Strike update: AP has just broken another news story on the Golden Globes-WGA has refused to negotiate with Globe organizers about staging a picket-free ceremony. The full story is below:

quote AP

LOS ANGELES - The Golden Globe Awards were thrust into deeper jeopardy Wednesday when the striking writers guild refused to negotiate with Globe organizers about staging a picket-free ceremony.

The actors union then said it would advise celebrity nominees and presenters to boycott the show, which is scheduled to be televised Jan. 13 on NBC. That would rob the boozy, informal affair of the star power that makes the Globes the official kickoff to Hollywood's awards season.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which stages the Globes, had hoped last-minute negotiations with the Writers Guild of America would allow the show to go on. But the guild said Wednesday afternoon that striking writers still intend to picket.

"The WGA has great respect and admiration for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but we are engaged in a crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come," it said in a statement. "We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion."

Jorge Camara, president of the HFPA, said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the organization was negotiating with the guild to reach an "an interim agreement" that would "ultimately permit the Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast as scheduled, without picket lines."

Twenty million people watched last year's ceremony on NBC. The network had no comment Wednesday.

Some Hollywood observers have theorized that without scripts and celebrities, awards shows might have to return to the relatively private affairs they were before television rather than risk embarrassment. Yet the organizations behind the Oscars and Globes are heavily dependent on the tens of millions of dollars their broadcasts bring in from network licensing deals, which may force them to televise their shows anyway.

The Globes organizers sought an agreement similar to the one reached Friday by David Letterman's production company. It allows guild members to write for "The Late Show With David Letterman" despite the strike, which began Nov. 5. Letterman's show returned to the air Wednesday night.

"'The Late Show with David Letterman' and the 'Golden Globe Awards' are similar in structure and are administered in the same way" because each is produced by an independent company and neither is owned by the networks that broadcast them, Camara's statement continued.

Letterman's show is produced by Worldwide Pants. The Golden Globe Awards are produced by dick clark productions.

The guild statement said dick clark productions is among those that have been struck.

"As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards," it said.

Celebrity nominees and presenters are unlikely to attend the ceremony, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg.

"Unless and until there is an agreement between the WGA and HFPA, we will advise our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programs using non-union writers," he said.

Rosenberg said a meeting with Golden Globe actor nominees was scheduled for later this week.

What the heck happened to Bionic Woman?


I've watched every episode and then around the beginning of December new episodes just stopped, and I haven't seen, read, or heard any news on the show's status.

It's in what's called "Fate TBD" status. Its first season ended on 11/28/07 because of the writer's strike-only 8 of the 13 ordered episodes were completed before the strike. Right now the only way it's coming back this season is when/if the strike is resolved. And based on the show's low (and lower every week) ratings, that's not a given. Ditto for almost all scripted programming (almost everything except reality and sports).

When is Jericho coming back, and how many episodes were ordered?

February 12. The timeslot will be Tuesdays at 10 PM ET. 7 episodes were ordered for the second season, all were completed before the strike.

Schedule update from Fox: New episodes of "Bones", which were to have begun airing sometime in the next month or so, have now been pushed back to April 28. The episodes will air Mondays at 8 PM ET-the series has 4 completed episodes remaining this season (3 of the 13 completed pre-strike episodes plus one episode held over from last season). Reruns will air Fridays at 8 PM beginning tonight until March 14, when they move to 9 PM.
(The new episodes were to have aired starting February 22)

Strike update: Jay Leno's back and writing his own monologues and everyone's getting a good laugh out of it...except WGA. WGA says Leno can't write his own monologues. NBC says Leno can. Full Story

Audiences clearly are happy to have late night shows back. Of the 5 major late-night talk ahows back on the air, all but 1 saw ratings increase. Fast overnights indicate Leno drew 7.2 million viewers Wednesday, up 40% over its season average. Dave did 5.5 million, his biggest crowd in a year and up 35% over his season average. Conan drew 2.8 million, up 37%, Carson Daly did 2.2 million, up 28%. Only Jimmy Kimmel wasn't up, his 1.8 million crowd was just slightly below his season average.

