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“It is unfortunate that the WGA is contemplating plans to ‘investigate’ Jay’s authorship of his Tonight Show monologue. The WGA agreement clearly permits Jay to create and perform his own monologue. The enforcement of strike rules against Jay in these circumstances would violate the Federal labor laws,” said a NBC spokesperson tonight.
This has really turned into an all-out WGA-NBC war! As well as a SAG-NBC war!
That’s because Screen Actors Guild Prez Alan Rosenberg issued a statement today clarifying the thesp union’s position re its stars appearing on network talk shows. “We urge our members to appear on the two programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. However, actors who are asked to appear on the struck network talk shows will have to cross WGA picket lines, creating the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the Golden Globes. As I have said since this strike began on November 5th, we must stand united with our brothers and sisters at the WGA.”
By the way: Letterman plans to shave off his strike beard on Monday’s show.
NBC: Leno Can Write His Monologue; WGA: He Can’t But We Don’t Want War
NBC War Of Words With WGA Over Leno Writing His Own Monologue!
Lots Of On-Air WGA Support: A Sneak Peek At Late Night TV’s Official Return
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Thinking Ficore:
People under 35 and people with intelligent senses of humor recognize that Futurama is a vastly superior program to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. You look like an idiot when you claim otherwise.
thinking ficore is such an obvious paid shill. first of all, i think real members know how to spell their president’s name by now. but if you’re a paid asswipe from d.c. who is clueless about showbiz then you make mistakes which give you away as an imposter.
plus, what does it mean: and leads a mass exodus away from this organization. a real member who was “thinking of going financial core” wouldn’t be hoping for the destruction of writers and the wga, which would mean the end of their healthcare and pension.
think of the implications of this: the amptp is paying people to post this shit here. it’s so fucking sad. these are such little-dicked people. they are destroying their businesses for their ego. look at their share prices. all the studios share prices are dropping much more rapidly than the overall market. they are going down their tubes, but will not cave because of their ego. they were beaten up every day in grammar school, but now they are tough and in charge. what a bunch of losers.
I just watched Leno. He was openly taunting and mocking the writers and the strike. It was sickening. He is also obviously using jokes that others are writing. He’s doing jokes off not only politics, but also obscure news stories. It takes the better part of a day to even find those stories yet alone write jokes off them. I know because I’ve done this job on the staffs of these shows. There is no doubt in my mind that others are scabbing for Jay. These jokes are written, BY OTHERS.
The truth will out soon, and the assistants and others will reveal where Jay is getting these jokes from. It is impossible that he is spending the eight hours a day required to come up with these jokes. Jay needs a dozen writers to come up with this stuff, and now we’re expected to believe that he is just doing it all himself, and still having time to prepare for the guests and do all the other things required to host an hour-long daily talk show? It just doesn’t wash.
There’s nothing new here. Jay and Dave have both used scab joke writers for years. The WGA knows it and looks the other way. Why did they never try to organize all those dozens of joke writers? Jay and Dave have robbed the guild and its members. WHY?
Comment by Dollars to doughnuts — “He has chosen to hide behind NBC spokesmen spouting legal nonsense about how a contract that expired two months ago binds the WGA to a deal” –
It isn’t nonsense, I suggest asking your union legal beagles that very same question. Collective agreements that have expired, remain in force until a new collective agreement supercedes it. If this were not the case the studios would stop all residuals for the duration of the strike since they don’t have to honour this contract. For that matter they wouldn’t have to use WGA members at all since that contract no longer exists by your reasoning. Oh and all other benifits named therein.
actorjames wrote:
“It’s hilarious to see the self-described TV viewers get on these threads harumphing that the WGA strike interferes in “free markets” and applauding Leno for standing up to the “extortion” of the writers. I and everyone else in comedy always knew Jay Leno’s fans were stupid, bovine and on the down slope of their lifespans; it’s not so surprising that they’re also sour libertarians. They probably scream about building toll roads when they’re not moaning over their TV-time being interfered with.”
Thanks, as a member of the audience I appreciate your rare breath of honesty. I especially appreciate that you kept it to nice simple words so even us morons can understand you, although I did have to google bovine. Why can’t writers use plain simple language we mongoloids can figure out like ‘moo-moos’?
