As the Writers Guild of America strike marched into its second week yesterday, the likelihood of a resolution between Hollywood’s writers and producers still seems a very remote possibility.
The Facts
While popular prime time dramas such as “CSI” and daytime soaps like “The Bold and the Beautiful” still ran new episodes last week, television fans will be suffering from the strike a lot sooner than their movie-going counterparts.
Entertainment writers are picketing in hopes of getting 8 cents per DVD sale, up from the current rate of 4 cents, as well as increasing compensation for Internet reruns both pre-paid (iTunes) and free (recent episodes available for viewing through network Web sites such as ABC.com).
Writers currently are not compensated at all for online airings, and are striking to receive 2.5 percent of profits earned from these new outlets.
Film and television writers are striking together at major production sites in both Los Angeles and New York City, such as the nearby Fox lot at Pico Boulevard, but because of the extensive time that goes into planning and preproduction for films, television shows are already fading into reruns with many other shows soon on the way.
The movie studios are not expected to be hit until about early 2009 and have been preparing for the strike by stocking up on finished scripts so that a movie shoot could go on during the strike without the writer.
Because television shows run episode to episode, the writers play a much more constant role throughout a series’ season.
Live shows that are not written until the day of or day before to stay current, such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” were immediately put into reruns once the strike began last Monday.
Many other television shows have stopped taping either due to the lack of new scripts or the lack of support from the cast and crew. Eva Longoria Parker delivered pizzas to writers when her show “Desperate Housewives” ran out of new material to shoot and “The Office” star Steve Carell reportedly refused to cross the picket line, closing down production.
Mid-season Serial Dramas Face Delays
Shows not currently running fresh episodes, such as serial dramas “Lost” and “24,” are also in danger because of the strike. “24” has already been pushed back indefinitely from its originally scheduled Jan. 13 premiere and “Lost” could be close behind, with writers hoping their networks will choose not to run the proportion of episodes for the season that have been completed before leaving fans with unintended cliffhangers.
“24” fan Don Nguyen, a third-year computer science student, shared the writers’ sentiments as the show has only filmed eight episodes of its 24-season total.
“I would definitely want them to come back and finish in time. If they stop the strike soon, they could come back and finish. I don’t think they should show a couple episodes (in January) and then come back later in September. (Most of) the seasons have run uninterrupted so that would ruin the effect of “˜24,'” he said. “As much as that sucks, I was totally waiting for it this year, but if they have to wait to make sure it’s good I’m willing to wait.”
Serial dramas such as “24” are one of the main reasons Internet reruns have caused such a large debate in the WGA’s contract negotiations.
These multi-episode story line shows are harder to pick up halfway through the season or after having missed a couple episodes, unlike more stand-alone projects like half-hour comedies.
Even the purportedly free viewings of such shows on their network’s official Web site are run with shorter but still present commercial breaks, hence television networks and production companies still turn a profit.
“I use the Fox Web site and the official showings of the episodes (when) I have missed episodes,” said Nguyen.
While Nguyen said he is disappointed about the possibility of waiting for a new season to start, he added that he supports the strike.
“I feel like … what they’re fighting for is legitimate. It is their content so why shouldn’t they get paid if it’s showing in another form?” he said.
The Dish on Soap Operas
Marina Alburger, a UCLA alumna on strike, was a writer for the daytime soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” and said she is especially concerned about the Internet in respect to the dwindling ratings of soap operas.
“The sad truth is that daytime soap operas are on the decline since when we were in our heyday in the ’80s,” said Alburger, who, at 24 years old, is one of the youngest writers on strike. “Soap operas are going to be the first shows you are going to find solely on the Internet (such as the new online-only soap “Coastal Dreams”) … we really need to make money the same way as if it were on a television screen.”
Unfortunately unlike weekly shows such as “Lost” where reruns are fairly common, soap operas are never known to run repeats because of their complicated story arcs and fast pace.
If the strike continues the show would either go off the air entirely or, as in the case of the 1988 strike, bring in scabs, or strikebreakers not previously associated with the show or the WGA, unfamiliar with the pre-planned story lines and character development to write new episodes to keep the low-rated show alive. The last show written by Alburger and the rest of the staff is for Dec. 24.
“Our struggle is to maintain that audience in light of the strike … if we go dark, there is a chance we wouldn’t come back. The biggest concern we have is scab writing. We do know for a fact that “˜The Young and the Restless’ is going to be scabbed.”
New Shows May Lose Life Lines
Even less established new series such as “Samantha Who?” and “Chuck” are at huge risk of losing their newly established audiences should the strike last longer than the amount of written episodes left.
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television alumna Caroline Williams finished the first six episodes of her new midseason comedy “Miss Guided” right before the strike began and worries for the show’s future as the strike threatens to run over into next year.
“For shows established like “˜The Office’ it’s tough, but with new shows it’s tougher because with “˜The Office,’ people are already fans,” said Williams, who has an MFA in screenwriting and is a former staff writer for “The Office.”
“They are waiting to go back but with new shows, they are going to have a harder time keeping an audience because they’ve only had a few episodes. I don’t know how the strike will affect us because we are not on the air yet.”
Williams only hopes that those six episodes that remain unedited will not be written by outsiders while she and the other creative forces behind “Miss Guided” remain out of the office.
“If they just aren’t edited they could potentially edit those shows without the producers,” she said. “Most of them will find it’s pretty impossible to go far in post (production) without producers that are also writers.”
Williams remains optimistic about the importance of writers, and subsequently, an end to the strike.
“It’s hard to see your show go on without you. It’s hard to keep the integrity of a show without the writers that are involved.”
The strike may go on longer than many in the WGA would like, but many still hold the hope for a fair agreement.
“Every single success the guild has gotten has all been the result of strike action, so it’s really an important part of guild history. I’m really fortunate that (the guild) is really looking out for the future of television writing,” said Alburger.