Late news:
The CW has announced its midseason/post-strike schedule:
Mondays:
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Gossip Girl" (Beginning January 28)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" (Beginning February 18)

Tuesdays:
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Reaper" (Beginning January 15)
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Beauty and the Geek" (Beginning March 11)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "One Tree Hill"

Wednesdays (Beginning February 20):
8:00-10:00 p.m. "America's Next Top Model"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" (Encores)

Thursdays:
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Smallville"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Reaper" (Beginning February 28)

Sundays (Beginning February 10):
7:00-7:30 p.m. "CW Now"
7:30-8:00 p.m. "Everybody Hates Chris" (Encores)
8:00-8:30 p.m. "Everybody Hates Chris"
8:30-9:00 p.m. "Aliens in America"
9:00-9:30 p.m. "Girlfriends"
9:30-10:00 p.m. "The Game"

Fox has also announced the schedule for the 3 remaining new episodes of "House": January 29, February 3 (after the Super Bowl), and February 5.

This message was edited by SummonerSupreme on Jan 04 2008.

Months of rumors have been confirmed today by CBS: It's calling on the cable network Showtime to help it out during the strike. The Eye has just announced that edited versions of Showtime's hit original series "Dexter" will air on CBS starting February 17. The 12 episodes from the first season will be edited for network TV (they do have standards unlike premium/pay channels, where you can get away with pretty much anything not XXX-rated) and air Sundays at 10 PM ET for 12 consecutive weeks. Dexter's move to CBS marks the first time a full season of a premium cable drama series will make the transition to network television. I guess Sex & The City doesn't count.

Late news: NBC has announced that Sunday's Golden Globes will still go on...well, sort of. It'll be scaled back to more of a press conference-style event this year due to the WGA strike (and vows by WGA to picket the event), and will be covered by NBC News, which isn't affected by the strike. An email sent out indicates the broadcast plans should go somewhat like this:
7 PM-"Dateline" with clips and interviews with nominees
8 PM-TBA. NBC currently is in talks with Dick Clark Productions for a one-hour retrospective/clip show
9 PM-A press conferece covered by NBC News announcing the winners
10 PM-NBC will broadcast an "Access Hollywood"-style Golden Globes party show, checking in on the various soirees taking place (post-Globes parties)
For those wondering why do it in a watered-down format like this rather than not at all, there's one big motivation-the almighty don't-pass-it-up millions of dollars in ad revenue that the Globes bring in. Money, even little compared to what it would've been without a strike, still talks.

Strike updates:
AMPTP's latest end-of-day statements:
Friday:

quote

"The WGA this morning engaged in a failed effort to stop the City of Los Angeles from issuing four separate permits for film production. Although the WGA was rebuffed by the L.A. Board of Public Works, the WGA's attempt to derail production on films with completed scripts -- and thus to throw hundreds and hundreds more people out of work -- shows that the WGA's organizers are continuing to do whatever they can to make good on their boast to "wreak havoc" on our industry."

quote

One-off deals do nothing to bring the WGA closer to a permanent solution for working writers. These interim agreements are sideshows and mean only that some writers will be employed at the same time other writers will be picketing. In the end, until the people in charge at WGA decide to focus on the main event rather than these sideshows, the economic harm being caused by the strike will continue.

quote

"This morning, United Artists signed an independent agreement. This company, now co-owned by Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, has been legendary for its collaborative and cooperative relationships with writers and the talent community, so it is only fitting that it be the first film studio to make an agreement with us."

The People's Choice Awards were handed out last night (watered down, of course, because of the strike). Here are the winners in the TV categories:
Favorite Competition/Reality Show: Dancing With The Stars (beat American Idol & Extreme Makeover Home Edition)

Favorite Talk Show Host: Ellen DeGeneres (beat Oprah & Jay Leno)

Favorite Female TV Star: Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy (beat Sally Field & Jennifer Love Hewitt)

Favorite Game Show: Deal Or No Deal (beat Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? and Jeopardy!)

Favorite Animated Comedy: The Simpsons (should've been Favorite Fox Animated Comedy, Simpsons beat fellow Fox shows King Of The Hill and Family Guy)

Favorite Sci-Fi Show: Stargate Atlantis (beat Battlestar Galactica & Doctor Who)

Favorite Male TV Star: Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy (beat Charlie Sheen & Kiefer Sutherland)

Favorite TV Comedy: Two And A Half Men (beat The King Of Queens and my pick, My Name Is Earl)

Favorite New TV Comedy: Samantha Who? (beat Chuck & Pushing Daisies)

Favorite New TV Drama: Moonlight (beat Gossip Girl & Pushing Daisies)

Favorite TV Drama: House (beat CSI & Law & Order SVU)

Edit: NBC has announced that 2 "original episodes" of "Chuck" will air on January 24 at 8 & 10 PM ET, on opposite ends of "Celebrity Apprentice". While not confirmed yet, it's possible that these are the 2 remaining episodes of the first season that were completed pre-strike.

