Hear that sound -- a nearly inaudible rumbling coming over the horizon? Everyday it is getting louder and louder. Soon, the stampede that is the return of scripted series back from the depths of the WGA strike will overrun our televisions and computer screens, bringing overwhelming joy to our lives.
Okay, that statement may be a little flowery, but the sentiment is still there. After a very long dry period a good many of our favorite comedies and dramas are returning to the television landscape. We've had a taste of it these last few weeks with the return of shows like The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dirt, The Richesand Smallville. That was just a preview of what is to come. Over the next few weeks we will see the return of The Office, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, all of the CSIs, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost, among others.
Gallery: 2007-08 Season: After-strike series returns
Yesterday we talked about how the WGA and studios were going to enter informal talks today, and it looks like those talks have actually made some news.
The WGA announced just a short time ago that they have dropped one of their main demands, that reality and animation writers be unionized. The union members say that they are going to try other ways to organize writers that work on animation shows and reality shows.
Let me preface this super quickly: I'm glad that a lot of you enjoyed my Colbert Report post from yesterday, but I'm afraid that was just a once in a while thing because I don't have the time to do both Daily Show and Colbert Report every single night. However, when Colbert does a crazy episode (first day back, Guitarmageddon, Papa Bear's visit, etc), TV Squad will get on it. On regular nights, I might add a little Report-related note in my section for the Jon/Stephen throw and I'm totally cool with TCR discussion in the comments. So, sorry if we got your hopes up. We still love you (and Colbert).
Ahem, let's get started, shall we? First of all, the team really did follow through with The A Daily Show, which is fantastic. Probably gave the graphics people something to do since they're not designing pun-tastic images everyday.
Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.
Today, on TV Squad Daily:
Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel will guest on each other's shows this week, and the WGA is threatening disciplinary action against Leno for writing his own jokes and performing a monologue.
Ellen DeGeneres just can't stay away from controversy. Even though she hasn't done anything as ballsy as coming out (I guess you can't do that twice, can you?), which fortunately didn't tank her career, this year was a bang-up year for Ellen in the news. The first dog I am referring to in the title is, in fact, a canine. Did anybody not hear about Ellen's infamous dog story? Ellen adopted a dog from a dog agency called Mutts and Moms, and signed agreements at the time that if the adoption didn't work out, she would return the dog to the agency. I presume Ms. DeGeneres has signed contracts before, but maybe this one didn't count. Maybe this one didn't seem binding. Or maybe she was just in a hurry that day, and didn't actually read it. (MSNBC claims that DeGeneres didn't read the contract, and that her partner Portia de Rossi signed).
Sure, the WGA strike sucks. But it doesn't just suck for us, the TV viewers (or reviewers, as the case may be here at TV Squad). It sucks for a lot of people with families to support. But I don't want to be a total downer. If you have been following the strike, then you probably already know there are a lot of great resources out there. But if you haven't been reading closely, you may find these nine sites worth clicking to for more information (and, in many cases, entertainment).
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, currently in reruns due to the Writers Guild of America strike, will dig deep to air five vintage episodes. That's rarely done with the late night talk shows as the monologue and many of the movies promoted by guests are dated.
Included in the vintage rerun plans are a 1992 Tom Hanks appearance, Julia Roberts from 1993, 1995 appearances with Johnny Depp and Jennifer Aniston, and a Matt Damon 2000 appearance. As the strike continues, the late night talk shows are running out of more current reruns according to an article in The Hollywood Reporter. I would think they're also a bit concerned with losing the audience and older shows at this time would almost be "new."
As the WGA strike continues, it's not only Letterman and Leno who won't be getting paid. Many shows are already in hiatus or laying off staffers due to production shutdowns.
Show fans are searching high and low trying to find out the status of their favorite shows. Search no more. I researched the web and have compiled the most complete list I can at this time to let you know where your favorite show stands.
As the members of the Writers Guild of America continue to strike, more networks are coming up with what I'll call Plan B. What's that? Why, it's reality television, of course.
With the possibility of a long strike and some scripted shows already out of material, it's likely that most of the holes in the programming schedule will be filled by reality television shows. While reality shows do employ writers (although not necessarily called such -- they're story producers or editors, etc.), those folks are not a part of the WGA. Thus, they're willing to work and are probably looking at the situation as a cash cow.
I'm here to bring you the skinny on what the networks have planned. Remember, please don't shoot the messenger.
What would Ryan do? B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan on The Office, is also a writer for the show. So, will he show up for work today? He belongs to competing unions: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has stipulated that actors must show up for work. However, as a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), he could be fined by his union if he crosses the picket line.
Hear that sound -- a nearly inaudible rumbling coming over the horizon? Everyday it is getting louder and louder. Soon, the stampede that is the return of scripted series back from the depths of the WGA strike will overrun our televisions and computer screens, bringing overwhelming joy to our lives.
Let me preface this super quickly: I'm glad that a lot of you enjoyed my Colbert Report post from yesterday, but I'm afraid that was just a once in a while thing because I don't have the time to do both Daily Show and Colbert Report every single night. However, when Colbert does a crazy episode (first day back, 
... nine Writers' Strike supporting sites.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, currently in reruns due to the Writers Guild of America strike, will dig deep to air five vintage episodes. That's rarely done with the late night talk shows as the monologue and many of the movies promoted by guests are dated. 
As the WGA strike continues, it's not only Letterman and Leno who won't be getting paid. Many shows are already in hiatus or laying off staffers due to production shutdowns. 
As the members of the Writers Guild of America continue to strike, more networks are coming up with what I'll call Plan B. What's that? Why, it's reality television, of course.
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