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I’ve just been given the exclusive news that Ellen DeGeneres will not be bringing her syndicated talk show to NYC next week as planned. (The New York Post story today is wrong.) Ellen is taping her TBS special tomorrow night in Las Vegas and was supposed to catch a plane immediately afterwards for NYC.
The Ellen Degeneres Show was planning to tape in NYC next Monday and Tuesday, November 19th and 20th. Ellen is both a member of the WGA and AFTRA. Which is why the Writers Guild Of America East issued the statement it did last Friday headlined “Ellen Is Not Welcome In NY.” The guild had pledged to “certainly let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled [and] make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location.” Since then Ellen has been under fire by writers and others. The “s” word, for scab, has even been used during this controversy.
There has been a running dispute between the WGA East and AFTRA with Ellen smack in the middle because she went back on the air after honoring only one day of the writers strike. On her first day back, Ellen said she supports her writers but returned to work because of a) her crew and b) her company, which ordered her to, and c)a no-strike clause in her AFTRA contract.
But AFTRA was quick to defend Ellen, saying she had done nothing to violate the WGA agreement and noting that DeGeneres, like other first-run syndications that deliver original programming (Dr. Phil, Regis and Kelly, and Oprah), has a contractual obligation as host and producer. Also a portion of the Writers Guild’s “Minimum Basic Agreement” (MBA) supposedly excuses Ellen’s situation.
But the writers guild scolded Ellen for not making an “act of individual conscience”.
I should note here that AFTRA is often accused of having undercut Guild contracts for years and poaching jobs that are traditional union jurisdiction. But AFTRA pulled out a letter to Ellen dated November 8th (and written before today’s WGAE statement) expressing “appreciation” to Ellen “for your individual act of solidarity shown to the striking writers in their efforts to negotiate a fair contract with the industry producers.”
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Gee, I wonder why. LOL.
Good work troops, this had to be dealt with.
I commend Ellen for doing the right thing, that is if she decides to abide by the WGA Strike rules.
Yeah, this almost seems like a non-story. She seems to be handling this whole situation pretty well and doing the right things.
Who cares about Ellen?
Nikki, any whispers or signs as far as the two sides meeting to talk yet?
First her dog, now this. What’s a girl to do?
Looks like I spoke too soon. My bad…
If Ellen is still planning to tape shows to guarantee that Networks allied with AMPTP can cover their upfront advertising dollars/profits then Ellen will still be considered Ellen “Disingenous” to me.
Damn… Not too original a sentiment, I know, but I must say I’m incredibly impressed by the reporting on this site. Nikki Finke is simply wiping the floor with the MSM. It makes you wonder what we ever did before we had blogs and the technology for good reporters to instantly bring needed news to the public.
And even though I have extreme misgivings about the notion of union force against the individual, and am thus often at odds with most of those commenting here, I do appreciate the back and forth and perspective I get from reading these contrary points of view on these boards.
God Bless the Internet.
She was for the strike before she was against it. She’s just doggin’ it now, ha ha ha!
I know Ellen should abide by the strike and support the writers, but lets face it…her show is not that great.
And if she writes it herself, it will be even worse. I can’t see how her taping the show without quality writing would be worth top advertising dollars.
She is probably not doing the show so that the ratings don’t go down during this time. Who wants to be the only first-run syndicated show that flops during the strike?
Just my opinion.
Break the union!
The WGA has already said publically it would work if AFTRA (or SAG) goes on strike in the future (and they did work during SAGs last strike).
So, when Ellen as an AFTRA member works, they give her a hard time about it (even though her AFTRA contract says she must, and even though if AFTRA stikes, WGA said it will work). How hypocritical of them.
Clearly what a bunch of greedy a-holes (and rude, name-calling bullies), these rich, arrogant writers are!
I did like how Ellen said she wasn’t going to do her monologue in honor of her writers being on strike.
Um, I don’t suppose she skipped the monlogue because it would require her actually coming up with lots of jokes, and well, she hasn’t done that in years. But nice spin with the whole “honor” thing.
I’m not sure Ellen should be vilified for what she did, but she certainly could’ve at least taken off a week or two in solidarity rather than just one day.
Ellen doesn’t want to “screw the pooch” on this one…
Too soon?
I’m sure Jay Leno and Letterman have no strike clauses in their contracts as well, and they aren’t crossing the picket lines.
Can someone explain why Ellen’s situation is different?
Sorry, Ellen is a WGA member. Her writers are WGA. If we go one strike, she should respect it. Dave does. Jay does. Conan does. Stewart and Colbert do. The foreign guy does. She’s the only comedy/variety host to cross the line, and in doing so, she adds to the already immense pressure on Conan and others to cross.