One more schedule change from NBC for Sunday: The planned Golden Globes after-party special for 10 PM is now off. The Peacock will instead air an "American Gladiators" repeat. If it's this past Monday's, watch it just for Gina "Crush" Carano giving that unlucky contender an MMA-style ground & pound beatdown in Joust. She made female MMA fighters look so good. Not to mention she looks good herself.

1/10 news:
Good news if you like American Gladiators, bad if you don't: It's sticking around. NBC has picked up the new show for a full season. Not yet known how many episodes that will mean.

1/11 strike update: According to this New York Times story today, linked to from AMPTP's website, WGA's militant tactics may be doing the guild more harm than good:

quote

LOS ANGELES — When Hollywood’s studios walked away from the bargaining table last month, striking screenwriters came out swinging. They filed a legal complaint, boycotted an awards show and picketed late-night television programs.

But the militant tactics may be creating fissures within the guild.

In particular, some writers wonder whether they are actually doing more harm to themselves than their opponents.

“It’s a classic rope-a-dope, like the Ali-Foreman fight,” said John Ridley, referring to the 1974 boxing match in Zaire during which George Foreman outpunched Muhammad Ali for seven rounds, only to fall, exhausted, in the eighth.

Mr. Ridley, an open critic of the striking writers guilds whose credits include the “Barbershop” and “Third Watch” television series, created ripples here last week when he became the first prominent writer to break publicly with the Writers Guild of America West by declaring “financial core” status. Such standing allows someone to pay union dues and work for employers under its contract without observing its rules as an active member.

Earlier, a handful of soap opera writers — including the two head writers for “All My Children” — took a similar step, even as other writers continued with a strike that began on Nov. 5 when some 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East walked out.

Such actions have been rare, and they mark the extreme edge of discontent within the guild, which has — like the major companies they oppose — so far retained a united front as it seeks more compensation for new media, among other issues.

Yet they point toward a growing unease among some guild members that the hardball tactics are backfiring, damaging the public image of the guilds and the well-being of many writers, without making a dent in the biggest companies that oppose them.

Things got sufficiently tense this week that Jon Stewart, a guild member who returned to “The Daily Show” on Monday without writers, speculated in a barbed on-air quip as to whether “anti-Semitism” might explain why the guild was willing to sign an independent agreement with David Letterman’s production company and not others.

Similar blowback erupted this week, when the threat of guild pickets chased celebrities away from, and ultimately shut down, the Golden Globes ceremony planned for Sunday evening. The move was intended to pressure NBC into returning to the bargaining table.

(The writers had already filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the companies of failing to bargain in good faith.)

Instead, according to executives who requested anonymity to avoid further complicating dealings with writers, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal, a division of General Electric, has toughened his stance. Despite entreaties from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the event’s sponsor, he refused to let go of the Globes broadcast so a picket-free gala could proceed.

Meanwhile, Barry Adelman — executive producer of the Golden Globes telecast for Dick Clark Productions and a 31-year member of the writers guild — thought he had a solution that would allow the show to go on. But his offer to the writers, granting a prime-time showcase to the president of the West Coast guild to make his case, was rebuffed. Mr. Adelson declined to comment.

A less senior writer, Matt O’Neil, was provoked by the Globes shutdown to circulate an unusually pointed e-mail message to about 30 writers and industry players. “I don’t have a problem with any of the negotiating tactics we have used ... until now,” Mr. O’Neil wrote.

In an interview, Mr. O’Neil, who is working toward his first produced movie credit, said he was supportive of the strike’s goals, but added: “It’s very easy if I am a very big-time writer to sit on a picket line. It’s not as easy for a person who is on the way up or things are just starting to happen.”

The guild’s tactics, of late, bear the stamp of its strike coordinator, Jeff Hermanson. A veteran of blue-collar labor battles on behalf of carpenters, garment workers and others, Mr. Hermanson has long argued that companies require more stick than carrot.

In a phone interview Thursday, Mr. Hermanson said that some self-inflicted damage was inevitable in a strike.

