STRIKE!!!

Well, as most of you know there is a horrible writers strike going on now in Hollywood.

I say horrible, because thousands of people have to go without work now or a salary until the WGA and the Producers come to some agreement.

And the rest of us will be without television in about a month or two. So let me say now, I highly recommend THE WAR on PBS to hold you over. Tremendous show.



Now that the teamsters are backing the WGA they've gone from 8 shows shut down to 30 in one week.


The really shocking thing is guess who crossed the picket line? Ellen.


She started taping her show claiming she didn't want her employees to go without work and she didn't want to let down the folks that travelled from around the country to attend the show. She is really the only one and it is very shocking to us that she did this.


Meanwhile, other stars like Felicity Huffman and the entire cast of HOUSEWIVES hit the streets and picketing with the writers.

Same with our favorite out gay network star TR Knight and the entire cast of Grey's Anatomy.


He says some lovely things here, along with Katherine, Sara and the entire cast of GREY'S, out on the streets last week:


As with most strikes, this came about over contract terms that just could not be agreed on. This has to do mainly with distribution of new media. The writers, like others, want to be compensated when their product goes over the internet or cel phones.

Now is certainly the time to put that in writing since that's where we're heading with media content.

Also, reality shows - big issue there since those writers do just as much creative work, if not more, and are not even considered writers.


Even though I am a producer, I have to say in Hollywood, producers are not always equitable when coughing up the fair share of the profits.

Don't forget that on shows like GILLIGANS ISLAND or STAR TREK, those actors never, EVER saw a dime again in their lives. That means even though you can still watch those shows on the air now, those actors don't see a dime.

NOw I realize most people think paying the cast of FRIENDS one million an episode is crazy, but honestly, it is their work that you see, they contributed to all the money that is being made so whether it's 20 bucks or 20 billion, it is only fair they get part of what the product makes. Same for writers.

My favorite joke of all this is I keep asking the writers..."So who wrote those signs!?" Tee hee.

AfterEllen.com, one of my fav gay sites, has posted a letter from the WGA to Ellen.

WGA LETTER TO ELLEN AT AFTERELLEN.COM

Thanks to Nic Wauters and Tom Stilling for these photos. And the WGA for the video.