Good for the WGA East to call a scab a scab. And if she’s afraid to come to New York … well, New York has held the line. With any luck, she’ll soon feel unwelcome in L.A. The talk show hosts are on the front line of this strike. A list screenwriters and TV showrunners should realize this, as should the WGA west.
Keep the bosts of the air, keep the money out of hte network coffers, prevent the Christmas movies from being promoted. Little by little the AMPTP will realize they’ve followed Nick Counter down the wrong alley.
These guys have miscalculated badly.
I absolutely agree with the dude. WGA and a few other unions need to be taken down a notch or two. They try to bully people or organizations into supporting their cause (doing the work for them) instead of going out and doing it themselves.
Kudos to Ellen for doing what she is obligated to do.
Yes, if AFTRA strikes, the WGA still has to go to work, just like every other union excluding Teamsters. Why? Because that’s in their contract. The difference? Ellen is actually a MEMBER of the WGA. Which means she should be on strike.
And FYI, one of the things the “rich, arrogant” WGA is fighting for RIGHT NOW is the right to honor other picket lines INCLUDING AFTRA. So that next time AFTRA or any other union strikes, the WGA can back them up.
P.S. Before you call the writers’ union “rich,” you should look up some statistics.
“Can someone explain why Ellen’s situation is different?
Ellen’s show is syndicated. Which means if she goes on strike, her show goes into repeats. Which means it might get killed by the likes of Dr. Phil, Oprah, The People’s Court & whatever else opposes it. Which ultimately means the stations would likely replace “Ellen” with something else. I imagine that’s why she continues to produce new episodes. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
But she is a WGA member, so yeah, it would be nice to see her out on the picket line rather than dancing in a sports coat & sneakers for the cameras.
Maybe Ellen could dance for the picket line people during their many hours walking the line.
Is she still crying over that stupid dog?
Can we just get her off TV altogether?
“I’m sure Jay Leno and Letterman have no strike clauses in their contracts as well, and they aren’t crossing the picket lines.
Can someone explain why Ellen’s situation is different?”
She has less money?
If Ellen wants to step up she should play that “Voices of Uncertainty” youtube video on her show. And have Patrick Verrone on, too. Or if she wants to get bigger ratings, get the writers/cast of The Office to explain their point of view. If she has to go into work (and it’s quite reasonable that she does) at least she can help the cause in her own way. Maybe bring in one WGA favorable guest a week.
It is wildly unfair to compare Ellen’s situation to late-night talk shows, as the contracts are entirely different and Ellen has actually not violated WGA rules, based on the information you have posted Nikki. It seems like her show is exempt.
One of the things that pisses me off is the inconsistency. She’s being attacked for a non-violation, and being harangued on ethics (its practically a republican platform). But other people who are ALSO members of WGA and who are also still working – i.e., JJ Abrams directing Trek, showrunners still editing, etc – are not being publically attacked. If you can argue that Ellen as a member of the WGA should be picketing, even if that does put her in violation of her AFTRA contract (and by the way, nice. easy for you to say. its not your legal mess, right?), then why shouldn’t Abrams be picketing as well?
In addition, Ellen’s competitors are still working, so unlike the late night guys, who are all not working, Ellen looks at some serious repercussions if she were to walk off the job. Is anyone telling Oprah she shouldn’t be working right now? She’s got a daytime talk show, but I don’t see anyone bitching about her.
I’m glad to see Ellen take the heat for not showing solidarity, but let me pose this question: why is The View getting off scot free? That show has WGA writers who are on the picket lines, and yet that show is still on the air…
One time sitcom writer…
Are you saying that Dave and Jay don’t have competition in their timeslots? They haven’t crossed the line. And their shows are in reruns… during sweeps.
Please continue to explain to me why Ellen isn’t lame for crossing a picket line after one day.
It amazes me how little the writers know about the television business model. THE MONEY FROM ADVERTISER SUPPORTED CONTENT ON THE INTERNET DOES NOT GO TO THE STUDIO IT GOES TO THE NETWORK. THE STUDIO IS NOT MAKING MONEY OFF OF ADVERTISER SUPPORTED CONTENT – LIKE YOU FIND ON FOX.COM, ABC.COM, CBS.COM, ETC… THE NETWORK IS USING THESE INTERNET SITES TO PARTIALLY SUPPLEMENT THE INCOME THEY ARE LOSING FROM THE RAPID DECREASE IN TELEVISION VIEWERS.