"Fortunately we were able to hustle back," Kring said from a picket line in an effort to shut down the show. "The audience won't be left in a lurch."
While scripted shows suffer from the strike, reality shows could flourish because they don't use union writers, despite an aggressive attempt by the writers guild to organize the staffers on the programs.
Viewers could also check out more entertainment on the Internet, ranging from user-generated fare on YouTube to professionally produced shows such as "Quarterlife."
Writers have not gone on strike since 1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
I wonder if they are looking for scab writers...
Grey’s Anatomy is also part of the shut down, though new eps should be shown until Jan. ABCs new hit show (my fav) Private Practice, will not be affected by the strike.
One can only hope that all the CSIs go off the air. What a waste of electricity!
I’m searching really hard to find the downside to this development...
I’ve been interested to see the Drudge hoopla about this.
I couldn’t care less about a TV writers’ strike.
Ho-wood vs Islam. My money is on Islam.
Maybe somebody can write a script starring a white heterosexual Dad who happens tp be a good role model... Nah, too controversial..
May the strike last a thousand years...
Now known as GayBC.
No loss here.
Fire them all and start over. Except for The Unit and Numb3rs all I care about watching on TV is sports and some PBS stuff anyway.
And Islam is involved how?
“That and Law & Order! If it were not for those two shows, I would have nothing to watch!”
Respectfully.....
You already have nothing to watch......IMHO.
take care....
Didn’t you know? They’re all gay muslim socialists who worked in the subprime mortgage industry prior to turning to writing.
The writers just want part of that “green” these guys have been touting. Maybe they will turn the lights off for good.
They would rather blow up Hollywood than watch anything that comes from that place.
It maybe time to blame Robert Redford...
Oh no! What will I do without my nightly dose of poo-poo and pee-pee jokes?
Figures the Hollywood writers can’t come up with a decent chant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.