When there was a stronger labor movement in this country, it was understood by more people that anything serving those objective functions is the definition of scabbing. That tradition has largely been lost, which is one reason I’m so proud of the writers who are striking, as well as the showrunners, Teamsters and SAG members who have shown truly impressive solidarity.

Regardless of anyone’s intentions, an action has to be judged by whether it’s going to help the studios beat the strike, or help the writers win. This, sadly, does the former.

And Larry M — The showrunners are also under contract. But they took a courageous stand. I wish that Marshall and Ed would do the same.

Here is what a British business magazine is saying:

Those Hollywood writers who are taking part in the ill-judged writers strike should pay attention to NBC’s latest move. It is planning on airing Quarterlife - a web series aimed at teens that made its debut on MySpace last year - to fill its schedules. Although Quarterlife’s online episodes are just six minutes in length, NBC is going to string them together to make an hour long show. The writers should take note; good stuff is being produced on the web and this kind of content could provide a quick fix that will enable the TV stations to hold out for longer.

… For those working in web entertainment - few of whom stick to the kinds of Spanish practices that plague much of the traditional media – this is a dream. They will be more than happy to fill the void left by the lack of TV programming. The writers need to back down before they do any more irreparable damage to their own livelihoods.

http://www.thebusiness.co.uk/trading-floor/360121/web-content-could-make-hollywood-writers-back-down.thtml

Now, for the important part. Whoever is commenting about their lack of success or quality of their work needs to be institutionalized. By any criteria, commercial or critical, they have almost unprecedented success in a business, where, I venture to guess, most of you have achieved true mediocrity. Just so there is no confusion, Bedford Falls, since it’s inception, has produced a number of feature films and television shows. In the feature arena, their films have been nominated for 35 Academy Awards and won 15. These films have grossed 1.6 Billion dollars. They were also nominated for numerous Humanitas awards, AFI best lists, DGA, WGA, and won the first ever Stanley Kramer award from the PGA for socially conscious filmmaking, and honored by the AFI. What other criteria should be used to evaluate their work (which some of you have called “mediocre”)? I have not even bothered to tally the Golden Globe wins and nominations as it might be redundant.

Their television work has also been nominated for 59 Emmys and won 15, and has spawned the careers of many of the most talented writers, producers and directors working in television today.

Whoever wrote “ask any writer who has worked with them”, I have. In fact, the vast majority would do it again in a heartbeat, as it is rare to even attempt to do the quality of work that they have done and tried to do over the years.

Attack the quality of Quarterlife if you will(though I and many critics disagree), but to attack their character or the quality of the work, is utter nonsense.

As states in his comments, they could not legally reject NBC’s offer. Someone please explain to me why they should be attacked for, I don’t know, following the law.

It’s also not that hard for those of us with reading comprehension to understand this wasn’t produced during the strike, it wasn’t written during the strike, and NBC is buying a completed show, not a script.

Yes, I’m sure the show is horrendous, given their mediocre track record. And yes, maybe these kind of deals are the wave of the future. But this has nothing to do with how they are hurting writers THIS VERY MINUTE. How greedy and pathetic. This is as bad as Ellen. I’d really like to see the union take a stand here.

In any strike, scabs start being offered better deals — things they would never be offered outside of the context of other workers refusing to work and the company being desperate to hire someone, to keep production going, and to break the strike.

That doesn’t mean that the scab offers represent a victory for the workers — precisely because most workers would never be offered that, and all workers are LESS likely to get those kind of good deals when their collective action and solidarity is undermined.

An an analogy, imagine workers in another industry on strike for health care, and suddenly during the strike, scabs start being offered vastly higher wages (as happens in all strikes). Would anyone buy an argument that those wages were a “victory” for workers because workers need higher wages? No, because everyone would understand that this wasn’t some sort of permanent change in the company’s thinking that made them magically willing to pay more — it would be a temporary maneuver to set back the demands of the strike, and there’s no way the higher wages would continue afterward. Result: no higher wages and no health care, and a chance to have won something lost.

So, does anyone believe that if this strike loses, lots of writers are now going to have new avenues for owning their own writing a la H & Z? I don’t. It is impossible for me to see Herskovitz and Zwick’s deal as a step forward for writers’ creative control, because it was made in the context of (and serves the purpose for NBC of) giving most writers less power.

I see Herskovitz’s argument as utterly disingenuous.

They didn’t sell the scripts to the network. They sold a completed show. As in a written, shot, and edited show. Not a script. People are mad about this, I understand, but a lot of people comment without even reading the posts…at least read what’s going on before posting a response.

http://www.quarterlife.com/index.php?module=forum&file=forum_view&forumid=6&assuntoforumid=2261

A struck company is a struck company. Let’s not dance around this one. It’s embarrassing that you’d even try to explain this away, MH.
If Verrone was lame enough to agree to this deal, well… I’ve got another reason to wonder if he knows what he’s doing!
That list just grows longer with each passing day.

The most amusing part of this whole thing is how truly lame Quarterlife is. All of the people posting, the person reporting the story, the Guild… has anyone actually seen this drivel?
I’ll tell you what, you’re not alone. No one’s tuning in online either!

There was screening a few weeks ago on a local campus.
After watching Quarterlife a kid responded, “it was a tv show” or something like it.

The response from the creators, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!

hahahaha.

Thank the lord the WGA has agreed to go back to the negotiating table!

Gack. It woulda been nice had they waited for the strike to end. There’s a new generation of showrunners out there who clearly take it a bit more seriously. Their sacrifices are even more laudable in this context.