Letterman made a deal with striking writers
US talk show host David Letterman has reached a deal with striking writers that will allow his show to return with a full writing staff. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) said the agreement meant its members would be paid for work distributed online - a major sticking point in their dispute. Letterman said he was “happy to be going back to work” on 3 January after eight weeks off air. Many of his rivals also return next week - without their writing teams. The interim agreement between the Letterman’s Worldwide Pants production company and the WGA also allows the return of spin-off programme The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. “This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands,” said Letterman. “But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction.”
Letterman’s deal gives his show a distinct advantage over the likes of Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, who face the prospect of presenting an hour-long nightly television show without scribes to pen their monologues, sketches and other written material. Presenters such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will not even be allowed to write their own scripts, as they are members of the WGA. There is also a question over whether celebrity guests will be prepared to cross picket lines to appear on the shows. The strike, which began on 5 November, was called because of a dispute over the fees writers get paid when their work is released on DVD or the internet. I really hope this will be a beginning of the end of this strike, as it hurts mostly us, fans of all those shows…
Source: AP, BBC
good
stop such non-scene related posts !!!!!!!
If I want such stuff I’m sure not coming here
I think letterman will be sued because he is going above the heads of station reps. I take it he’s about to retire from late night TV from this action.
Kinda has 2 sides to it. On the one hand it is absurd how much money they make outta the show and how little goes to the actual creators thereof. On the other hand there’s ‘the show must go on’. It’s nice to strike but I doubt it is going to do that much good. Instead it delays a bunch of series and shows. I hope they settle things down soon with a resolution both parties can live with.
cpd i can ban you right now if you want to. think before you say something…
good post, im gonna dl those shows in januari, im wondering how it will be
I don’t care for David Letterman. The shows that I miss are American Dad, Family Guy, Heroes, Desperate Housewives, etc. We have enough talk shows as it is.
@cpd
Look at what the #2 subject is in terms of posts made, it’s television. Now recently there has been a lack of new television posts, why? Because of the strike. It hasn’t been as noticeable because of the holidays, but soon people will begin looking for their shows again and they won’t be there. Look at this article as preventative maintenance by the rlslog crew, they’re keeping the strike news out there so people don’t spam threads with “where’s show ___ been lately?”.
If it REALLY bothers you, set up rlslog as an RSS feed and don’t click on titles that don’t interest you. Then you’ll never have to see more stories you don’t want to read.
The WGA is a group of whiny bitc4es. They make good money to sit around and make up stories. Stupid greedy slags.
@10
I believe Anthony he was being ironic, and it’s a testament to yourself that you didn’t get it.
This is why I love Letterman. BTW, Conan has been paying his writers out of his pocket for some time.
@ 5-Martin
Why would you ban him?
Couldn’t they just get some monkeys to write some stuff, I’m pretty sure the quality wouldn’t get much of a hit on todays tv shows. But seriously this strike blows, I’m totally missing my fav shows because the stupid STUPID strike.
instead of seeing it as a stupid strike, see it as stupid corps who don’t even let the writers in on a few bucks on the dvd sales and the internet adverts of their shows.
i agree with 13,let some coones do it
@ therapix (Cause calling no.’s is less accurate lol):
There are a bunch of people here coming to this site not knowing that it is a free release blog.
Let me define how I see free: no strings attached, you do not need and aren’t expected to visit the site for anything in return. Now let me define my view on release blog: a site where people post their own items (stories/reviews) on matters (objective or subjective) in this case, release related.
Though people like ‘cpd’ complain about the contents of this blog. Sure, since it is a blog, everyone is entitled to give their opinion, but stay on topic. People are now complaining about the integrity and structure of the site in general. What they don’t realize is that it, Ill say it again, a free release blog. If you dislike what you see here, they’re not the ones to blame. They’re just here, nothing more, nothing less. You’re not asked to be here, you weren’t invited, you’re just here, because obviously you wanted to. It’s like complaining to Microsoft Windows that they do not have online games when you’re doing an online-update. And it is not alone that it modernday’s society in general. But that’s a whole other discussion lol. Just be greatful and happy with what you got instead of being upset and whiny about something you don’t have. C’est la vie.
@wickido
even so.. still seen much worse comments without any ban warnings
Only show I really care that is on strike is the Colbert Report. To bad he can’t write his own stuff, that sucks
Hopefully the end this soon so I can download more tv shows.
@therapix
This site has the right to ban everyone it wants to. The site will certainly make plenty of advertising money between this site and NewTorrents without the few commenters who get banned.
