WGA set to strike - TV Season could be truncated/delayed (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

Yup, thank goodness for a large stack of unwatched DVDs and the beginning of basketball season.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Yeah, I sort of needed a break, I still have some unwatched shows on my DVRs. I was hoping to get through some of the backlog during December, but I may also get some time in February as well, depending on how long the strike lasts.

 

[WillG]

So what happens to highly serialized shows such as "24" "Lost" or "Heroes" if this strike is prolonged? Would "24" and "Lost" just be cancelled for this season? Or, would they just show however many episoded they have in the can and leave a cliff hanger until the production could resume?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Heroes has supposedly shot an alternate ending to episode 2.11 that can serve as a season finale if necessary (that was the end of a story arc anyway). I suspect Fox and ABC will delay the premieres of their serials as long as they can and parcel them out slower than usual (no four-hour premiere week for 24) until an agreement is struck.

 

[JayDerek]

they've stockpiled 14 of the 16 episode scripts so they'll probably be the best off of all the serial shows. If they delay the start date a bit, there shouldn't be a problem as long as the strike doesn't last too long.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I'm hearing Rumblings of Shelving 24 for this season all together. Guess they'll evaluate after the Superbowl to see where the strike is. Once it's in Syndication does Fox have the rights to show a season again? How about a "See How it all began" repeat of S1.

 

[Patrick Sun]

They should just call it "8" and just show the hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (a typical Jack in crisis management mode day).

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Clever Idea Split the Seasons into 3 parts

 

[Patrick Sun]

Oh yeah, and then the next 8 could be Jack partying hard, having some fun, and the final 8 could be him sleeping (unless he got lucky while partying).

 

[Brent M]

Damn, after seeing that trailer for the new season of 24 last week I was extremely pumped about this new season. If they decided to just shelve the whole thing due to the strike that would seriously suck. :frowning:

 

[Ethan Riley]

The best of this strike thing is that there's no one at home to write "Cavemen." ahhh...

I have a feeling most if not all of the big shows have already stockpiled enough scripts to keep the shows in production for a while. If the strike only goes on for a month, we may never notice much of a break in airings.

I just wish the writers would have relaxed on this issue, because as I was trying to point out earlier, there's not as much money in television as there used to be. Oh sure, people say "well the tv industry is going to make $X billions this year blah blah blah." That may be true, but that money's spread real thin. There's too many cable and satellite channels, with more announced all the time. This comes at a time when people are not watching tv as much as they used to. The tv business is just getting thinner and thinner, and as such, it's not as lucrative as it could be. There's wealth, but it's already spread too thin. TV isn't that big a deal anymore; the individual revenue is not there. All the individuals unions act like the studios, networks, etc are out to get them. But those entities aren't as greedy as one might think. They don't have the cash they used to, and they're trying to hold the business together, is the truth.

Is there profit to be made on dvd sales? Yeah, but not very much. Think of how many Union people worked on a typical, 22 episode tv season. Hundreds. All those actors, different directors and writers and whoever else is covered by residuals. That's a lot of people to divide up in the profits of a $29.95-$59.95 set. As for internet sales? Yeah, something has to be done there. At some point in the future, I feel that all tv shows will be interactive or on demand thru the web. People won't even have traditional tv; they'll just download what they like when they like. That's the way it will be. Yes, language does have to be written so that the writers (and everyone else) are covered in those near-future days.

But try not to think of this as a little guy vs. big guy thing. The media's acting like it's an issue of greed, but I believe the studios are playing it safe and being practical at the moment.

 

[John Kilduff]

This will probably have an obvious answer, but will the strike affect "South Park" as well, or will it be going on as usual? I know that Parker and Stone have stated annoyance with the Hollywood scene, but at the same time, I think that Comedy Central is part of the Guild, and if it is, than the duo might be affected.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

"South Park" is one of the only scripted shows I watch...I wouldn't want to see it get affected.

 

[TravisR]

Thomas' post is here http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...&postcount=170

So the last two episodes of this season will air with no problem.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that one over the past couple of months. . .

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The studios are trying to pretend that downloads are THE SAME as DVDs. There is no explanation for that beyond simple greed.

The AMPTP's proposals include both "new media is the same as DVD" and "get rid of DVD residuals entirely." What's reasonable about either of those (let alone the combination)?

 

[JohnS]

and Sutherland might just go to jail now, instead of his original plan of going around the 24 shooting schedule?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

An email being sent around by Shawn Ryan, showrunner of The Shield and The Unit (note especially the last 4 paragraphs):

 

[Chris_Morris]

On both sides of course, though at this point it may be hard to tell which side has the most.

If I lived near NYC or LA, I might be tempted to go toss the strikers a few pennies for the last couple of DVDs I've bought. Or maybe it would be better to buy one of them a sandwich so they wouldn't use the money on liquor.

 

[Ken Chan]

Seems like an easy call to me.

 

[Chris]

Wow, this is kind of cold.

Look, I'm not a union advocate, but the request on behalf of writers is not insane.. right now, on a $20 DVD, a writer gets .02 cents, based on the formula that was created at the time of VHS. This formula made some sense then, as VHS "sale" was minimal, rental was the key, and high pricing made the value more (a rental copy of VHS sold rarely and so a net of .12 cents or whatever made sense).

But now, DVD sale through is the heart of marketing. Last year, CBS made more then $30B on DVD sale through. We all have forums about sell through DVDs for TV shows, etc. And we know that's where the money is made. At this point, the writers, who stand as the creative power behind the show, get totally hammered in that they share the most minimal of all earnings on this.

Sale through on Itunes and other formats currently nets writers no royalties per se, and cut-ups (scenes taken out and sold as ring tones, etc.) also net them nothing. This is one of the more offensive bits for writers, who find their sold completely based on the writing (a cute line or a sharp comeback), with no kickback to the writer.

I get why they are having issues with what they feel they are being paid vs. what they are worth.

So, at this point, I find myself agreeing more and more strongly with the writers in this. At some point, their claim could be bogus, but there should be some leeway on the part of the studios, which at least according to reports, are completely unwilling to budge in light of their belief in reality programming & resistance to set a precedent for future negotiations with other unions.