Writer's Guild of America officially going on Strike

[rowan sjet]

Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21570821/)

Television and movie screen writers said Thursday they would go on strike for the first time in nearly 20 years in a dispute over royalties.
So how are people here affected? Are you a big fan of scripted television, do you only go for reality tv type shows, or do you not watch any television at all? Should the Writers be going on this strike?

I know I'm disappointed that I (almost definately) won't be getting full seasons of my favourite shows this year but the Writers have good reason for it. Apparently, Heroes (http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/31910928?r=60010238#60010238) is having the 11th episode reshot to be a season ender so I know that series will get a proper ending.

[General Nuke Em]

As long as documentaries (e.g. history channel type stuff) aren't affected by these guys I don't give a damn.

[Splitstar]

I agree completely with GNE, but unfortunately i don't think we will be as lucky.

Also, i hate to break it to you. But reality TV shows are scripted. Some more then others but they all have an element of planning and scripting.

[Mac_Bug]

All I know is now Jay Leno is using this as an excuse for some of his lamer jokes :spin:

[Paladin]

Probably unwise in the face of "Reality" tv's growing stranglehold... They're just going to strike themselves out of their jobs :/

[Retroboy]

At least they, unlike the RIAA, are trying to keep their jobs and work in line with the advances in technology. The reason for the strike is to modify their compensation model to account for the increasing number of "new business model" stuff that their current contract didn't have.
The key financial issue in the talks involves changing the formula for paying writers a share of DVD revenue, then applying the same equation to money made from material offered over the Internet and other digital platforms.I have friends with full-series collections of 24, Lost, and some other older shows that I never watched, and so I'll be okay through this. TBH, I haven't really picked up much fall TV this year.

-- Retro

[Cyberbob]

Please, please let this not affect Heroes. I think I'll cry if it does. :(

EDIT: Just re-read the OP. Phew. :p

[Kirjava]

I'm hoping House and 24 aren't hit by this either... :S

That said, I'm usually supportive of strike actions.

[Starfisher]

There goes BSG.

I just hope South Park survives. I mean, they seem to do it all themselves. I bet we see an episode on this soon.

[Cyberbob]

There goes BSG.

OSHI :cry:

I think I'll go have a sulk in a corner for a while. This strike had better be over quickly, or Wayne Brady's gonna have some fun.

[scoiatollo]

Seriously that's crap!

Final Scrubs started, House is at his best, Heroes is getting more interesting (season 1 ending was pretty lame and the first 3 episodes of season 2 weren't that good either), Aliens in America is becoming more and more interesting, Weeds is nearly at the season final etc.

The reasons are okay imho, but it will be a hard time...

Thinking about it, I spend a little too much time watching TV shows^^

[Nurizeko]

That okay, BSG was starting to smell a bit anyway. Let alone a strike their writers should have been fired.

Overall I support the general idea of improving payment and all that huzzah its all good and stuff, but on the other hand, so many scripted shows are shit I can't say I'll miss their work. :|

[ZellFish]

Hey! Maybe we'll get some good movies finally :D! Ahaahaha... But really, I don't think it'll be that bad. The companies will cave in, agree to a modified version of the contract, and move on, just like they did with the UAW.

[FerociousBeast]

Bleh, okay. I don't watch TV anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

- Coal-soaked miners going on strike to raise themselves out of near poverty: I sympathize.
- Railroad workers going on strike for the same reasons: I sympathize.
- TV writers living in L.A. and no doubt driving very expensive cars yet wanting even MORE expensive cars: I can't really get too excited about this one, sorry.

Not saying it's not justified, maybe it is. But I just don't care. Anyway, I much prefer movies even though the last couple years have largely sucked.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

writers are not rich people ;p

[Plasma]

Not a massive loss to the world really.

Best outcome: Writers strike out independently, strike unresolved.
Middling outcome: Strike continues indefindetly and we are spared the recent years wave of rehash and drivel.
Worst outcome: Movie/tv studios compromise and its back to business as usual.

[FerociousBeast]

"writers are not rich people ;p"

Okay. But they live in LA, so they're not coal miner poor...

[Splitstar]

Unless the writers actually live in the valley.

Such poverty would make a coal miner blush.

[SubakuGaara]

um... I'm not going to die so ok. Strike whatever. As long as its not the videogame makers guild of america cause if it were, there'd be rioting in the streets.

[Paladin]

Gamers in general are too out of shape to go riot.

But honestly, I see this driving more trash reality TV into the market. "Those damn lousy writers want more money? Screw it, put on more film of random people being asshats. The public laps that shit up, and we don't have to pay writers a dime!"

[El Russo]

It pains me to say it, but this series of Heroes could do with being put out of its misery. I'm addicted so I'll watch it, but it has got a bit sloppy. Even the online comics are a bit dull...

[Kirjava]

I must admit- and I don't especially want to- that the latest episode was... meh. Hardly vintage, let's put it that way.

[Starblade]

Gamers in general are too out of shape to go riot.

We'd form blogs, online petitions, and poorly spelled emails and tape the caps lock key down.

[CommodoreKitty]

As long as documentaries (e.g. history channel type stuff) aren't affected by these guys I don't give a damn.

QFT. I do not watch normal t.v, only the educational programing, and south park. If the writers want to strike, let them strike, so long as they are not violating their contracts (which they very well could be, but I do not know that so I am reserving judgment) they have every right to. If anything, the people who do not get to see their favorite shows will get pissed off and either demand a compromise get made, or demand new writers be hired.

[snrjefe]

Well, if it helps the entertainment industry get it's shit together around online distribution of their content, then yay. If it just creates a glut of new reality and game shows, then boo. The biggest problem I have isn't the lack of new show scripts, but the impact on the overall SoCal economy in the wake of the firestorm. When shows aren't being made, sets aren't built, hotel rooms sit idle, restaraunts slow down, and the entire SoCal economy will feel the pain. (I've heard local economy impact estimates nearing a half a billion dollars.)

[LoCo]

Not every writer in the Guild has a million in pocket change. A lot of these people have buckets full of talent, but somehow it is always the actors and directors that get the money. Without the writers, the actors and directors would be out of jobs.

For all you people saying it won't affect you ... how about taking a look at the world around you for a change. Not everything is about you. You say "Fuck them, it doesn't matter to me!" but what about them? Their families? What about the rest of the world being lobotomized by so called "Reality TV".

Not to mention that as snrjefe pointed out, the effect will be larger than simply not having new ideas for scripted entertainment. Many people's jobs depend on writers to write.

On top of which, how many authors, game developers and journalists do you think will sympathise with those writers in the Guild? They are, after all, writers too. Stories and entertainment don't just happen.

It almost sounds like some of you people have contempt for the Guild and its writers. Like what they do isn't important. Yet they have a very large roll in the world. What they do affects more people than what most of you do. How about a little respect.

If you don't have anything nice to say about them, then maybe explain why instead of spouting shit.

On a side note:

Heroes is suffering from bad writing, I don't know if it is the writer's fault, or that of others editing it to make it appeal to that ever present crowd pleasing mentality. Either way, it needs to be fixed up some.

[HunterX]

The only way this is going to affect any of the weekly series is if this strike goes on until after the new year. The next seasons are already written and most of the kinks are worked out of the scripts (at least the ones the director doesn't take care of while shooting). The only thing this will affect immediately are talk shows and soap operas that are written on a daily/weekly basis. Oh, and Saturday Night Live.

I feel for them, I really do and I hope their demands are met, but in the grand scheme of things in television land, this is a pretty big yawn. More than likely they'll come to agreement by the end of next week. These kinds of strikes in the entertainment industry never last much longer than that.

[Ammon Ra]

Meh. Don't really watch that much TV, and most of it is Documentaries or News. Most, not all. I watch the occasional 20 minutes of a show, but then get bored of it, and retire to my faithful pc. :D

Although, it seems logical that they should go on strike since their current contract don't support digital [internet, if i understand this correctly] distribution, so they're loosing out.

Hate reality-tv. Such a load of *beep* that has no entertainment value, or any other value IMO, except maybe for sociologists, psychologists and their kin.

[M37]

I think what makes this an intresting situation is that many of the common stances seen here are all right to some extent.

1. WGA is not geting a fair share with DVD and other new media releses of thier hard work.
2. Most WGA members are paid ok but not spectacularly
3. some WGA members get huge paychecks
4. A lot of what is on TV is crap and feels like its been recycled. - this includes good shoes like 24, house ect...
5. with dozens of options that did not exist 20 years ago, a long strike could end up doing more damange to WGA jobs.
6. TV execs are likly to turn to cheap realty TV/ repeats/ movie of the week or other stuff that doesn't demand WGA members imput.
6. Something tells me without people noticing the WGA strike nothing will change - studios may eventually look at the various sports lockouts and see how they dammanged the industry.

What should be done
1. WGA needs to get their publicity into high gear and take thier cause to the viewing public. There was only one low-quality statement on Youtube when I checked yesterday evening. - they need to make people realize that not all writers make 100 grand plus. - If they do the US audience will support them due to the impression theat they are all in the same boat with the US market bottoming out recently.

2. Studios should ask themselves - what happens if people leave TV during prime time during winter? - the TV season may be bust but people may or may not return.

3. Sponsors should try and get a speedy resolution as fewer people watching TV means fewer people are likely to buy your product

My 0.02 cents.

[FifteenHours]

meh...I don't care...it's TV...TV can eat it really for all I care. I enjoy watching South Park and Metalocalypse....but if either of those shows stopped happening cause of strikes I would survive easily. I don't even have Television in my apartment, cause I really don't care...I'll just watch stuff if I'm with someone who's watching it hehe. Otherwise I really don't care about TV.

[Reignfire]

All I know is now Jay Leno is using this as an excuse for some of his lamer jokes
If Leno is a writer on his show, then he has to go on strike too. That's the same reason why there's not going to be any new Daily Show eps because of Jon Stewart also being a writer for his show. :(

[the herald]

If this effects the last season of scrubs I may cry, if not then its really not that much of a problem for me :D