Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Writers' Strike - Tina Fey, Will Forte Picket - Jay Leno, David Letterman Layoff Staff

Tina Fey, star of 30 Rock, was among the celebrities seen Tuesday and Wednesday manning the picket lines along with other members of the Writers Guild of America, which is striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

The writers are striking for a share of the residuals generated by the Internet, DVDs and other media platforms.

After her stint at picketing, Fey reported for work Tuesday to resume filming her acting scenes for 30 Rock.

Also picketing in front of NBC's New York headquarters at Rockefeller Center was Will Forte, a writer and a six season member of the cast of Saturday Night Live. Said Forte, "It's pretty well-known that writers are often treated like second-class citizens. There's not a whole lot of glory in it."

The video is below an excerpt from "30 Rock."



"Without writers, there would be no shows, no movies," continued Forte, who frequently plays George Bush in SNL skits. "These things are your babies. You work really hard on them, and you have a sense of ownership with them. So there's nothing wrong with wanting a fair deal."

The late night talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, are already airing reruns because of the writers’ strike. The Washington Post has reported that the Leno show gave 70-100 of the staff their two week notice that they will be without employment as of November 19th if the strike continues.

Since no talks between the Guild and the producers are scheduled, more layoffs seem inevitable.

Now that the strike is a reality, the TV networks are implementing their contingency programming, including more reality shows. CBS is ready to bring out the winter version of Big Brother, a summer reality show winner.

Plan on many more unscripted shows like reality and game shows along with the anticipated airing of reruns if the strike continues for any length of time.

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