Writers strike is a go

[Grog]

As most of you have no doubt heard by now, the WGA and the studios could not come to an agreement, and the writers strike has begun. This article here is one of the best I've found for summing up the issues at the heart of the strike, and the impact it might have on your TV viewing schedule.

Without boring you too much with talk of contract law, what it boils down to is this: for decades, the TV business was set up in a way in which everyone -- the studios, the writers, the directors, the actors -- made a lot of their money on reruns, both reruns on the networks and in syndication. Whenever a writer's episode got repeated, he'd get a check.

In the current market, however, reruns are dead or dying. Fox never airs repeats of "24," for instance, or ABC with "Lost." Now the money is on DVDs and, soon (if not now), the Internet. The WGA has already lost the battle on DVDs, thanks to a short-sighted agreement on home video rights in the '80s (back when no one thought that people would pay money to own dozens and dozens of unwieldy videotapes); they get a tiny percentage for all those DVDs on your shelf. The Internet, however, is uncharted territory. No one knows how much money is there, but everyone knows that's where the business is moving, and the WGA -- and, when their contracts come up next year, the actor and director unions -- wants their piece of it. The writers say they only want what they're entitled to, the studios say they're being unreasonable, negotiations have barely progressed at all, and so now the writers are on strike.

It looks like both sides are digging in for a long strike, so after the networks run out of canned episodes to show, start looking forward to a lot more reality TV.

 

[Piratecat]

Bah. I have a whole lot of writer friends; I hope it's settled soon.

 

[Kida]

How does this affect shows past this season? Massive cancellations?

 

[Steve Jung]

Late night talk shows will be affected tomorrow, I think. Soap operas have a week lead time. Prime time shows have a couple months.

 

[Grog]

How does this affect shows past this season? Massive cancellations?

After this season, if the strike is still ongoing, the studios will have two choices - either try to find writers who will cross the picket lines, or simply not produce any new shows and try to fill the gaps in their lineups with reality TV and such.

But, compounding the problem is the fact that next year, the directors' and actors' guild contracts come up for renewal. And I suspect that that's the reason that the studios are taking such a hard line with the writers when it comes to digital distribution - if they give the writers a piece of the digital distribution pie, they'll have no choice but to give the directors and the actors their cuts as well. The studios don't want that. They want to keep all that money for themselves.

So who knows what the picture will look like next year.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Were it not for this thread I -- and I suspect a majority of the viewing public -- would not even notice.

I don't know if that makes me happy or sad.

 

[Mark]

No 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother? No the The Daily Show and the The Colbert Report? How will I live without the laughter?

 

[Villano]

How does this affect shows past this season? Massive cancellations?

I found this article covering some of the shows affected:

WGA Strike: How It Will Affect You

The Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union representing nearly all TV and movie writers in America, has decided to strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an organisation that represents American film and television producers. The strike, happening from 12:01am on Monday 5th November American time, will mean the total freeze in the writing of scripts and will affect a large number of TV shows, some immediately, others over the next few months.

The strike is occurring due to the expiration of the old contract and the breakdown of talks between the WGA and the AMPTP over a new contract that would deal with writers wanting a sharp increase in DVD residuals and for the distribution of their work over new media like the Internet and cellphones. This issue is also causing problems between the AMPTP and the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, both guilds planning on joining the WGA on strike in June of next year should the matter not be resolved.

Late night shows like The David Letterman Show and the Daily Show would be affect immediately as most of the show is scripted by writers and most likely would lead to repeats or the show becoming unscripted. Other shows like Heroes and Prison Break would have enough episodes to run until the end of the year but may not be able to continue into the midseason. This will lead networks to screen reality television and repeats as they struggle to show new material from their fledging stock.

For us, the viewers, this essentially means that we won't see the end of some storylines and our viewing experiences will be severely disrupted as channels struggle to fill time slots. It will also mean a change of lifestyles for some as they will spend more time away from the TV due to the lack of programs to watch and blogs such as this will be in a semi-active state.

The following list is of the known status of shows and how they are likely to be affected. The shows are organised by network.

ABC
Brothers and Sisters Expected to have either 11 or 12 episodes completed
Cashmere Mafia Expected to have 7 of 13 episodes completed
Cavemen Expected to have 12 of 13 episodes completed, no order for a full season
Dirty Sexy Money Expected to have between 11 and 13 episodes completed
Eli Stone Will have 13 episodes ordered, premiere midseason
Jimmy Kimmel Live Either repeats or Kimmel will do the show himself
Lost Expected to have 8 of 16 episodes completed, premiere midseason
Men in Trees 5 episodes from last season, 10 new episodes shot, 4 scripts finished, overall 19 of 27 episodes completed
The View Expected to continue uninterrupted


CBS
Cane Expected all 13 episodes completed
Jericho All 7 episodes completed
Moonlight Expected to have 11 of 12 episodes completed


COMEDY CENTRAL
The Daily Show/The Colbert Report Expected to go into repeats immediately


THE CW
America's Next Top Model Reality show, not affected
Beauty and the Geek Reality show, not affected
Everybody Hates Chris Expected to have 22 of 22 episodes completed
Gossip Girl Expected to have 13 of 22 episodes completed
Supernatural Expected to have between 15 to 17 episodes completed


FOX
24 Expected to have 9 of 24 episodes completed, premiere midseason


FX
Damages Unknown if ordered
Dirt Production started, affected
Nip/Tuck Expected to have 14 of 22 episodes completed
Rescue Me Production starts early 2008, affected
The Riches Production started, affected
The Shield Final season written, not likely to be affected
Thirty Days Completed

NBC
Friday Night Lights Expected to have 15 of 22 episodes completed
Heroes Expected to have 11 of 13 episodes completed
Heroes: Origins Cancelled
Journeyman Expected all 13 episodes completed, no order for a full season
Scrubs Expected to have 12 of 18 episodes completed


SCI-FI
Battlestar Galactica Expected to have 10 episodes completed, two hour movie screened
Stargate Atlantis Not likely to be affected
Eureka Production started, affected


USA NETWORK
Burn Notice Production starts early 2008, affected
In Plain Sight Expected all episodes completed
Law and Order: Criminal Intent Expected to have 10 of 22 episodes completed
Psych Expected all episodes completed
Monk Expected all episodes completed
Starter Wife Production starts early 2008, affected

 

[Mouseferatu]

Were it not for this thread I -- and I suspect a majority of the viewing public -- would not even notice.

Oh, I disagree. If we come out of the mid-season break--that is, head into February, give or take--and none of our favorite shows are on, I think people would notice.

Me, personally? I'm going to cry like a little girl if I don't get full seasons of NCIS, Bones, Supernatural, CSI, and CSI: NY. (Thankfully, my other must-see is Stargate Atlantis, which seems safe.)

 

[ssampier]

I hope they can come to an agreement that's win-win.

As for reality shows, ironically enough, I thought they had writers (very few go into syndication/DVD though).