Writer's Strike Thread

[bellcurve]

You'd think that bad scripts, if that's what the production companies are losing money on, wouldn't see the light of day so that there would be no profit loss to begin with.

Teehee...now who's speaking in code?

(P.S. I get the smiley...I think.)

[Sylph]

It's infectious!

[bellcurve]

[DaytimeFan]

Obviously had something to do with my post. With what, I don't know.

[Chris B]

CBS has already stopped paying showrunners who aren't working and still are threatening to sue. I did read somewhere that they were going to sue a showrunner, to prove they had the balls to do it. COuld that showrunner be LML? They really don't *have* to fire her as HW now since she wouldn't be writing now anyway.

Here's the problem, who would replace her? I've been saying that there is a bidding war for Megan McTavish and I truly believe that. If Dena Higley could get scooped up after what she did at OLTL, McT is a hot commodity in soaps. Hopefully they realize all of LML's faults and get someone closer to Bill Bell's vision. Lots of the Y&R peeps are at DAYS & B&B, with Sara Bibel joining AMC. They need to take whatever scraps are left and try to rebuild the old team.

BTW, could someone PLEASE type this article out or confirm they've seen it in SOW? I don't wanna get my hopes up!

[Shawn]

Man, I feel like I'm watching Sybil with all these different emoticons.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

BTW, could someone PLEASE type this article out or confirm they've seen it in SOW? I don't wanna get my hopes up!

Here's what the actual article says:

Sources say The Young and the Restless Lynn Marie Latham who was named head writer in Feb of 2006 and has worked as both Executive producer and head writer since Oct 2006, has been let go.

Sony Exec Steve Kent is reportly running the show until a replacement is named. Kent's title is senior exec vice president of programming and he oversees Y&R and Days. It is unclear who is writing the show at press time.

Y&R would only say that Latham, as a member of WGA, is on strike.

[Chris B]

Y&RWorldTurner, thanks for that! I still am not getting my hopes up. I'm going to wait until SOD or TV Guide pick it up. Could Y&R fans really be so lucky? Of course McTavish could be around the corner..

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Steve Kent and Sony have got to be extremely pissed at Latham for neglecting her executive producer duties, which isn't effected by the WGA strike at all. Also, add CBS' anger over their showrunners supporting the strike, I can't imagine a pleasant welcome back for Latham, once the strike is off. She's seemingly pissed off too many people. I mean Steve Kent with all his duties for Sony has to step in as a temporary executive producers, that speaks volumes.

Steve Kent's only experience with soaps was on Santa Barbara as Supervising Producer. With Jill Farren Phelps there as EP, the show won three consecutive Emmy's for Outstanding Drama Series, a team Kent was apart of...

[KAnder5695]

The consumer doesn't lose out, but everyone in the creative process does lose out. It is no different then song writers who complain about the music being downloaded on the internet for free. The production companies wanted to do some research that shows how the internet is profitable and what the fair share would be, but the WGA said no, that give them their percentage and if it isn't profitable, it wouldn't cost the production companies anything. I don't think that is necessarily true.

The writers ARE paid everytime their episodes are on TV, they jus twant to be paid MORE. But the writers are not earning any of that money. They just have their hand out and say give me, give me. The production companies have to go out and sell the product into syndication. The WGA isn't interested in being fair to everyone, they just want as much as they can and they don't care about the people on the street now. Going to location shoots with the intent of shutting it down is not fair to anyone. If they believe in their cause and believe that they deserve more, why are they acting in such an underhanded way. They aren't hurting the production companies, they are hurting the people they have worked side by side with day in and day out. If they want to picket, picket, but don't take food out of someone else's mouth (who is worse off then you) becuase you CHOSE this course of action instead of continuing to negotiate. Many contracts expire and the unions continue to negotiate. Why didn't the WGA do that, as they were in the middle of negotiations when the strike was called?