The more I hear writers real opinions the more I’m astounded you’re out of work by choice. If any employee of mine publicly insulted my customers they would be standing in an unemployment line instead of a strike line. On the bright side, the union looks to be so incompetent there’s a decent chance that’s exactly where you’ll end up.
@Been on the inside and know: Some of the obscureness of the jokes he’s doing sounds strangely familiar though — could it just possibly be that his own (supposedly striking) writers are phoning or emailing in jokes? Shameful. I mean, to be working for a guy who surreptitiously listened in to a GE teleconference back in the 90′s and let Helen Kushnick run his career like he was a little boy is bad enough. But to be contributing to NBC’s bottom line by scabbing jokes in over the phone. I’m sure, though, that other writers will keep this in mind when choosing who to collaborate with after Jay gets kicked to the curb in ’09. Unfortunately, the implications of this strike go far beyond if The Tonight Show keeps its ratings over The Late Show. (Which again only makes money for NBC; Jay makes pretty much what he makes regardless of whether he puts on a Conan-type (non-written) show or not.) The real implications of letting this strike fall apart by not penalizing anyone who fails to honor the rules of their Guild is going to be victory by the AMPTP. I’m glad the Guild has decided to show a little balls and start to stand up to Jay/Tonight Show. Now let’s see if they follow through or if those were just words to keep the rank-and-file off their asses. Time will tell if the WGA leadership is taking this seriously or not. If not, it’s invitation for other productions to start down the same line as Jay. If that happens the WGA rank-and-file will get completely screwed yet again! The viewing public understands strikes and understands scabs. Those scabs need to be highlighted and boycotted. Jay could, and should, put on an hour of dead air. That would be the best thing he could do to end the strike. Let his ratings lose for a few weeks …. Zucker will change his tune by February 1 if that happens. Otherwise, it’s smooth sailing for the AMPTP. The most unfair thing in the world. But those writers sending in HELPING Jay scab, they are a disgrace to the Guild. Jay could still show up and do a lousy show, fulfilling his obligations without writing. His 190 person staff would get paid. He’d get paid. NBC would lose ratings and money. Only then will they come to the table. Maybe Jay thinks if he pleases Zucker they’ll put off his retirement. Fat chance of that happening. Jay could have EASILY stood up (in actions, not words and donuts) for his own writers and fellow Guild members, instead he has and continues to stand up for the bottom line of GE. The Guild should boot him and those members of his writing team who are scabbing in material. Simple, clear cut decision. I’m sure it’s only a subset of his writers who are doing this. But the longer it goes on, the more will follow … sad situation. Then discussion can get back to the REAL issues of the strike, but first the AMPTP, and more importantly the networks who are members thereof, will be watching this situation closely to see if the Guild leadership follows through against Jay or not. If WGA leadership won’t fight hard on this obvious violation, AMPTP knows they’ll be able to game them when they do return to the table.
You writers are so full of yourselves. I’ve watched jay this week and he’s 5 times funnier without you guys. Letterman hasn’t been funny for over 15 years with or without you and his show is a real struggle to get through.
Anyway, why are you striking? I’m with the producers. You are hired to do a job. Do it. End of story. Why do you deserve residuals? You don’t! Anything you get after you’ve written your material and been paid is a gift. Be grateful. You don’t own the productions. You don’t like the deal, find another line of work. Its not likes there’s not thousands of people, most probably even more talented than you are, ready and willing to take over your jobs for less than you make. Get real.
Telling people to boycott the shows is a joke and just shows how out of touch you all are. Bt far, most of America sides with the networks.
LOL. Enjoy your donuts.
everyone who has ever been in the tonight show office has seen jay’s fax machine spitting out jokes all day long, from his “freelance” writers who he pays $25 a joke. so now he’s probably buying more of them, or his writers are sending them in in their wives’ names, and everyone that knows jay knows he is home with writers in his kitchen in benedict canyon eating spaghetti with his writers every single night, and they are there with him every sunday at the comedy and music club trying out the monologue. if the wga wants to investigate, all they need to do is check jay’s driveway for scabs. but still he gets away with his bull, arrogantly announcing that he wrote the monologue himself. i guess if the costumers go out, he’ll grab a needle and whip up his own suits too. asshole.
