It's been over two months since the WGA Strike officially ended. While most people probably assume that everything is back to normal, especially since most shows have returned with new episodes over the past few weeks, there's an interesting article over at the LA Times explaining why things aren't so great in Hollywood. Especially for TV crew members.
While the country itself seems to be spinning into a recession as necessities such as gas, milk, and eggs jump in price, many below-the-line TV crew workers (propmasters, make-up artists, electricians, and set carpenters, etc.) are experiencing their own economic crisis.
(S12E04) The South Park guys are going after the Writer's Guild of America, and it's about time.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not members of any of the unions, and they negotiated Internet profit-sharing before it became an issue for the WGA. They have also remained consistent with their dislike of the Hollywood creative elite (including actors and writers, although they are both) and their willingness to take a different viewpoint than the popular media.
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
On a night when Seth MacFarlane's mother is willing to come onstage and in exchange for her son paying off one of her credit cards, she'll say, "Suck my dick, Carnegie Hall," you know anything is possible.
Last night MacFarlane and Alex Borstein (she voices Lois on Family Guy) played to a sold out room at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. While their benefit show for the Writer's Guild of America East and the Actors Fund might have seemed out of place in the house that music from the likes of Beethoven and Bach helped to build, the two comedians wasted no time in making the whole room feel like a filthy dive bar. Obscene. Insulting. Vulgar. Enjoyable.
Right from the start it was no holds barred, as Borstein introduced herself and the theme for the evening: pretend you're on the subway and you just picked up "some retard's iPod."
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.
Following in the footsteps of the recent Colbert Report and 30 Rock shows at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theatre in NYC, Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane along with Alex Borstein (she voices Lois) are putting on a benefit show for the WGA East at Carnegie Hall on January 31st. Janeane Garofalo and Patti LuPone will be making special appearances.
I saw an ad for the show in the newspaper this morning and checked out the Carnegie Hall website the second I got into work. Looks like the show is supposed to feature a night of "music and comedy." Sounds great! The idea of hearing McFarlane spout jokes in the voices of Peter, Stewie, Brian, or Quagmire in a live show is pretty cool if you think about. Plus, it's even funnier if you consider all the cultured events that have been hosted at Carnegie Hall over the years. Orchestras. Theater. Opera. And now Peter Griffin saying "penis" and giggling.
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).
I don't want a lot for Festivus. There is just one thing I need --
Well, by "one thing", I really meant "six TV-related requests", but that's still not asking for much. Please, mysterious Festivus entity, I promise that I've been a good girl and that I have done my absolute best to properly preface all of my spoilerific posts. I also promise to make a much better effort in 2008 to be less creepy to all my favorite TV stars (sorry, Mr. Colbert). Super swear. All I want is...
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).
It's been over two months since the WGA Strike officially ended. While most people probably assume that everything is back to normal, especially since most shows have returned with new episodes over the past few weeks, there's an interesting article over at the LA Times explaining why things aren't so great in Hollywood. Especially for TV crew members.
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.
On a night when Seth MacFarlane's mother is willing to come onstage and in exchange for her son paying off one of her credit cards, she'll say, "Suck my dick, Carnegie Hall," you know anything is possible.
Following in the footsteps of the recent 
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, 
I don't want a lot for Festivus. There is just one thing I need --
... nine Writers' Strike supporting sites.
Giveaways reminder: Office, Eli Stone, Supernatural, South Park
Giveaway Thursday: Tickets to the New York Television Festival ... all of it!
I miss the media-friendly John McCain - VIDEOS
