Can the jokesters divide and conquer…
It appears the striking Hollywood writers are breaking ranks and looking to negotiate individual deals with individual production houses. Will that work for the striking workers? It’s too early to tell.
But it’s never a good idea to step away from a bigger bargaining unit in order to save your own job. There is, after all, strength in numbers.
This past weekend, striking writers who work on David Letterman’s show said they were willing to negotiate with the late night talk show host’s production company.
And today, as if emboldened by the move, Associated Press reported that other late night talk shows think they can do a show without writers:
“Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien’s late-night shows will return to the air with fresh episodes on January 2 after two months of repeats due to the writers’ strike, the network said Monday.The “Tonight” show and “Late Night” will return without writers supplying jokes. NBC said the decision was similar to 1988, when Johnny Carson brought back the “Tonight” show two months into a writers’ strike.”
There is nothing harder than being on strike and losing your paycheck. It hurts more than anyone can imagine. But there is something to be said about standing firm and keeping the ranks together. How else can workers get what they want? It’s all about power folks…and who will blink first.
Will it be production studio executives or the Hollywood writers?
December 18th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Those with long memories, or avid readers of media history, will remember a 16 week newspaper strike in New York in 1962-1963. The printers’ union went out demanding higher wages. Within five years of the strike settlement four newspapers in New York had either merged or gone out of business with thousands losing their jobs.
Who won? I guess that depends which side on which side of the bargaining table you sat at the time. Certainly the readers of New York City newspapers were left with fewer print choices.
Still they were hungry for news. They turned to weeklies, radio and television. And many stayed with those formats long after the strike settlement.
I think there’s a lesson here. Producers and writers should take a look around and see where deprived television watchers are getting their daily dose of entertainment. Maybe some are okay with reruns. Others may be talking more to their spouses and significant others and going without.
Not too long ago late night was more talk and less scripted writing. Who is to say a couple of more weeks and the shows won’t start to revert to that format again.
My feeling is that once the Director’s Guild begins talks a new position for the writers and studios may emerge. Otherwise we may see a migration to new formats sooner than anyone expected.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
You’re not suggesting that the newspaper strike led to a decline in the number of newspapers are you?
I think what has killed newspapers in this country is the focus on the profit motive. Unfortunately, it’s all about extreme profits in journalism today…where once upon a time newspapers went for years without making money but found comfort in the fact that they were informing and sometimes misinforming the public.
You are right, viewers will look for alternatives. But I think that’s a natural progression. Although I can see how the strike might expedite that a bit.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Strike’s on and I couldn’t care less. The strike put a hold on some of the few shows I watch, and I’m not likely to go back to watching them if the strike continues. I’m finding that there are better things to do with my time.