Comments on: Carson Daly's 'Last Call' Hosed By NBC

By: Redfisher

Redfisher — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:53:30 +0000

Fired the writers?

Smart move. That show is un-watchable.

By: McEvil One

McEvil One — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:39:10 +0000

How about keeping the writers & firing Carson Daly???

By: jake Hollywood

jake Hollywood — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:23:30 +0000

Actually, as punitive as Zucker wants to be, according to the contract that’s about to be ratified, he can’t:

Suspension and Extension of Contracts: Writing contracts in effect at the beginning of the
strike have been suspended during the strike period. After the strike, a Company must extend a
striking writer’s contract if: (1) the writer was working on a show when the strike began; (2) the
show remains in production after the strike; and (3) the writer’s contact expired by its terms
during the strike. A Company must also extend a writer’s contract if a notice or option date
occurred during the strike and the Company exercised its right of termination. In both
circumstances, the Company must extend the writer’s contract for a period equal to the portion
of the contract term that elapsed during the strike.

So, at least those writers on that crap show will some compensation after all.

By: overit

overit — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:15:28 +0000

How supportive you all have been of your fellow WRITERS on this show. In what way is all the talk of how terrible the writing is constructive to your cause? All the comments like ‘that show has writers?’ or ‘it could be written by monkeys.’ Do you guys realize how ignorant you sound? Why get in a huff that they were let go if they do such a terrible job anyway? United, indeed… as if!

By: Labor Lawyer

Labor Lawyer — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 06:49:12 +0000

I will assume a complaint has already been filed with the NLRB. Some of this can even rise beyond civil to criminal action if there is an e-mail trail documenting the firings. We may have a Republican president but this is still America. Someone at NBC is going to regret this and drop a load in their pants when the Feds come and take their files and computers in a few weeks.

By: robot

robot — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 01:52:57 +0000

Sure yeah. It’s legal to fire people for going on strike. Right?

By: MT-vA

MT-vA — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 01:05:48 +0000

this is a brilliant move by NBC. During the strike he showed that the show can suck just as bad without the writing staff so why not save a few extra bucks by only have 1 guy/girl to concoct clumsy half baked jokes that ultimately fall flat on their faces?

Zuckers a retarded oaf, but can you really blame him for this move? Really?

@Comment by LB — February 14, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
in fairness all of the arguments you listed could be used in reaction to writers complaining about low pay as well. It kinda cuts both ways, chief. I think we all agree that working in the industry sucks HARD as much as it is GREAT

By: derek

derek — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:43:09 +0000

When you can air a show with no writers for 3 months I guess the lesson learned is why do you need 4 writers?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:14:48 +0000

They already cut Carson’s show from one hour to a half hour because they make more money airing their Poker After Dark at 2 AM. Put anything on at 1:30 show old reruns of Friends and you’ll make more money.

By: wga-er

wga-er — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:22:00 +0000

carson had to go back to work during the strike or the show was going to be canceled. firing the writers was part of that eariler deal to keep the show. this is old news. he’s just doing what he has to do to stay on tv, thus securing his pipeline of trim. nothing needs to be said about his incredible lack of talent.

By: era

era — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:46:47 +0000

I don’t work there, but I’ve been in the industry a while and know some of the staff…

People tend to be very dismissive of the writing on the show, but I will tell you that the writers are extremely talented on what ends up being a hard format for them to fully showcase their abilities. The fact that they’re being fired after 3 months of suffering is a shame, and they don’t deserve it.

I don’t think Carson himself has much power to change the way his show is being run, there are some shady characters at the reigns. For the writers sake I hope the WGA can investigate and set things straight.

By: snlworker

snlworker — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:50:23 +0000

I worked on “Last Call” during its run in NYC.

They could not have found a more incompetent producer and director if they tried. (especially the director). The tapings would always start late, and the audience would sit there for 15mins or more during commercial breaks as the “producers” and Carson would try to figure out what to do next.

While it is agreeably shitty to do what the network is doing to him, the show was a dog from Day 1. And NBC knows it. I watch a lot of NBC shows and I NEVER see it promo’d. It’s like the idiot, bastard child who’s never talked about after being sent off to the institution.

The show is nothing but an endless parade of talentless, bimbo actresses and D+ rapper thugs. It was laughable how Carson would talk about these rappers as though they had just won the Nobel for Physics, or developed some revolutionary new techniques in pediatric neuro-surgery. In fact, all the music acts are execrable.

Whatever the outcome, there’s never a shortage of infomercial on-camera talking heads. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:00:48 +0000

Dag.
They cut the budget just as the big annual spring break show was being “written”.
I would love to see this piece o’ crap show get the boot. 5 years was too long.

By: LB

LB — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:35:47 +0000

Hey Greg O and Pissed Off PA –

While it stinks that anyone had to suffer financial hardship, I want to make something clear for people who continue to whine about the strike. The entertainment business is NOT steady work. Shows get cancelled, ratings tank, movies get shut down, shit happens, even strikes. If job security is what you’re looking for, I suggest you consider a different industry.

And another thing? If the Teamsters or IATSE was offered a crap deal full of rollbacks you can bet they’d strike. And no one would dare say a word about it. So get off our backs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:17:23 +0000

Carson Daly has zero talent. He has zero charisma. He is a mistake who they thought was hip and hot because of his stupid MTV show. Send him back to the teenyboppers where he belongs. They’ll save a lot more money by axing him and his shit show and giving that 1:35 hour back to the local affiliates who will be happy to program whatever they want in that slot. Buh-bye Carson. You never deserved a late night show to start with. There are hundreds of comedians far more talented than you’ll ever be.