Writer's Strike Thread

[Toups]

Are they soap writers? If so, I hope one is Dena Higley so she'll be banned from soaps for good. Now we need to get McTavish, Malone, Guza, B&E and Passanante to go FiCore.

The 5 are staff writers, not head writers. So far, no HWs have gone fi-core. But of course that could change as the strike continues.

[Chris B]

Would the FiCore staff writers be promoted to strike-headwriter, since the headwriters are on strike? One article mentioned they'd be hiring writers with soap experience who aren't working. I wonder if they'll be able to get decent names to scab. Most of the good soap writers are out of work, so they're certainly around to ask.

[Vee]

My assumption for now is that anyone going FiCore is the scab HW. It's certainly my assumption for Josh G. at Y&R and Gary Tomlin at OLTL.

Both shows could do much worse than those two men - though Griffith has not done well at Y&R, I don't think it's his kind of show, and Gary is a good man but lacked all subtlety and taste in his stories when he was last running OLTL - but I have lost some respect for them.

[Sylph]

Which shows she has at least a pinch of integerity... Here I am, defending Lynn Marie Latham... Now I'm going to be accused again (!) of being Vincent... Can't wait.

[Sylph]

But haven't you said at one point that he isn't the one because of all his primetime pilots etc.? Do you know this for sure? Or is it just an assumption?

[AmandainNC28655]

I did happen to speak to a soap star(I would rather not say their name, not knowing if someone from their show is reading this) and in passing happened to ask them about the writers strike. I happened to comment that daytime viewers of this show and all shows in general were interested to see how things were going to play out...The stars response was "Yea we are too," followed by a chuckle.

I know that some of the performers in daytime do support the writers and think the strike is great thing, while some don't especially those who were around the last time a strike happened. However, some of the networks have a clause written into the stars contracts which I think prevents them from vocally supporting or picketing along with the writers. The star I mentioned above stated something along these lines.

I just hope that some good will come to AMC, as that is the main show I watch(others are Y&R and ATWT). I have been sorely disappointed by B&E and thought "WTF" when I read that they were named head writers. I wish ABC would get Broderick back or one of these FiCore would come forward and write this show. Yesterday's AMC was quite good actually.

Have a great weekend all and thanks for letting me be part of this soap community.

[Sylph]

[slapintheface]

I hope it ends soon... the last time something like this happened shows went off the air and never came back...

[Khan]

Not by me, you won't, lol!

[exwriter]

I was wrong to defend josh. he did go FiCore. That is a fact. I should never have defended him, and I'm sorry I did so.

[TC]

So what's the known count now? Aside from Griffith, who else has gone FiCore? Tomlin?

[Khan]

Has anyone heard anything more about the "Latham Off Y&R?" item in SOW?

[Chris B]

Hopefully in Monday's Suds Report they get some scoop about LML. THe writer hates her, so I'm sure he'll be on the story.

[ljacks13]

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Studio suspends "Office," "30 Rock" actors

Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:37pm EST

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As the writers strike nears the end of its second week with no resolution in sight, the most dreaded phrase in Hollywood is making the rounds: force majeure.

Producer Universal Media Studios on Thursday began notifying the regulars on NBC's "Bionic Woman," "The Office" and "30 Rock" that the studio is suspending them on half-pay for five weeks, citing the force majeure provisions in their Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contracts.

While deals with actors allow for the force majeure -- or "greater force" -- option right after production is suspended, such a contract clause could be invoked for writers very soon if the strike continues. Most writers' production deals trigger the termination clause four to six weeks into a stoppage, but in some, the cushion is said to be only two weeks.

That means that as of Monday, studios could start terminating their overall pacts with writers.

Since the beginning of the strike on November 5, TV studios have been debating how to deal with series regulars -- whether to invoke the force majeure clause that allows them to terminate actors for unanticipated or uncontrollable reasons put them on hiatus or do something else.

On Friday, Sony Pictures TV took a different tack, notifying the regulars on two of the sitcoms it produces-- Fox's "'Til Death" and CBS' "Rules of Engagement" -- that they are being put on unpaid hiatus, remaining exclusive to the studio.

That move didn't sit well with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which represents the two shows, or with SAG.

Both unions called putting actors on unpaid hiatus a violation of the SAG-AFTRA joint TV contract, which expires June 30, and vowed to take action against it.

According to SAG's interpretation of Section 61 of its collective bargaining agreement, the studios have three options in case of a strike: put series regulars on hold at full salary, suspend them for a period of up to five weeks at half-pay or terminate them.

If, like Universal, the studios opt for suspension, the performers themselves, according to SAG, can terminate their deals at the end of the five-week period. If they don't do that, the studios can choose to keep the regulars with full pay or end their deals.

Upon termination, actors are no longer paid and are free to do other projects. When production on the shows resumes, they are guaranteed to be rehired by the studios under the original terms of their deals.

The actors have to make an effort to accommodate the series, but their new projects are in first position. That would work well for in-demand-actors like "The Office" star Steve Carell, who can go off to do a movie without having to worry that an end of the strike would cut short his shoot.

During hiatus, however, actors must drop whatever they might be doing and report to their series immediately if those shows resume.

At least two other TV studios have been toying with the idea of putting actors on hiatus, but none has triggered that option since SAG and AFTRA's stern reaction to Sony's letters.

Meanwhile, a letter sent earlier this week to employees by Warner Bros. TV, was making the rounds Thursday. It estimates that, if the writers strike continues, all of its series -- which include "ER," "Without A Trace," "Cold Case" and the promising rookie "Pushing Daisies" -- will shut down in the next six to seven weeks, possibly leading to a loss of jobs.

"We currently anticipate that such layoffs, if they occur, will be temporary and that many employees will be recalled to work at some point after the WGA work stoppage ends," wrote Hank Lachmund, the studio's senior vp labor relations.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[bellcurve]

Any word or confirmation on other scabs? Not to sound rude, but they should be outed.