“There’s always a need for sacrifice in order to achieve your objective,” Mr. Hermanson said. He said the members’ resolve had been strengthened by support from the Screen Actors Guild.

Yet writers found themselves in conflict with a well-liked fellow writer last week when they picketed “The Tonight Show” and its host, Jay Leno, and then began an investigation into whether his writing of his own monologues violated the union’s strike rules.

“How does fighting against Jay Leno and his decision to write his own jokes help get us a contract?” Craig Mazin, a former board member of the West Coast guild, wrote on his blog, artfulwriter.com.

Two of the most prominent soap opera writers to return to work are James Harmon Brown and Barbara J. Esensten, the co-head writers of “All My Children” on ABC, according to someone briefed on their decision who would discuss it only anonymously. The writing team, whose credits include “Guiding Light” and “Port Charles,” accepted financial core status and returned to work in late December.

The two writers did not respond Thursday to messages left at their offices.

Still uncertain is whether doubts about the conduct of the strikers will provoke organized resistance. Writers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution by other members, said last week that at least 50 prominent writers have formed a network of dissent.

That group is unlikely to make any public break with guild leaders until they see whether the Directors Guild of America — approaching contract negotiations with producers — reaches a deal that can become a model for a writers’ pact.

For the moment, Mr. Ridley has been warning writers who are seeking his advice about financial core status not to be hasty.

“I’m in a place where I can do it and survive,” he said. But, he cautioned, “there will be repercussions.”

Strike update: AMPTP and DGA (Director's Guild Of America) are scheduled to begin new contract negotiations today. DGA's contract is up in June, and reports have said in the past the the outcome likely will have a significant impact on WGA's negotiations with AMPTP. AMPTP's end-of-day statement from last night on DGA negotiations:

quote

The Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers agreed today to enter into formal contract negotiations. Negotiations are scheduled to begin tomorrow, Saturday, January 12, 2008, and will be held at AMPTP headquarters in Encino, CA.

The DGA and the AMPTP have agreed that neither organization will comment to the press regarding negotiations until negotiations have concluded.

quote

Lost: Through The Looking Glass (aired 5/23/07)

SummonerSupreme can't you just go into negotiate and resolve the whole situation? I know you can do it

I wish, haha. Unfortunately I'm 3000 miles away and they probably wouldn't pay me enough.

Since I hadn't mentioned this before, the ratings reports will resume this week-Idol returns Tuesday.

The Golden Globes were handed out last night in heavily watered-down format due to the strike. Here are the winners in the TV categories:
Drama Series: Mad Men
Drama Actress: Glenn Close, Damages
Drama Actor: John Hamm, Mad Men
Musical/Comedy Series: Extras
Musical/Comedy Actress: Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Musical/Comedy Actor: David Duchovny, Californication
Miniseries/Movie: Longford
Miniseries/Movie Actress: Queen Latifah, Life Support
Miniseries/Movie Actor: Jim Broadbent, Longford
Miniseries/Movie Supporting Actress: Samantha Morton, Longford
Miniseries/Movie Supporting Actor: Jeremy Piven, Entourage

Steven Spielberg was to get the Cecil B. DeMille Award, but that now waits until 2009.

Strike update: WGA's latest statement from earlier today:

quote

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and MRC, the independent film, television, and digital studio, have reached a comprehensive interim agreement that forges a new alliance between writers, producers, and financiers in the production of feature films, television shows, and digital programs.

"This is an exciting agreement that will open up opportunities for writers, especially in New Media," said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West, and Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East. "We know that Guild members will be eager to be a part of the MRC creative team."

"MRC operates from two basic concepts and this agreement is a natural extension of that ethos: we treat talent as our partners and we maximize distribution across all digital, film and television platforms," said MRC co-CEO's Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk. "As with all of our partnerships, we could not have accomplished this agreement without creative talent. In this case, we especially want to thank our colleague Seth MacFarlane for helping pave the way with the WGA and also to the leaders of the Guild who worked with the utmost professionalism."

The terms of the agreement are similar to the Guild's recent deals with Worldwide Pants and United Artists. An executive summary of the Worldwide Pants agreement can be found at http://www.wga.org/contract_07/wwp_exec.pdf.

