Will you watch Stewart and Colbert despite the strike on Jan 07?

[cboy4]

Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert" planned to return without writers on Monday, January 7.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/29/hollywood.labor.letterman.ap/index.html

Letterman, Ferguson returning -- with writers :bounce:

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" will be back with their writers airing joke-filled new hours starting Wednesday, the shows' production company, Worldwide Pants, announced Friday.
art.letterman.ap.jpg

Letterman: "This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands."

An interim agreement between the Letterman-owned company and the Writers Guild of America will allow the full writing staffs for both shows to return to work, even as the Hollywood writers strike continues to shutter much TV and movie production. Both of those CBS late-night shows have been airing reruns since the strike began eight weeks ago.

"I am grateful to the WGA for granting us this agreement," Letterman said. "This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction."


on edit: to fix date

[Dhalgren]

1. Scabs, goons, management stooges...

I will not watch them again...

[Connonym]

2. I don't understand all the nuances at play

but I do know that my gut reaction is disappointment in Stewart and Colbert. I really have a hard time believing that they'd get fired for refusing to work without the writers but I don't know what other legal consequences there might be. I'm a hard core believer in unionism and I'm tickled pink that Letterman and Craig Ferguson (my pretend TeeVee Boyfriend) were able to come up with a deal that satisfied both sides. I think I'll be passing on Colbert and Stewart until the strike is ended. From the entertainment standpoint I don't really give a shit, I've got plenty of other things to occupy my time but from the standpoint of a worker I believe that unions are our best defense against the corporate machine.

[CorpGovActivist]

3. Can We Cross the Picket Line *AFTER* the Strike (i.e., Watch Re-Runs)?

That might affect some people's vote, cboy.

- Dave

[Whisp]

7. watching the re-runs is a bit different...

those shows paid their unionized people to produce the product that is in the end owned by the corporations.

[CorpGovActivist]

10. A Dispensation...

... from the WGA after the strike would clarify the issue for those of us who won't cross a picket line.

: )

- Dave

[Jane Austin]

4. Not this Monday, I think.

I read they were coming back January 7.

[cboy4]

6. Ooops, you're right.

Thanks. :blush:

[asdjrocky]

5. As much as it kills me, no. I'm a Democrat, we support Unions. n/t

[Fleshdancer]

8. No

You either support the strike or you don't.

[cboy4]

9. I wish the people who are voting they will be watching would

come out of the proverbial shadows and explain.

Or is there shame involved? :shrug:

[CorpGovActivist]

11. Has the WGA Formally Sought Solidarity Ploys from Other Unions?

For example, has the WGA asked members of other unions to do a "premium cable rolling blackout" - with members calling up to scale back to basic cable only for at least a month, clearly letting the cable company know why?

- Dave

[shaniqua6392]

12. I could never watch any shows that come back without writers.

To do so would be the same as walking straight through a line of striking union workers. No one in my family would ever cross a picket line. We are all Teamsters and/or UAW and proud to do whatever it takes to make sure the unions stay strong. I would rather take my television out onto the driveway and run it over with my truck than watch any shows that come back before the strike is resolved.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. You sure about that analogy?

I don't know how it works that Letterman can come back WITH writers while the strike is still on. For Stewart to come back w/o writers seems more in line with the spirit of the strike, as it clearly increases the workload on the non-writing staff and on Stewart himself, and produces a (presumably) lesser product - not a situation he would want to continue for any length of time. Letterman, OTOH, finagles a deal that seems to undercut the intent of the strike, and does it with the blessings of the guild.

I honestly don't know how to take it.

[shaniqua6392]

15. I know what you mean about that.

But I will not watch Letterman either. Until the networks settle with the writers I will watch reruns or read a book. It is all or nothing for my family. The networks will settle this as soon as it hits them in the pocketbook. I have sent emails regarding Letterman, Stewart and Colbert expressing our disgust and letting them know we will not be watching until they settle the strike.

[dropkickpa]

17. Worldwide Pants' deal

contains the items they are striking for, which is why it was approved.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071229/ap_en_tv/hollywood_labor_letterman

Guild leaders said in a letter to membership Friday that Worldwide Pants accepted "the very same proposals that the guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7."

"We had no problems with the guild's demands," Burnett said.

Works for me, turn the screws on the others when Letterman and Ferguson come back with great numbers (and better access to A-list non-scab guests). WGA's requests are NOT unreasonable, and I hope the bigwigs cave to the added pressure. On network television, it's the producers (moneymen) more than the networks themselves who need to negotiate (just look at syndication deals, the money goes to the production company, not the broadcast network, isn't this is one of the points of the strike?).

http://www.answers.com/topic/broadcast-syndication

[dysfunctional press]

19. when i was a union construction worker, and there was a strike-

contractors could sign an agreement with the union to honor whatever deal is ultimately reached, retroactively, and keep their jobsites up and running.

