In the real world, fighting for your rights has consequences. NBC has proven this by laying off the non-writing staffers on The Tonight Show. Apparently, it never occurred to some of them that this move could potentially cost them their jobs. Fortunately, Jay Leno has stepped in and offered to pay the salaries of the non-writing staff through next Saturday.Mind you, the strike isn't over. One of the bargaining conditions could be to rehire everyone. However, upon reading the article it doesn't look likely that the staffers will be rehired even if the strike ends. Frankly, I don't see why not since they have the skills and experience. NBC would likely quietly rehire them over time to save face.
I have to remind you all that I do support the writers in their effort when I say the following statement: I hope the writers weren't naive enough to think that Corporate America (or corporate entertainment for that matter) has a heart or a conscience when it comes to business. It doesn't. Most of the time (with rare exception), it cuts its losses.I do feel bad for Jay Leno. He has to keep things peaceful on both sides to keep The Tonight Show going when the strike ends. It's a tough balancing act to do and nobody will be completely satisfied as a result.
These are the costs of fighting for the greater good. Innocent bystanders tend to become casualties.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-02-2007 @ 8:31PM
Mandy said...
"I hope the writers weren't naive enough to think that Corporate America (or corporate entertainment for that matter) has a heart or a conscience when it comes to business."
I don't think they had any delusions. One of the first things the writers did when they went on strike was to start raising money for a Solidarity Fund for the crew members whose jobs would be lost.
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12-03-2007 @ 2:16AM
Brent McKee said...
And let's not forget that a lay-off is different from a firing. In this particular case the lay-off notices undoubtedly mean a temporary interruption of employment for business reasons (specifically the fact that the show isn't in production). In all likelihood the employees will be coming back once the strike is resolved. Still it hurts to be given this sort of news so close to Christmas.
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12-03-2007 @ 9:48AM
Vito said...
Pretty bad for Jay Leno, too. After The Late Shift, he did a lot to fix his image as a conniving backstabber. It doesn't help that he let this happen to his staff.
12-03-2007 @ 3:27AM
Phish said...
The writers are shooting themselves in the foot. This will definitely come back to haunt them as studios will be less likely to approve shows that require WGA writers.
nobody wants crappier programming with more ads, but thats exactly whats gonna happen.
the writers should take whatever the latest deal is and consider themselves lucky. only good writers are made producers, the rest are all easily replaceable, and it might even be good for the industry to get some totally fresh writers on the scene, instead of the morons writing shows like "2 and a half men" and "back to you"
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12-03-2007 @ 3:27AM
Dave said...
I hope these writers get fired and stay fired. Let's be honest it's not like they have the most difficult job in the world and judging by a lot of the shows we have to watch a lot of them don't even do it well. (Just watch 90% of the stuff on the Sci Fi channel to see what I mean)
These guys are crazy, I saw one story where they were comparing the fee that they get for a rerun to what they will get on the web, their is no comparison though. These guys will have the ability to have a lot more of their shows shown on the internet and thus make more income. For example, I doubt we will ever see reruns of the show Freaky Links on TV, those writers will never make another cent off that show but if they wise up this show could definately make it to the web where they might actually be able to make some cash.
I think I'll become a writer (It can't take that much talent, I saw the Aqua-Man Pilot) it has to be a lot better than a 9AM - 8PM or later that some of us have just to make a living.
Get your greedy behinds back to work.
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12-03-2007 @ 9:13AM
Vito said...
Yes. They will get paid for reruns on the Internet.... after six months. How many tv shows do you watch six months after they air? Oh, and of course let's not forget original content, they get paid for that too, right? I'm sure every bit as good as regular tv, right? You need to read more.
12-03-2007 @ 9:14AM
Vito said...
FYI, even the WEEKLY STANDARD agreed that the WGA's requests are reasonable. If you wanna call them union-sympathizers, go right ahead.
12-03-2007 @ 12:32PM
Mandy said...
"I think I'll become a writer (It can't take that much talent, I saw the Aqua-Man Pilot) it has to be a lot better than a 9AM - 8PM or later that some of us have just to make a living."
Most writers would be thrilled to work only 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It's more common to work 12- to 16-hour days. But yes, if you think it's easy and you think it pays well enough to afford what it costs to live in the LA area, by all means give it a shot. You might enjoy the work.
12-03-2007 @ 1:26PM
Brent McKee said...
"I saw one story where they were comparing the fee that they get for a rerun to what they will get on the web, their is no comparison though. These guys will have the ability to have a lot more of their shows shown on the internet and thus make more income."
Oh really. The latest AMPTP offer gives a writer $250 for a year's reuse of an hour long show on the Internet as opposed to $20,000 for a network rerun. Plus, the producers will have the right to label any reuse "promotional" which means they will pay no (zero, nothing, nada, zip, bupkis) residuals to the writers. It doesn't matter how many times the show is watched in streaming form they still only get $250. Anything less of fifteen minutes or less created directly for the web will earn the writer a single script fee of $1300 with no residuals at all. So please tell me where ". These guys will have the ability to have a lot more of their shows shown on the internet and thus make more income" cause I don't see it.
12-03-2007 @ 12:40PM
Dan Chichian said...
I think the lay-offs look worse for the networks than for the writers. It almost feels like the networks are trying to force the writers into giving in and are using the media play of layoffs at the holidays as leverage.
The Leno thing is interesting, aren't Letterman and Daly paying through the month?
Phish - If what I have read on other sites is correct the average writer makes $32,000 a year. I am sure that for many writers the royalties are what pays the rent and puts food on the table on a regular basis. It is not like when the professional ball players go on strike.
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12-03-2007 @ 6:21PM
Karen said...
I'm curious if that $32k figure is for year round full time employment or if that is the average and most don't work full time year round?
Just curious. I'm thinking writers are out of work a lot and if you averaged it in, it might be different.
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12-03-2007 @ 7:38PM
Mandy said...
I think it's hard to say, because a lot of a writer's work is done without pay. Except for a few big names, no one gets paid while they are writing scripts. Staff writers on television shows have a few months off a year, but since many of their workdays are over 12 hours they often end up working more hours over the course of a year than a person with a 40- or 50-hour workweek who works all year long.