Strike update: More breaking developments, and these do not bode well for most viewers out there. According to an AP and L.A. Times report just posted in the last few minutes, major TV studios are starting to cancel writers' contracts (which under old contract terms is allowed), which indicates that they're starting to raise the white flag and give up on saving this season and the start of next season. The full story:

quote AP

Conceding that the current television season cannot be salvaged, four major studios canceled dozens of writer contracts Monday.

The move signals that development of next season's crop of new shows also could be in jeopardy because of the 2-month-old writers strike. Typically, January marks the start of pilot season when networks order new comedies and dramas. But with writers not working, networks do not have a pool of scripts from which to choose.

20th Century Fox Television, CBS Paramount Network Television, NBC Universal and Warner Bros. Television each confirmed that they terminated development and production agreements. Such arrangements typically cost the studios $500,000 to $2 million a year per writer in order to pay them and their staffs and overhead while they develop ideas for new TV shows.

1. WGA Writers' Strike Roundup

"I didn't see it coming," said Barbara Hall, a writer and producer whose credits include former CBS series "Joan of Arcadia" and "Judging Amy." ABC executives gave her the news Friday. "I am not entirely sure what their strategy is, all I know was that I was a casualty of it," she said.

It's unclear how many people will be affected by the so-called force majeure actions, which allow a studio unilaterally to cancel a writer's contract in the event of a crisis such as a strike. A production deal can involve a solo writer or a team of several people.

"The duration of the WGA strike has significantly affected our ongoing business. Regretfully, due to these changed business circumstances, we've had to end some writer/producer deals," NBC Universal said in its statement.

Overall, more than 65 deals with writers have been eliminated since Friday. ABC Studios late last week cut about 25 deals. On Monday, CBS Paramount cut 15, Fox jettisoned about 14, NBC Universal rid nearly 10, and Warner Bros. trimmed three, said people familiar with the situation.

One top studio executive said if the strike continues into February there would probably be another round of force majeure eliminations. "There are likely to be deeper cuts," said the executive, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.

For the studios, the terminations were in some part strategic. Payments had not been made on the contracts since November, when the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The canceled contracts mostly affected writers who may have achieved some success but were not behind the bigger hits.

By eliminating the deals now, the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers even if the strike ends in the next month or two. The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments, and is the first real sign of belt-tightening caused by the strike.

Weekly Nielsen Ratings Report for Week Ending 1/13/08:
Yes, I'm back from my holiday break that was anything but thanks to the strike. As for the week that was, Fox clearly sent a message to everyone else ahead of the return of the unstoppable "American Idol" juggernaut last night: Your season is Terminated. Although CBS had some strong numbers thanks to NFL playoffs and other stuff, Fox led the way with its own football coverage and the premiere of the heavily hyped "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". Said premiere drew 18.3 million viewers Sunday night, helped tremendously by an NFL Playoffs lead-in of 45.2 million viewers in the 7 PM hour. It also helped the post-Connor "Family Guy" draw its biggest crowd since it returned to Fox in May '05-11.4 million. Not to be outdone, CBS drew nearly 31 million Saturday night for its own NFL coverage, and after Terminator The Eye took over with "Comanche Moon Part 1", the they-claim-its-the-final-chapter of the Lonesome Dove saga, which did 16 million. Yeah, it's nowhere near the peak of probably 50-some million in the 80s (back then they only tracked households) but it's still the biggest TV movie audience for a broadcast network in 2 years. As for Idol, I'll edit this report later today when the fast overnights become available-barring processing issues at Nielsen that should be sometime between noon & 2 PM ET today.

Elsewhere, Fox's big football numbers continued last Monday with over 23 million for the BCS National Championship game in which THE Louisiana State University sent THE Ohio State University to their 2nd straight title game loss. Drop the THE, OSU. Also on Monday, the timeslot premiere of the "American Gladiators" remake on NBC more than held its own with 10.9 million viewers, but more significantly drew very strong numbers in the sought-after 18-49 demo, so good that the show has gotten a second season and there are other related tie-in plans. More reasons to love our favorite gladiator, Crush (MMA hottie Gina Carano, the best reason to watch, you'll see more shameless plugs for her here). Otherwise the story was how many people were not watching the major Awards last week, almost all victims of the strike. The "struck" People's Choice Awards on CBS managed just 6 million on Tuesday and lost significant viewers every half-hour...in fact, it only beat ABC, which hardly anyone watched. NBC's watered-down Golden Globes coverage Sunday managed just 6 million as well. As for the Critics' Choice Awards on cable...apparently WGA giving it a waiver didn't help. Not many watched, let's just say that.

