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WGA Battling Comedy Central Over Writers
Friday, May 11, 2007 - reddit
The Writers Guild is pushing Comedy Central to allow a number of their writers to unionize, but the cable channel seems none too pleased about the way the WGA is going about getting that accomplished.
"We have been speaking with the WGA's leadership and we have offered to promptly begin negotiating contracts for each of our current live action shows," the net said. "We are dismayed that the WGA has rejected our offer and instead has precipitously chosen to take this issue public." I personally see nothing wrong with taking the issue public, after all unions are essentially nothing but the public working together for negotiating leverage against impersonal corporations only concerned with their own bottom lines.
The current WGA president and board of directors are known confrontationists and won't shy from it under any circumstances, which isn't bad so long as they have some amount of wisdom to go along with the brashness.
WGA has already organized the writers of The Daily Show so it should have come as any surprise that the guild would be looking to expand on that, so now they are.
"As a comedy writer, I applaud Comedy Central's success. It is a literal oasis in the current TV comedy landscape. I encourage them to sign a WGA contract so they can keep the writers working there now and attract other WGA writers in the future - lest their success become a mirage," said WGAW President Patric M. Verrone. I don't think any of the shows in question are in danger of going off the air because of this behind-the-scenes business, but it would be nice not to have this one blow up like the ANTM strike did. We can't afford another blow like that so close to the upcoming overall contract negotiations. (Variety)
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- The remains of actor James Doohan have been lost in some bizarre stunt where they are launched into sub-orbit on a rocket -- meaning they come back down intact and must be retrieved.
- NBC has renewed the tepid Friday Night Lights and picked up the pilots of four new failures.
- The MPAA is adding smoking to its list of things to censor.
- Comcast won its court fight over the right to place the NFL channel on its sports tier.
- Report 1: Jerry Bruckheimer says no more Pirates. Report 2: Jerry Bruckheimer says more Pirates.
- Johnny Depp is on board for more, arrr.
- Lindsay Lohan is playing a stripper in her next flick.
- Lost hits an all-new low in the ratings.
- Everybody Loves Raymond showrunner Phil Rosenthal went to the Hill to keep product placements out of television.
During the panel's continuing examination of the nation's digital future, he showed the panel a clip from the CW's "7th Heaven" in which actors spoke about how good Oreos taste. Rosenthal said the show's creators were forced to put in the scene and language about Oreos, which included a marriage proposal featuring the ring hidden inside the cookie. [..] Added Rosenthal: "Would we have wanted our memories of 'Casablanca' to include (Humphrey) Bogart saying to Ingrid Bergman as they say goodbye: 'You're part of his life, the thing that keeps him going. Now get on that plane and enjoy United's nonstop, three-class service to Paris with seats that recline to a full 180 degrees.' " - TV violence censorship legislation is winding its way through the capitol this week. Help kill it by calling your representatives and letting them that you own a magical device called a remote control that allows you to change the channel at will.
- Michael Moore is getting exactly what he wants: more media attention. Good for him.
- Joost has secured $45 million in venture funding.
- Fugitive pedophile Roman Polanski is talking to Orlando Bloom and Scarlett Johansson to star in an adaptation of Robert Harris' Pompeii.
Topics: Film, Television, WGA, Comedy Central, Friday Night Lights, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lindsay Lohan, Lost, FCC, Michael Moore, Joost
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