[Chris B]

Sony and Barbara Bloom have no one to blame but themselves. They gave LML too much power and allowed her to fire everyone behind the scenes. Had they not, we'd still have Ed Scott (who should've been promoted to EP) and Kathy Foster, who could very easily keep the show running during a strike.

[Toups]

But they're not getting paid when their episodes air on the internet. Why can't the studios/networks share from those profits?

[DaytimeFan]

Sony and Barbara Bloom have no one to blame but themselves. They gave LML too much power and allowed her to fire everyone behind the scenes. Had they not, we'd still have Ed Scott (who should've been promoted to EP) and Kathy Foster, who could very easily keep the show running during a strike.

Exactly. Sony and CBS allowed LML to have free reign and look at what has happened. Not only are the ratings and quality of the show down but this strike is going to wreak havoc because LML didn't prepare the show for her absence. The one thing I'll say for Kathy Foster is that I don't think she was fired, I'm under the impression she quit.

If Steve Kent is intelligent, which, frankly, I think he is, he will take a deep breath, keep the show in a holding pattern and only move storylines that need to be moved and then hire someone from the Bell regime (Kay Alden is still in the Bell fold, with a little groveling I think she'd be back in a heartbeat. Failing Kay, Natalie Minardi Slater is still on the Y&R staff and was Kay's ordained successor, she's young and has been with the show coming up 10 years, why not give her a shot). That being said, Josh Griffith worked at 'Santa Barbra' when Kent was also there so I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed on staff and in charge.

[stenbeck212]

That's an entirely different thing. Record companies and artists lose profits with illegal downloads. This strike is about production companies taking writers for a ride when they obviously earn ad revenue on the internet as well as money from dvd sales. At least Britney Spears can say her label is taking too much of her iTunes sales. Hogan Sheffer gets absolutely nothing from an airing of his show on nbc.com.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Y&RWorldTurner, thanks for that! I still am not getting my hopes up. I'm going to wait until SOD or TV Guide pick it up. Could Y&R fans really be so lucky? Of course McTavish could be around the corner..

Chris B, your belief that McTavish is in high demand worries me because of the inside info you have about Y&R. How someone even entertain the thought of hiring McTavish as a writer/story-creative consultant? Did they not watch her destroy AMC from 2005-2007? If people think LML is terrible, McTavish would put the nails into Y&R's coffin. And if ATWT & GL are on the air while she is HW of Y&R, she would be killing those shows as well. Both shows are dependant on Y&R's ratings.

If LML is indeed fired, who will be running the show? Griffith? When the strike ends, wo will be Y&R's new HW? Hamner? Hamner is worse than LML and should be demoted to a script writer or be fired. What about the new hires (aka FOLML) - will be quit or be fired? Who can take their place in a short period of time? If the new writers (after 2006-present) decide to quit immediately, Y&R is in serious trouble because the would only have less than 5 writers. This is a very precarious situation that would begin the snowball effect of cancelations beginning with GL/ATWT & DOOL.

If people can bid over McTavish, surely they would bid over the much more successful LML/Lechowick. Do anyone of you see them at GH, OLTL or AMC? I think they would be a good fit at OLTL.

Why can't Kathryn Foster be honest? Why was Sara A. Bibel fired? Does it surprise people that Natalie Minardi Slater (Alden's successor) has yet to quit or be fired? If she is making a play for HW, then that could be a good thing, right? Who will return after the strike? Who will be fired?

Chris B, do you know if CBS plans on hiring scab writers for Y&R should the strike continue past January? If so, do you know their identities/credentials/contacts (ie. friend of...). Griffith has been in the TV business for about two decades now, so I am sure he has a lot of contacts. If Guza Jr. is fired from GH, would he and Michele Val Jean join Y&R? What about those ex-GL writers (2003-2007)- would they join Y&R? Bloom is friendly with the folks at Y&R & GL. Is that why the talented Strickler joined Y&R?