Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

[Cebby]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

The writers won't go anywhere, if the networks don't have the support of the writers or the actors then it's going to be hard for them to make any money.

The networks will make less money. The writers will make no money.

[mgoblue]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

The writers won't go anywhere, if the networks don't have the support of the writers or the actors then it's going to be hard for them to make any money.

The writers are giving up a lot to take this stand...they're willing to go a very long time not making money, so I don't think they'll cave now that they've gone this far.

[CMH]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

They had the choice to not join the guild.

Writers already make very little money (I'm talking about most. The big writers are obviously doing well. But that holds true for any profession).

This is what they do. They write. If they don't join a union then they won't have somebody protecting them from getting screwed. They wouldn't have benefits and pension plans. There is a lot that goes into joining a union when you're a freelancer.

I guarentee that if those two didn't join the Guild before writing the Pirates movies they'd be making even less money off DVD sales.

[jmood88]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

Writers already make very little money (I'm talking about most. The big writers are obviously doing well. But that holds true for any profession).

This is what they do. They write. If they don't join a union then they won't have somebody protecting them from getting screwed. They wouldn't have benefits and pension plans. There is a lot that goes into joining a union when you're a freelancer.

I guarentee that if those two didn't join the Guild before writing the Pirates movies they'd be making even less money off DVD sales.

And if you want to use the logic that they didn't have to join the guild then the networks didn't have to hire writers who were members of the guild.

[CMH]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

And if you want to use the logic that they didn't have to join the guild then the networks didn't have to hire writers who were members of the guild.

Very true.

But it goes to show you that writers realize the benefits of being in the guild. The Daily Show writers were not a part of the guild for years. Now they are. Why would writers from a successful show feel the need to join the guild if they didn't find it necessary? Surely, they couldn't be worried that Stewart or Comedy Central would fire them. South Park has been going strong without unionized writers. The benefits are too good to pass up.


And this strike is a clear example of how good it can be. All of the writers join together and have now created havoc in Hollywood and Television. They want their share in DVD and Internet revenue and it's only fair. If you aren't part of the guild you wouldn't have that security or help.

From what I've read they aren't even asking for a whole lot more. They just want a larger percentage than what they've been given.

Someone gave the example of getting 5% in a film's DVD revenue. Studios would cry if they had to give that up. Writers would crap their pants if they were given that. I'm sure you'll see something like 1-2% when it's done.

[p_rushing]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

The writers will cave in at some point. I bet most of the writers don't have months and months of money saved in the bank to afford not getting paid. If the guild is paying them something, that can only last so long. Sure the networks won't be making as much money, but they also won't be paying much. Most of the networks have rights to shows/movies that have been filmed but never aired. Unless the top writers give up their millions to support the little guys, it won't work.

[bkfount]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

The writers will cave in at some point. I bet most of the writers don't have months and months of money saved in the bank to afford not getting paid. If the guild is paying them something, that can only last so long. Sure the networks won't be making as much money, but they also won't be paying much. Most of the networks have rights to shows/movies that have been filmed but never aired. Unless the top writers give up their millions to support the little guys, it won't work.

networks also have the right to use old scripts. So if this strike went on for a long time, you could see a new Knight Rider or Coach series. The networks have all the leverage.

[Cebby]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

networks also have the right to use old scripts. So if this strike went on for a long time, you could see a new Knight Rider or Coach series. The networks have all the leverage.

And if all else fails, they have gameshows, reality TV, old shows, and cable/premium.

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

And if all else fails, they have gameshows, reality TV, old shows, and cable/premium.

Heard Dexter might be heading to CBS to fill programming... (If that's already been posted in the Dexter thread, my bad... I'm staying out of the thread until I can catch up on Season 2.)

[23]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

Yeah, I'm on the other side...The TV networks can afford to cut off a tiny slice of their massive profits and give them to the writers. I dunno, I guess I have trouble rooting for the TV networks when I know they're giving the little guy a raw deal. Writers deserve a fair deal. Without the guild writers would get treated even worse...I suppose it's hard to understand if you don't know or have experience with any writers.

Not every writer makes the money that the Lost, Heroes, etc writers do. This is really a fight for the lower end writers who write for peanuts. I'm sure Tina Fey makes quite a bit of money and this doesn't impact her quite as much.

Sadly the company that owns us GE pretty much owns the people responsible for this entire thing. Not only that, but the writers aren't the only one's they dont want to pay, they don't want to pay other unions too like their security personnell.

To go even further, they're putting hiring freezes in place. Why? Not because they can't afford to pay, but they would rather hire a ton of temps to do all of the work so that they don't have to pay any benefits.

I have a hard time not identifying with these writers.

[Cebby]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

Heard Dexter might be heading to CBS to fill programming... (If that's already been posted in the Dexter thread, my bad... I'm staying out of the thread until I can catch up on Season 2.)

That's why I posted it. I think CBS has been cleared to broadcast Showtime shows.

[SPTO]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

That's why I posted it. I think CBS has been cleared to broadcast Showtime shows.

That's because Viacom also owns Showtime. (or something like that. I know there's a relationship there)

As for BKfount's post there's already a Knight Rider series on the go but too my knowledge it has nothing to do with the strike. I'd hate it if they have to resort to using the old scripts. That would be cheesy indeed.

You're most likely going to see way more gameshows and reality crap heaped upon us. I wonder though, if NBC can negotiate with Johnny Carson's production company and bring back classic episodes of the Tonight Show if this thing drags on longer then anyone anticipated.

[MassNole]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

NBC didn't retain the rights to his old shows?

Maybe Fox can dig deep and bring us back the Chevy Chase and Magic Johnson shows too.

[SPTO]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

NBC didn't retain the rights to his old shows?

Maybe Fox can dig deep and bring us back the Chevy Chase and Magic Johnson shows too.

NBC probably has the rights to the Tonight Show name but Carson was a smart cookie and basically built his production company around his show. In fact, there's a place somewhere underground where Carson has/had every single episode he did in a temperature controlled environment.

As for Fox why not bring back Arsenio Hall?

[elicoleman]

Re: Will This Television Season Be Cancelled?

You're most likely going to see way more gameshows and reality crap heaped upon us. I wonder though, if NBC can negotiate with Johnny Carson's production company and bring back classic episodes of the Tonight Show if this thing drags on longer then anyone anticipated.

That'd be sweet. How about if they picked one night a week to have what they'd call a 'throwback night', where they take an original lineup from a few decades back and play it.