It is less expensive to just ban them than to have the moderators spend time weeding through their comments to delete them. Please leave the business decisions of the site to the people who are responsible enough to make them.
If you don’t like the rules, find another site that’s as informative as rlslog.
This really isn’t anything tech related. But since we’re talking about it, Hollywood writers aren’t exactly worth their money anyway. Hell I bet the shows and movies might even improve without them lol
I hope the WGA get their demands met as soon as possible.
Firstly, it is the writers that create the content of all those TV shows that so maby people like, not the actors, show hosts, directors or executives.
There is no valid reason why all of those people get DVD- and online-sales residues (payments per sold copy) when the writers don’t.
Secondly, it is the WGA that goes first out in every round of negotiations and therefore it is very important that they succeed, not only for themselves but for everyone else involved with these shows and movies.
In my opinion the big distribution companies really don’t deserve all of the money they keep for themselves off of these sales.
After all, we are perfectly capable of doing the exact same job as they do, only for free, and we are doing it right here for example.
The right to refuse working in unacceptable conditions is a fundamental right wether it is in a capitalisitc or socialistic society so it is not a matter of ideology, it is a matter of human rights.
@Writer
They haven’t so far.
@2: If you don’t like it, then dont look at it. Besides if there was Scene News it would be posted whether non-scene are posted or not. So if this wasn’t posted, there wouldnt be any news at all. For me, i enjoy these non-scene news. Keep it up RLSLOG!
Movies are not necessarily related to the WGA, but most TV shows are.
I absolutely support the strike, even if that means not watching Scrubs or Heroes.
Thanks for informing us of things that are in fact interesting and not strictly scene-related.
I appreciate what you do.
.-
As for Martin’s comment (@5) - here is my two cents. There is a HUGE difference between a post like THIS ONE, and a post like the one Mr. X gave us on Christmas Day about people being murdered. This post is absolutely related to the content of this website, and I believe most people who frequent this site know that they can read about this on CNN, but still they are interested - and probably gave it a look. Whereas, posting a story about people being killed and fueling a racist argument with childlike comments does not fit on RLSLOG.
Anyway, thanks Martin for the post and for the great website, although I do think you should seriously reconsider Mr. X as an author.
@WRITER
I couldn’t disagree more. Watch a season of “LOST” or “24″ (or numerous others) and THEN tell me that the writer’s are overrated.
Robin.Hood.S02E12.WS.PDTV.XviD-iNGOT rlsd
I am a card carrying Local 17 Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union member. I fully support the WGA and their valiant stand against the studio owners and the unjust and unfair compensation that they have been subject to.
This strike was forced by the dark hand of the super rich and greedy. How dare they fight the skilled and capable laborers that make them so rich. These are the people that dont want to raise wages with inflation, they would rather see their laborers suffer because they will only make $6.83billion in profits instead of $7billion in profits. The fact that the super rich could complain about fairly compensating their workers who made them so rich turns the stomach.
I urge everyone to obtain unionized jobs if at all possible. Continue to support labor initiatives that provide for fair wages and safe working conditions. Continue to vote Democrat at the local, state, and national levels. The current administration has done absolutely NOTHING to protect or up lift the working man of America, WHY? Because the Republicans have chosen the side of the suits and ultra rich. Is this the side that YOU support?
Unions are the last vestige that is protecting the skilled American middle and upper middle class laborer from becoming undignified human beings raising families in apartments on $2,000/mo, with no health insurance and no guarantee of employment.
WE are the people that build your homes, build your schools, build your sewers, make sure you have clean healthy safe water to drink, make sure you have safe electricity to your home, make sure you have safe natural gas to your home, make sure that you have crystal clear HDTV to watch in your home, make sure that you have high speed fiber optic internet connections to your home and businesses, make sure that you have funny shows and movies to watch, build your computers, and movie sets, we build your roads and maintain your cellphone towers and bring electricity to every dark corner of our great country. WE ARE THE SKILLED AMERICAN LABORER. ARE YOU WITH US OR AGAINST US ?
omg,ur gonna ban him,what happened to freedom of speech?
everyone is entitled to say anything.i personally think that these kind of people are the ones that keep us in check with ourselves,that there is diversity in opinion.
from what i think,the writers guild is just a bunch of whacks,who wants more money…they should be grateful that they even get to write for those shows,and just keep doing their work.If everyone stops working because of wanting more,everything is going downhill at the rate we’r going
Whoa, Martin, didn’t know you were such an a-hole. No wonder Mr.X is still around. He learns from the best.