If you are so sure Jay is relying on his fax machine, why not anonymously fax him a great joke? Then if he uses it you’ve got all the proof you need…the smoking gun!
If the UA deal goes thru, the WGA’s strategy to circumvent the AMPTP will go from vilified to vindicated in a heartbeat.
To further shore up their credibility, the WGA should then come down on Leno with the strongest sanctions available to them and do it quickly before he has chance to announce he’s going Fi-Core.
(In a whiney falsetto) “You can’t fire me, I quit”
Any “investigation” should be quick work.
HE’S A SCAB PAYING SCABS –
There are people posting here who know it for a fact.
Who’s going to be the first to display some testicular fortitude and eMail Nikki a scan of a joke payment check?
(Has to be someone who hasn’t been scabbing long enough to have set up direct deposit)
Leno could have chosen to go on the air and be a tremendous force in support of the WGA’s cause.
Not “tank” the show, but put on a show that would accentuate, even exaggerate the absence of the writers.
But he didn’t. Instead, in his closet-hiding insecurity, he has once again shown that his career, ratings, personal well being, and his future (at Fox) … his ego comes before anyone, any cause, and any Union affiliation.
He chose to say Fuck You WGA, look how good my ratings are, how good my show is…and I scabbed it together all by my little lonesome.
Come down HARD. Make an example of him.
Hey Wendoxia – it’s so obvious you must be a bitter writer who was fired for being lame. And we all know who you are. How about getting a life? Moving on? Taking writing lessons?
If you are so certain his WGA writers are doing his monologue why not call out those writers?
If you think its true, members should file charges with the WGA against Joe and his gang for doing struck work.
Face it, the industry needs the Tonight Show to peddle its products.
Once this is settled, as a WGA member will you ask that a SAG member not talk about your show or movie on the Tonight Show. Not a chance.
Jay knows that and will keep the show with its audience intact until the strike is settled and guys like Tom Cruise comes back to push their movies.
Unfortunately Late Night is a necessary evil. Atleast until something new – probably on the internet – can be created to replace it. Its FREE advertising.
Put your eyes on the end result. Late night and Ellen are small distractions to a new contract. They have nothing to do with New Media.
Rather than harping on Jay you should be hiring a USC or Stanford New Media expert to support your claims about the profitability of the Internet.
Put an expert out in front of Patric to express and support your New Media contract claims.
Stop the infighting.
Hey wendoxia,
Someone should take a ride out near Leno’s house.
Change the signs to Benedict ARNOLD Canyon
This is just a meaningless distraction because nothing will come of it. Jay is going to retire a very rich man in ’09 no matter what. If the WGA puts pressure on him, he goes fi-core. There’s nothing we can do about it.
Let’s put our energies into more important things like getting interim agreements with as many companies as possible so the Big-8 will be forced to negotiate with us.
“I can only imagine how Leno must feel, after busting his ass for decades to reach the pinnacle of his career”
Yeah, I can only imagine how Leno must feel after being unceremoniously dumped by NBC. It is kind of sad, because here’s a guy who’s desperate for respect and recognition from his peers. He finally has a chance to step up, shed his hapless hack, corporate suckup image and do the right thing. No risk to him, and a shot in the eye to the suits who screwed him over. His one moment, and he blows it. I guess lack of character will out every single time. He just doesn’t have it in him to rise above his own ample limitations.
Chips down said:
“Collective agreements that have expired, remain in force until a new collective agreement supercedes it. If this were not the case the studios would stop all residuals for the duration of the strike since they don’t have to honour this contract. For that matter they wouldn’t have to use WGA members at all since that contract no longer exists by your reasoning. Oh and all other benifits named therein.”
Chips down: you’re a moron. Residuals are from a past action from which a contract exacted. The others are for future actions, no longer covered by the contract. You should ask a lawyer, and if you are one, you should be disbarred for your ignorance or malfeasance.
Bovine wrote about actorjames
The more I hear writers real opinions the more I’m astounded you’re out of work by choice.