The Week's Top 10 Most Watched Shows, in order: Fox's Sunday NFL Playoffs coverage (7-8 PM), CBS's Saturday NFL Playoffs coverage, The BCS National Championship, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", "CSI", "Grey's Anatomy", "Comanche Moon Part 1", "Law & Order SVU", "Criminal Minds", "Extreme Makeover Home Edition".

Strike update: In addition to confirming that WGA won't give The Grammys a waiver, they announced they will not picket the upcoming NAACP Image Awards. And since WGA is striking the Grammys, expect SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) members to follow suit. What's left of the Grammys air February 10 on CBS. The NAACP Image Awards follow on the 14th. In a statement, WGA cited "the historic role the NAACP has played in struggles like ours" in not striking the event.

Edit: As promised, here are the hot from Nielsen Idol overnight ratings: Still unstoppable but it lost a bit of steam too. It did a 17.8 rating with an estimated 33.2 million viewers, which about doubled evertyhing else (only the final pre-strike episode of Idol-proof "NCIS" was remotely competitive, doing a 9.9) but was down 11% from last season's premiere. In the all-important 18-49 demo the number was 13.8. Beat all the other nets combined and then some, but also down from last year. Final numbers should be available in a couple days. I'll pass along Premiere Night 2 numbers when they're available tomorrow.

More strike news-WGA's statement on above item about WGA not striking/picketing the NAACP Image Awards:

quote

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) announced today at a press conference that it will sign an interim agreement with the NAACP for The 39th NAACP Image Awards, which will take place on February 14, 2008, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The agreement will allow the hiring of WGA writers to script the show and means that there will be no picketing of the event by striking writers. In addition, the Guild has granted a waiver permitting the use of clips from motion pictures and television programs.

"The NAACP would like to thank the leadership of the WGA and its members for demonstrating their support of the NAACP and its historic mission by granting The NAACP Image Awards an interim agreement," said Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP. "The NAACP stands in solidarity with the Writers Guild in its fight for meaningful collective bargaining and the rights of all workers to make an honest and fair living."

Speaking at the press conference were Patric M. Verrone, president of the WGA West, NAACP Image Awards Committee Chair Clayola Brown, Vicangelo Bulluck, executive producer of the show, and WGA members Robert Eisele (screenwriter, The Great Debaters, executive producer, Resurrection Blvd.) and Mara Brock Akil (creator and executive producer, Girlfriends, The Game).

“The Guild examines each request like this individually and no decision is easy. Our ultimate goal is to resolve this strike by achieving a good contract. Because of the historic role the NAACP has played in struggles like ours, we think this decision is appropriate to jointly achieve our goals,” said Verrone.

Presented annually, the NAACP Image Awards is the nation's premier event celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice.

quote

Nearly three months into the writers' strike, the leadership of the Writers Guild of America says it is at a critical juncture in its contract stalemate with the major Hollywood studios and television networks.

In an interview yesterday, WGA West Coast President Patric Verrone and Executive Director David Young said the guild will closely examine whatever deal the Directors Guild of America reaches with the major studios. The directors' guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, have been quietly negotiating a labor contract since Saturday and are expected to reach a deal soon. Mr. Young expressed hope that studio negotiations, which broke down Dec. 7, could restart in the wake of a directors-guild deal and a new labor contract could be reached weeks before the annual Academy Awards telecast scheduled for Feb. 24.

Messrs. Verrone and Young said they "can't afford to pre-judge" any deal the directors' guild makes with the studios, and the writers will "take an extremely close look at any deal the DGA makes."

The guild leaders said that in examining any deal made by the directors, a key issue will be not just how much money is paid for reuse of movies and TV shows on the Internet, but whether the creation of original work for the Internet comes under the auspices of the guild. Mr. Young said that in the near future, the Internet could become a "pilot playground" for the testing of new shows, and if the work is created by non-union writers, it could dramatically undercut the union's strength over the long term.

The men concede that a directors-guild deal would test the solidarity of the roughly 12,500 writers who have been firmly behind a work stoppage that has paralyzed the television industry, damaged the annual industry-awards season and threatens to spread malaise into the feature-film sector. Key to the strike is the support of A-list screenwriters and the so-called television showrunners, writers who also produce and coordinate programs. Now, Mr. Young said, the writers' guild faces a "moment of truth" in retaining support from those factions, but he added that the guild has "had a number of those moments so far."

