Are you missing your nightly Colbert Report fix? Barely surviving without Jon Stewart's infamous interviews? If so, buckle up. It could be a long haul.
At 12:01 a.m. Nov. 5, all members of the Writers Guild of America officially put down their pencils (and laptops) and went on strike. For nearly two weeks, millions of Americans have had to return to getting their nightly news from such "unbiased" sources as CNN, NBC or Fox.
When the Minimum Basic Agreement expired Oct. 31, the WGA immediately went into negotiations with producers and studios. The guild's primary concern is that, as media moves further into the digital age, writers should not be overlooked or unfairly recompensed. According to the guild, writers have historically been overlooked at the advent of each new technological advancement in the industry.
New contract negotiations rest at a stalemate as writers from across the country are picketing outside of studios, attending rallies and waiting for something to happen.
Apart from the studios, the majority of the industry is in full support of the WGA strike. In a sign of solidarity, many actors and directors, who either have genuine concern or excellent publicists, are bringing pizza to protesters on the picket line. Comedian Jay Leno brought doughnuts to the writers and, as quoted in The Washington Post, said, "I've been working with these people for 20 years. Without them, I'm not funny. I'm a dead man without them."
With or without support, the reality is that the strike could have a detrimental effect on the entertainment industry during the next few years. The last WGA strike took place in 1988, when film and TV writers did not work for 5.5 months. According to the guild, the strike cost the industry $500 million.
In addition to the loss of money, the television season will be drastically altered if the strike continues. Most primetime shows have either filmed or have written scripts for about half the episodes in their seasons, which is enough to keep producing until the new year. Beyond that, however, everything depends on the talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
As for film, since all scripts written before Nov. 5 will be produced, the effects of the strike may not become clear for a few years. Actors working on suspended television shows might not be able to compete for movie roles this spring.
So far, the most obvious consequence of the strike is the current absence of late-night talk shows. Most hosts, in support of their writers, are using reruns to fill the time slots -- even though most of their comedic material relies on current events. NBC, which normally broadcasts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien every night, has been rather open about the possibility of finding replacement hosts during the strike. Even if NBC is able to find someone willing to host the shows, it will have trouble finding actors to be interviewed.
In 1988 the Tonight Show and host Johnny Carson took a four-month hiatus, but it is unlikely that Leno and O'Brien will be out of commission for so long. They may return before the guild ends the strike to protect non-writer employees whose jobs are in jeopardy.
Not all talk-show hosts feel so strongly about the writers' cause. The Writers Guild of America, East has openly criticized Ellen DeGeneres for planning to continue her show. In a statement issued Nov. 9, from the WGAE Web site, the guild stated, "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day -- writers who have helped make her extremely successful ... The writers did not cause this strike. The companies' greed caused this strike, and it could end tomorrow if they were finally willing to negotiate a fair deal."
As the climate in media continues to change, the entertainment industry must be prepared for tough negotiations not just with the WGA, but also with the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America. Everyone in Hollywood is hoping to resolve talks, because, honestly, can anyone really bear the upcoming election without Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart?
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