By the way, this is one of the most heavily moderated websites I know, in the way that every other opinion but the moderators’ is often suppressed, deleted or directly threatened. I suggest you either learn to respect other opinions or start growing a toothbrush mustache. You may ban me now…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w
sums it up pretty good.
you guys are a bunch of whiny little girls, whiny little girls with pig-tails, whiny little girls with pig tales that ride a tricylce. Go back to a private site if you don’t like what you see here. This is ‘related’ news as some of us do download tv shows or some of us want to know what’s going on with the strike. Personally I love Letterman, and I think he’s the doing the right thing. When he left NBC he left on one condition, that he be the sole owner of the show’s property rights, if he leaves to another network he could take anything from the CBS show and not be restricted like he was with NBC when they told him he couldn’t call his CBS show Late Night with David Letterman. My guess he’s been paying the writers from day one or has a say on their wages. Either way to call the writers beggars is completely unfair, what if you found out you weren’t being compensated for all the work you put in? Not all of us spend our day on the news channels or on news websites so some news related to this subject is always welcomed. now back to the leeching.
i approve for a strike when it comes for the benefit of the hard working class but on the other hand i want my god damn Two And a Half Men series back on track.
regarding the banning thing, i agree saying good bye and fare thee well to those who consider insults and badmouthing as and opinion…..no its not.
it’s like shooting the mailman for bringing you bad news.
Vodoo,
They ban normal guys/girls who write any kind of critics, but they let racist authors still be here and write stuff.
Guys it was a tongue in cheek comment. There are a handful of decent shows but even they decline in quality soon enough. That said the entertainment industry is full of messed up priorities anyway. For example, directors get all the credit even though they didn’t come up with the story or did the acting or such.
By the way I agree about Mr X. He’s making not only himself but releaselog look bad.
Its a valid strike. The writers deserve to get paid when their work is displayed on the net or on DVD. Its too bad that 90% of people in showbusiness is only interested in profit instead of just compensation, or the world would look totally different.
@37
If you changed that from “people in show business” to “people in business” you’d be right. Show business changing its focus from profit to just compensation unfortunately isn’t going to permanently change the world. In fact show business probably has a much higher percentage of decision makers concerned with decent treatment of their employees than the vast majority of industries. Which is not to say that the corporate scumbags who have never been entertainers at the very top aren’t just as greedy and machiavellian as their peers in for example, the cocaine and oil industries.
Rlslog team, please please please, ban people that are too stupid to understand what freedom of speech means and what it does and does not apply to.
I really wonder why people watch these late night shows and similar stuff. Just watch a movie or documentary instead. Much more interesting and worthwhile.
If you put a comment box, expect positive and negative feedback. Pertinent and non-pertinent feedback. I agree with the fact of banning stupid trolls, spammers, and “halo halo” or “first!” posters. And those “I’ll wait for the Axxo release” posters, geez, it was funny the 1st time, not anymore.
“If you don’t like it, then dont look at it.”
Do don’t like it, he looked at it, read it, then judge it as “not interesting”. He saw a comment box (not “positive feedback only” comment box) and he said he didn’t like it.
Big deal.
@#41 (claps hands) Well said Sir
@#5 Whoa Martin, who yanked your tail? just because someone has a opinion, does that automatically mean they get a ban? if so, ban me and 99% of the internet…
i’m totally with the writers on this one
they should have demanded a 25% cut straight from the get go
but i guess that competing writers would cut on the percentage as long as they can air theyrs shows.
I think the other late night shows might get better ratings initially, since there will be more intrigue as to how they run their shows without writing staff.
The funniest parts of Conan are when he is just ad libbing anyways. When Letterman comes back, it’ll just be the same old show. Though one advantage for him is that he may get better guests since they won’t have to cross picket lines.
thanks for posting this… i have been waiting for any update concerning the strike
that news with that dead boy somewhere was misplaced here.
while the news about the WGA is really cool. i wanna know if there is a good chance that there’ll be more tv rips again soon.
@Matt
Well, let’s consider the options. One has either to submit to the public outrage and admit one’s mistake (as we all always do), clue on that mustache and mercifully suppress the existing opposition (theoretically - great, practically - exacerbating), or simply sit this one through while appearing democratic for not destroying both the critics and their criticisms… for a day or two… It’s a no-brainer, really.
Vive La Revolution!
it hurts us the fans most?
yes it is annoying that we don’t get shows to watch, but i’m sure its hurting people in the industry a lot more because they aren’t getting paid.
speak for yourself, these shows are like mental masturbation, full of puffery signifying nothing. The writers are doing a service by taking this dreck off the air.
the writers only think of them self, for every writer there are about 50 other people (not)working these will only lose money !