Comments on: Strike Forces Late Night TV Into Repeats

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:52:04 +0000

The foreign dude’s pretty good, makes me laugh. The redheaded dingbat, not so much.

By: Chip

Chip — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:00:16 +0000

for the picture and thought bubble :

Where’d you park your Mercedes?

Around the corner, a block away, no one saw me…hide your Starbucks.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:05:26 +0000

Letterman did writer-less shows during the 88 strike, so it would seem there are no rules preventing it.

By: Zach Adams

Zach Adams — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:51:12 +0000

What are the rules for this sort of thing? Is it against established rules to do a show without writers? Obviously that wouldn’t be an option for a Jon Stewart, but I could easily see one of the others simply going without the pre-written bits. What I’d REALLY like to see is someone like Letterman, assuming he’s not WGA himself, announce a ‘writerless show’ with ’special’ guests who all happen to be writer-actors, and devote the entire hour to getting across the WGA’s message. I realize it’s not realistic, but it’s an entertaining fantasy.

By: Chinanski

Chinanski — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:40:01 +0000

FYI, Your Portfolio guy has updated his false item about Jon Stewart, which sounded pretty bogus from the get go.

UPDATE, 2:20 P.M.: Confusion: Jon Stewart’s rep just called back to deny the information above. I checked back with my source, who set me straight on a few details: Stewart is not paying writers out of his own pocket, but through Busboy, his production company. And it’s not just writers who are getting their salaries covered but all the shows’ employees. “He’s hoping that it wraps up amicably and quickly, and over the course of that time he wants to look out for his employees,” he says.

But when I ran this by Stewart’s rep, he emailed back, “While I hesitate to knock down every rumor that comes up, the assertion that Jon and/or Busboy Productions will be paying for the staff is false and we have no further comment beyond this at this time.”

I’m pretty sure there’s some truthiness here (sorry), but it may take some more digging to determine exactly what the situation is.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:58:11 +0000

TVSquad.com is reporting that both Stewart and Colbert will still be on the air, with more interview heavy programs that won’t require writing. Will be interesting to see if/how this comes off.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/11/05/jon-stewart-to-pay-writers-himself-for-two-weeks/

Dave

By: BA

BA — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:15:07 +0000

Is Jon paying the crew as well? Because they need some money too.

By: Bob Jones

Bob Jones — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:41:30 +0000

Foreign dude? The epitome of American xenophobia there.

Get the tanks ready to invade foreign dudes land to give him freedom!

By: Bethany

Bethany — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:38:08 +0000

What about daytime talk? Like ELLEN?

By: Sad Times Are Here

Sad Times Are Here — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:26:26 +0000

Wow Jessy S, you really want everything from everyone don’t you?

By: Bill Steinberg

Bill Steinberg — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:11:41 +0000

So now the studios are going to have to spend millions more to advertise their holiday movies because they can’t get the free promotion of a talk show. Rather than just give a much smaller amount to writers in the form of residuals, they’d rather spend millions extra on ads and billboards. What great guys!

By: NickF

NickF — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:59:26 +0000

Ah come on, that foreign guy is Scottish.

BTW, his name is Craig Ferguson.

By: Jessy S

Jessy S — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:47:55 +0000

Jon, great decision though you will not be on the air. Jay, why don’t you put a few of your classic cars on the auction block to benefit WGA?

If the SAG truly supports the writers, then it is high time that they contribute to the strike fund in solidarity while picketing with the writers when they can.