Writer's Strike Thread

[juppiter]

While it's true that Marland left behind plans at ATWT, the pace of the show slowed to that of molasses. The scabs were told to fill time and only tell as much story as they must. Lots of dream sequences, false starts, throwaway dialogue, etc.

[JackPeyton]

i think it would be great if scabs came on and turned the soaps upside down!!

[JackPeyton]

so i think i have decided to go picket with them. for many reasons. mostly because i agree with why they are doing it. and for those who say they are stupid for it - are you kidding? all they want is a cut of the profit from the product they MAKE. actors get tons from dvd sales and what not, and im sorry but writers have much more to do with it than actors - look as the cast of friends. they all have okay, at best, careers now. the writing made that show. there is no reason they should be getting tons of money and the writers get 4 cents.

and as for them not settling and kletting the net's do "reserch" on enw media - can you blame them? when the last deal was made they were suposed to redo it after VHS results were in. we are a long way from VHS and still no redo. so i dont blasme them at all.

and bravo to the stars who are out there pickiting and showing support.

[Sylph]

She has to.

[JackPeyton]

no she does not HAVE to. no one HAS to. they prefer them to but they are not forced. every WGA member is not picketing.

[Paul Raven]

One story the scab writers came up with on Another World was Cass and Nicole's encounter with the ghost Nora.This was a story devised to keep the two involved in a story but not really deal with their relationship,as they were not sure if Lemay wanted them together or apart.

Also,Mikey,the little boy Donna and Michael got involved with was a 'scab' story.

[bellcurve]

No ma'am! I respectfully disagree.

Her PORT CHARLES started off on the right foot(she got the ball rolling on a few things), but she and her equally-as-terrible writing partner, Scott Hamner, wrote the God-Awful "General Homicide" murder mystery that made no sense whatsoever and the then-killer had no other motive aside from being "crazy." I even believe Julie was seen in the ballroom clapping at the final act when Jake Marshak was found murdered. DL-56?! I mean, really?! Scott and Lucy having unprotected Everglades Sex?! Kevin and Eve in the racecar beds? Kevin and Eve just as a couple in general?! Rachel Locke, the Sheila Carter clone?!

It took the underrated and unfortunately short stint of Karen Harris to really get me to give a damn about any of the characters on that show. She spent the entire year reversing a lot of the damage Lethal and (especially) Hamner created for PC.

I can't wait to see Nick and Sharon get it on in Noah's Racecar bed.

[bellcurve]

LMAO! Honey, be careful what you wish for.

If Lethal leaves with that hubby of hers, guess who'll have HW duties at Y&R?

Scott Hamner. Yes, as in Scott "Psychic Espionage" Hamner. As in Scott "I'm Gonna Randomly Pick The General Homicide Killer" Hamner. As in Scott "Who Gives a **** Who Murdered Carmen Mesta" Hamner.

The apocalypse will be among us if Lethal leaves. Because Scott Hamner is chomping at the bit to HW the show.

[Sylph]

From Ted Elliott (avoid the tone, next time, OK?):

Here’s the text of Strike Rule 10, with the sentence relevant to your situation highlighted:

10. You must picket and/or perform other strike support duties and cooperate with Guild committees charged with enforcement of the Strike Rules and each Guild’s Constitution.

In the event of a strike, Guild members will be called upon to picket at specific locations and/or to perform other vital strike support duties, such as making or answering telephone calls or e-mail at strike headquarters. Absent a valid medical excuse, non-writing employment, compelling personal circumstances [necessary child or elder care] or emergency, you are obligated to perform these duties when and where requested. If there is a personal circumstance making strike support duties impossible when requested, members are required to arrange alternate times to contribute to the strike effort.

When requested, you must also cooperate with the Strike Disciplinary Committee in an investigation or with a trial committee convened to hear evidence concerning alleged violations of the Strike Rules or conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild.

[Sylph]

I know that, I wasn't saying that at all. The contradictory part was: you say there are great writers out there with fabulous bibles, yet if the bibles would come to life they would shove the shows into the ground. How come? Besides, I don't believe in that tale that somewhere in the Universe there's this underestimated and forgotten writer with a script so perfect it's amazing, yet with all these studio executives and their policies, the script never comes to life... You know, one of those urban legends that somewhere on the shelves of script readers lie amazing screenplays waiting for someone to discover them...

Networks receive every year tens of thousands of scripts, only about 2% are worthwhile, normal, maybe filmable, other scripts are just plain bullsh!t; also the honchos always choose tested and known show runners to manage that 0.2% of shows that get made because that is how they manage their risks and have some sort of guarantee that the show will have some chance of succeeding. Ann Donahue, CSI:Miami show runner, had to pass through four well-known (and how many more lesser-known writers) to achieve the success she's now living with CSI...

[Sylph]

Not much, no. Remember when you and I had a similar conversation a while back when we said that it's better to pull the plug on the show now then see it bleed to death even more... Nothing has changed since then. Just cancel it, this is a pain...

I don't think so – look at Hardin Lemay, introducing new families and shifting the focus of a show... Or Douglas Marland and his families... Or even Bill Bell – the families he started with on Y&R are not the ones we see today...

[Sylph]

Because no one has reinvented a thing... The big makeover is yet to happen...

[TC]

If you don't, just drive by and honk like crazy. A poster at another board had been picketing at Universal and said the suits sent down some poor intern to complain about the honking and begged them to stop encouraging it.

[NeoAngelicLiz]

This whole thing is beyond stupid.

And as a viewer I'm finding that I don't really care as much as I thought I would...I mean really...no Tonight Show with Jay Leno? Umm okay I'll just go play Halo 3 or read a novel or most importantly catch up on the sleep I should have had the night before...

In short both sides are dumb. The writers especially since these shows are probably going to hire new writers or just wait it out and not give them anything.

[stenbeck212]

They won't just hire new people unaffiliated with the WGA. Get used to that. If that were to happen, the entertainment industry would enter a new phase as a business exclusive of unions. Before that happens, every production on the air would gain a reputation as employee repellent. Why else would people estimate how much material there is to shoot? Because once they run out, they're done for, and there's no expectation of the scab hiring done in 1988.