WGA strike taking its toll

[Japher]

You might be on to something there LS.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The Adventures of LordShiva and the Banana

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
The Adventures of LordShiva's Banana

Maybe on CineMax

[Imran Siddiqui]

Do they usually have Fruit Theatre?

[Snotty]

I had to check twice because I thought it said 'WAGs strike' but I guess I was just seeing what i wanted to see

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Do they usually have Fruit Theatre?

Ah yes. The Rootiin' Tootin' Fruit Theater

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by LordShiva
I'd rather watch "My Name is Dis"

I'd pay money to see it

Narrated by Lancer it would be a blockbuster that put Titanic to shame :d:

[Ramo]

Support the advertisers!

[Zoid]

From the writers of the daily show

[Zoid]

Strike talks set to resume 26 November

This probably wasn't the Writers Guild of America had in mind when it asked the studios to meet them halfway.

On the bright side, leaders from the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers agreed Friday to resume contract negotiations Nov. 26, when everyone is still brimming with Thanksgiving dinner-infused cheer. The union offered no further details, only stating that the two sides have "mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations."

But in the meantime, studios will be busy trimming the fat.

The casts of The Office, 30 Rock, Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica were informed Thursday that their contracts have been suspended for the next five weeks, now that Universal Media Studios has opted to exercise what's known as the force majeure clause in their Screen Actors Guild agreements.

Regulars from those NBC and Sci-Fi Channel shows will collect half of their usual salaries. Obviously, this will be less financially painful for some, but it won't be pleasant for anyone.

The force majeure provision allows studios and networks to suspend SAG members' deals immediately once production on their shows has shut down, and the writers, who are theoretically supposed to have a four to six-week cushion before their deals are frozen, could be next.

Universal's players, however, are making out better than their counterparts over at Sony Pictures TV, which has suspended the casts of Fox's Til Death and CBS' Rules of Engagement without pay—a decision that has both SAG and the American Federation of TV & Radio Artists up in arms because Sony's move both cuts the actors' pay and, because it's not outright terminating the contracts, prevents them from working for another studio.

Per SAG's agreement, studios can opt to suspend members for five weeks with half pay, like Universal is doing; suspend them with full pay; or release them from their contracts. Even if the actors are fired, they're supposed to be immediately rehired under their original contract terms once production recommences.

The SAG-AFTRA contracts don't expire on their own until June 30, until which AFTRA vows to keep a close watch on how the strike-lorn studios treat its employees.

"Our policy—which drives our ongoing discussions with employers—is that AFTRA members fully expect employers to abide by the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreements," an AFTRA rep said. "We're continuing conversations with AFTRA members on the affected shows to make sure that their interests and rights are fully protected."

Joining the worst-case-scenario fray also this week was Warner Bros. TV, which, according to the Hollywood Reporter, circulated a letter to production and facility employees informing them that production on all series will be shutting down within the next six or seven weeks—assuming the WGA strike continues—and that layoffs will probably be necessary.

But, labor relations senior VP Hank Lachmund wrote, the studio anticipates 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."

That glum-yet-sunny sentiment has been echoed by other studios, all of which have been mulling over what to do with their nonwriting staff after the last few episodes of their shows are in the can.

According to the latest accounts, The Office and The Big Bang Theory are through until the writers come back to the table, meaning both are going to be in repeats or replaced by—what, exactly?—come next week.

ABC's Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives each have three new episodes left, as does NBC's Heroes, meaning now we're getting promos warning us that the superhumans only have three weeks left to save the world.

CBS' Monday-night comedy block is going to be a lot less funny after Nov. 26, when the last new installments of Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother are set to air.

Still chugging for about a month after New Year's Day will be House, which is still scheduled to follow the Super Bowl on Feb. 3; Family Guy, which already had a mix of reruns and new episodes set to air through January; and most of CBS' crime series, including the CSI triad.

To take the edge off, not to mention keep their illustrious sketch- and single-camera-comedy skills from getting rusty, the casts of Saturday Night Live, in repeats since the strike began Nov. 5, and 30 Rock are taking to the stage.

SNL, with host Michael Cera and musical guest Yo La Tango, will run through an entire episode Saturday at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Manhattan, with the cast of 30 Rock to do the same on Monday. Proceeds from both already sold-out shows will go to each program's production staff.

"We are doing this to raise spirits, raise awareness and raise money for our hardworking production crews who will be having a hard holiday season if this strike continues," SNL player Amy Poehler said in a statement.

source: http://www.eonline.com/news/article/...id=fd-hot1-txt

Workers solidarity

[Wezil]

I went to bed and woke up back in the 70's.

The casts of The Office, 30 Rock, Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica were informed Thursday...

With this kind of creativity in Hollywood I would suggest the writers stay out on strike until they come up with some original ideas.

[Zoid]

Who cares about original ideas as long as the shows are good? I haven't watched BW but BSG is a really good sf show. If it wasn't for that insufferable **** Baltaar I might even watch it...

[Wezil]

So long as the suckers will buy it.

[Zoid]

Well, everything is a copy of something else.

[Krill]

"If you copy from one source it's plagiarism but if you copy from two it's research"