Bovine, don’t you think maybe he called himself “actorjames” because he’s an actor and not a writer? Kind of the way you should be calling yourself “paidshill” instead of fan?
“Splintering Heart” is my favorite poster on this blog ever. And this was their finest moment:
“Telling people to boycott the shows is a joke and just shows how out of touch you all are. Bt far, most of America sides with the networks.”
I went back through the blog and NO prior posts called for a boycott. And as for most of America siding with the network, Variety, the trade magazine of the industry, reported that 67 percent of Americans surveyed backed the writers and FOUR percent backed the networks.
Heart also says that Jay was funnier without the writers. Well, the studio audience last night sure didn’t think so. And Leno knew that, and kept commenting how much better the monolog is with real writers.
Heart is a paid shill, or even worse, a self-hating network exec gnashing their teeth and drooling over their laptop as they type this shit.
Hey Wendoxia – it’s so obvious you must be a bitter writer who was fired for being lame. And we all know who you are. How about getting a life? Moving on? Taking writing lessons?
Comment by WGA member
That’s the same Splintering Heart asshole pretending to be a WGA member.
I gotta commend jay actually. He’s funny for the first time since jimmy brogan left 10 years ago.
The Tom Cruise deal is encouraging, we can take heart from that. But the missteps taken by the guild are disheartening. let’s hope they stand up for themselves and the rank and file.
How about booking some comics, dave, on your show again? we don’t want to cross a picket line and are willing to appear for scale.
Splintering Heart:
Do a little research next time before you make assumptions about an industry you don’t know anything about. Writers are compensated differently than you guys who are burger flippers. When we write books, we get royalties on each sale. When a magazine reprints our article, they have to pay us to use it again – even though they paid us to use it once before. Yes, sometimes we do a work-for-hire so only get paid once. But clearly, it’s not an unusual request for us to want residuals, particularly when you consider the number of other people (actors, producers, studios, etc) who also make money off the repeat showing of television shows and movies. And it certainly isn’t out of line for us to expect to get fairly compensated for our work in the new media. It’s a timely and appropriate demand the leadership of the WGA is making, and I applaud them.
As for those thousands of people you mentioned who are ready and willing to take our jobs for less than we make, thanks for the laugh. First, most of America thinks they can write because they know how to print their own name. Bravo. But GOOD writing takes far more skill and innate talent than most people ever dream of having. And secondly, few people would be willing to work for the low wages most of us make. We write because we love the craft.
So go ahead and side with the producers and do your LOL thing. Get your jollies out of being wrong – it won’t make any real difference to us.
All the talk on hear about Leno scabbing is a waste of time. Money talks, bullshit walks. Last night, Friday, Jay Leno’s main guest was some animal trainer no one ever heard of. From Wednesday to Thursday, Leno lost TWO MILLION of his seven million viewers. The ratings from last night will be even worse.
By next week, when the bookings are even worse, the ratings will plummet as Letterman’s climb. The week after that Letterman will be drawing twice as many viewers, scabbed monolog or not.
What NBC is doing here is destroying the fifty year brand name of the Tonight show. It will come to be known as the place where you can go to see cable access quality guests.
Let Leno be a scumbag and lie about having written all the jokes about himself — and lie about having “tried them out on his wife.” I know someone who knows them and says he and his wife don’t even talk anymore. But who cares. The viewers are fleeing in droves.
“Anyway, why are you striking? I’m with the producers. You are hired to do a job. Do it. End of story.”
See… ummm.. if that’s what everyone thought, like, 100 years ago, nobody would have unionized and we’d have a legal 80 hour work week to this day.
Meanwhile Jay must be grateful for the reality TV craze, because as of last night’s Tonight Show it seems like Jay’s only guests will be reality show contestants. A Larry the Cable guy wanna-be loser contestant from Last Comic Standing and an American Idol karaoke runner up. Oh yeah, and a monkey and an ocelot.
With the astonishing and unanimous show of SAG solidarity exhibited by the “A-list of the A-list” Golden Globe nominees, what potential A-listers will want to relegate themselves to this new Tonight Show D list of reality contestants who didn’t even WIN on their reality shows?
Ouch.