[CTyankee]

14. Sorry, I can't see how this helps the union. There should be solidarity!

I cannot support this by watching these programs. It is against the spirit and the force of the union's strike! This is horrible; they should not be trying to wangle their own deals outside of the union.

[dysfunctional press]

16. when the uaw goes on strike, nobody stops driving...

i'm assuming that the cameramen and stagecrews are union as well...if they and stewart & colbert who are wga members- are o.k. with broadcasting whatever it is they will be broadcasting, who am i to second-guess them?

if they broadcast it, i will watch.

[CorpGovActivist]

18. Many Refrain from Buying a New Car, Though...

... as a sign of solidarity. Their existing car, presumably manufactured during harmonious relations with the car companies, is grandfathered.

- Dave

P.S. Coal miners in WV and other coal-producing states used to do this to show solidarity with the UAW; they'd even pretend to be ready to buy, then pull out of the deal at the dealership, telling them to call the automaker they were affiliated with to say they'd lost another sale to the strike.

[walldude]

20. Yup.. Cameramen, engineers, stagehands, techs,

all have been out of work, all need to feed their families. While I feel for the writers and hope they get what they are asking for I'm certainly not going to begrudge people who are suffering a chance to get back to work. Solidarity is a great word but it doesn't put food on the table.

[hyphenate]

21. Most writers make enough that they

can afford to make this a truly long, drawn-out affair. Not so for everyone below the line. Get the damned thing over so that everyone can go back to work. Most working below the line live paycheck to paycheck, and don't get diddly from their unions. In fact, most of them are paralyzed by their unions preventing them from doing all but the most elementary of temp work, and only outside of the entertainment industry.

If these writers want to lose everything, they can stay not writing for however long it takes--at some point, there will be enough would-be writers to take their places, who don't give a fuck about crossing picket lines, only about getting credits in their resume. Yeah, it'll shake things up--it's supposed to. But the thing is, entertainment is just a business like every other business, and strikers are only endangering their own status if they choose to make a long stand. Like actors, there are enough banging on the doors to take the places of the strikers, and eventually people will go back to watching entertainment in all venues, regardless of who is writing it.

Slush piles and unsolicited script piles are so high that there is an endless supply for producers and studios. Television can always rely on old shows long gone by or shown in syndication--the cost to the television venue, be it a broadcast network, a basic syndicated station or even premiere station, is much lower as well--and there is at the very least, 65 years worth of programming to fall back on.

If I sound harsh, I apologize. Strikes are a nice thought, but we can't all have the ability to do so for a long time like most of the writers can--sooner rather than later, most of us have to give up or make huge concessions, and it is somewhat ludicrous to feel sorry for people who make 6 or 7 figures in a bad year, nevermind a good one. And it has nothing to do with artistic integrity in the end, just who can hold their breath longest underwater.

[cboy4]

22. Please provide a link(s) which support your statement that

"most writers make enough that they can afford to make this a truly long, drawn-out affair."

[rug]

23. No. Colbert's shtick especially is hollow with a picket line outside.

[mucifer]

24. Letterman is pretty entertaining and pro union anti bushcheney.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

25. I will watch no new shows either with or without WGA-sanctioned staff

The strike is not settled until the membership ratifies a contract. Unless Worldwide Pants will be operating under terms that meet or exceed the demands that WGA has placed on the negotiating table, it will do nothing to further the best interests of the full membership, and that's what a strike is all about.

Even if Worldwide Pants will operate under such an agreement, it will not advance the best interests of the full membership. The advertising revenue that Late Show and Late Late Show draw is the biggest bargaining chip the WGA has.

Allowing those dollars to flow into producers' and broadcasters' coffers is a betrayal of the union rank and file by WGA management. I will not support it by watching Letterman's shows any more than I will watch a show that tries to weasel around the strike by not employing any writers at all.

[Pastiche423]

26. Does anyone here

remember when Unions were pro-American; the "Look for the Union Label" commercials?

Unions got us a 40 hour work week. They got us worker rights and protections. They accomplished that through blood, sweat, tears and lives.

Until Raygun.

Nope, I will not be watching.

[Up2Late]

27. I'll watch, but will probably follow each show with an e-mail to Comedy Central saying...

...how much the show SUCKED without the Union writers, I encourage everyone else to do the same for any of the "non-writer" written shows they watch.

Here's the link if you want to participate: <http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml>