Final strike update of the night

Just a few last thoughts before finishing up this first day of the WGA strike. The Washington Post drops some interesting comments into its article (internal links omitted, my emphasis added):

Late-Night Talk Shows in the Dark After Writers’ Strike
By Lisa de Moraes
Tuesday, November 6, 2007; Page C07

. . .

Letterman, Leno, Stewart, Colbert, Conan, Ferguson, Kimmel — all dark for the first day of the strike.

But unlike the last time the writers struck, nearly 20 years ago, when the late-night shows stayed dark for months, this time around, industry sources with knowledge of the situation say, they’re expected to stay out for only a week or two. While the late-night stars want to show support for their writers, they also feel allegiance to the production staffers, who do not get paid if they do not work. That said, many of the talkers are continuing to pay their staff for the next couple of weeks, even if no show is produced. Should the shows return during the strike, it will be with formats that have been tinkered with to varying degrees, depending on how much the show relies on writers. Expect no scripted bits, but lots more celebrity interviews. Oh goody.

. . .

Trade paper the Hollywood Reporter, um, reported that picketers outside NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rock in New York included “Saturday Night Live” star Seth Meyers and “Daily Show” faux correspondent John Oliver, who said Jon Stewart himself might show up on the picket line soon . . .

Presidential candidate Barack Obama (like Jerri Blank?) also had something to say. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Obama backs writers, urges compromise
By Brooks Boliek
Nov 6, 2007
Strike Zone: Latest on WGA talks

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama weighed in on the writers’ walkout on Monday, coming down on the side of the strikers.

“I stand with the writers,” the Illinois senator said in a press release issued from his campaign headquarters in Chicago. “The Guild’s demand is a test of whether media corporations are going to give writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their executives.”

. . .

Although Obama threw his support behind the writers, he pushed the two sides to get together and make a deal.

“I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work,” he said in the release.

I’ll leave the you with some notes from Nikki Finke’s site, the invaluable Deadline Hollywood Daily. She recounts the view from the AMPTP here:

From inside the mogul camp: There are no negotiations scheduled or even planned between AMPTP or WGA in the near future. From my own reporting, the Hollywood CEOs are still really, really pissed that, after asking for the walkout to be suspended while the talks continued, the WGA negotiators never told them that the East had gone out on strike. The moguls worked the phones until 9:30 am Pacific time last night keeping track of the talks progress — until they heard the strike had begun. “We can’t trust them anymore,” an insider told me. “How do you negotiate with people you can’t trust?” Then the talks stopped, and the dueling statements began. The moguls are convinced they were played all Sunday and that nothing would have deterred Patric Verrone or Dave Young from a strike agenda. So there you have the moguls’ viewpoint.

Finke’s early morning posting rings truest to me just now:

[L]et me say this first: both sides have to be brought back to the bargaining table immediately. Don’t let pettiness derail the real progress that was made yesterday. The moguls feel burned, the WGA feel burned, and no one wants to even think about facing off again for a while to try to break the deadlock. THAT IS RIDICULOUS! This isn’t personal, it’s business. Your business. Stop acting like pussies and swallow your pride and hammer out an agreement before even two weeks of this walkout have passed. Otherwise, here’s what lies ahead: 9 months of a long, costly and bitter strike bearing a price tag of $1 billion to everyone.

That about does it for me tonight. “Good night, and good luck.”