"What has made the strike so effective so far is the total support of the television writers who quickly brought TV production to a halt," Mr. Verrone said. Both men say the continued support of the influential showrunners as well as film writers will be crucial in the days and weeks after a directors' guild deal is announced.

Such support from most quarters of the writers' guild could be tested in the wake of a deal with the directors. "Those A-list screenwriters and showrunners are absolutely a critical community of support that we need to maintain," Mr. Young said.

As the strike drags on, the guild says it is pursuing disciplinary proceedings against an unspecified number of writers for various violations of strike rules, including everything from quietly polishing scripts to outright scab work with producers. The guild hasn't acted against any members. Mr. Verrone said he doesn't think such violations are "pandemic."

Breaking strike developments: AMPTP and DGA (Directors' Guild) have reached a tentative contract agreement. AP story:

quote

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood directors have reached a tentative contract deal with studios after five days of negotiations, the directors union said Thursday. The agreement puts pressure on striking writers to end their walkout that has lasted more than two months and idled work on dozens of TV shows.

"Two words describe this agreement — groundbreaking and substantial," said Gil Cates, chairman of the Directors Guild of America's negotiations committee. "There are no rollbacks of any kind."

Among other things, the agreement increases both wages and residuals for each year of the contract.

It also establishes guild jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet and sets a new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers, the guild said.

It also set residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.

Payment for programs offered on the Internet is a key sticking point between the studios and striking writers.

The rapidly concluded directors' contract could serve as an industry template for the central issue of new media compensation among other unions in Hollywood.

The writers guild, however, has said directors do not represent their interests.

Writers repeated the same refrain when asked how their walkout might be affected if directors reached a quick deal.

"It's important to remember that they do not represent actors and writers," the Writers Guild of America has said.

The directors guild was prepared when it started negotiations Jan. 12. It had spent $2 million researching the potential value of new media over the next decade and held a series of meetings with key studio heads to establish a basis for the formal talks.

quote

The agreement between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Directors Guild of America establishes an important precedent: Our industry’s creative talent will now participate financially in every emerging area of new media. The agreement demonstrates beyond any doubt that our industry’s producers are willing and able to work with the creators of entertainment content to establish fair and flexible rules for this fast-changing marketplace.

We hope that this agreement with DGA will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry. Today, we invite the Writers Guild of America to engage with us in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive process that led us to a deal with the DGA to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining. We look forward to these discussions, and to the day when our entire industry gets back to work.

Peter Chernin, Chairman and CEO, the Fox Group
Brad Grey, Chairman & CEO, Paramount Pictures Corp.
Robert A. Iger, President & CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros.
Leslie Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp.
Harry Sloan, Chairman & CEO, MGM
Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal

quote

“We’ve been just as anxious as you to hear news from the Directors’ Guild talks. We hope they make a good deal, and when they close their deal and it does become public, we’ll look at it very, very carefully. The deal we make has more influence not only on writers but on actors down the road so there has to be a settlement that ends all of this for everyone.”

The CW has announced a couple of schedule changes: To fill time between the end of "Crowned" and the 10th go-around of "America's Next Top Model", The CW will air 2 "America's Next Top Model Favorite Moments" on February 6 and 13. The next Top Model cycle starts February 20. Next up, apparently "Girlfriends" and "The Game", both thought to be out of completed pre-strike episodes, have some new ones left-they'll return with new episodes starting February 4 at 9. They'll be on until February 18, at which point "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" takes over, which indicates both sitcoms apparently have 2 new episodes left.

Schedule changes at NBC:
Starting February 4, "American Gladiators" will expand from 1 hour to 90 minutes. The show's 2 hour season finale is now set for February 17 at 7 PM, so it will lead into the "Knight Rider" movie. Also, "Deal Or No Deal" goes to 90 minutes on February 4 & 11, sending "Medium" to hiatus after tonight, it will return February 18 (next week is pre-empted due to State Of The Union). As for "Scrubs", still no official return date (NBC keeps toying with it), but as of now it won't return until at least February 21. The timeslot is to be filled the next few weeks with the return of "Chuck" this week, "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" repeats on January 31, A "Most Romantic Moments On TV" special on February 7, and Deal Or No Deal on February 14. February 21 is listed as TBA, so that's the earliest likely return date.