After three months and six days of picketing writers (and 88 days with no new episodes of The Office) the WGA and the AMPTP have struck a deal and officially ended the strike. The deal comes just in time to squeeze a few new episodes of our favorite shows out before the end of the TV season.
The major concessions in the agreement? Writers will get a percentage of the distributor’s gross on permanent downloads. The agreement also defines what “promotional use” is, which was cited as the reason the writers were not previously getting residuals on downloaded material. The new arrangement states that if a clip is being used to refer viewers to methods of renting, downloading, or watching the program, it’s promotional; if it is just to archive old footage, it is not promotional and the writers are entitled to compensation.
The good news won’t be immediately evident. It may not be until early April that we see any new episodes on the air. In the meantime, we’ll get The Daily Show back to its normal levels of hilarity (not that I think Jon Stewart is doing so bad on his own, he’s just better with his writers behind him), and in a couple of months we can put this whole mess behind us.
The best thing about all of this? All of the people in Hollywood who do the hard work and get none of the glory (writers, crew members, food-service workers, etc.) will get their jobs back.
To find out the status on your favorite scripted shows, keep checking here for updates.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
It’s Official: Scribes Back to Work Tomorrow!
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1 comment:
Well it's about time, isn't it? The writers' strike was an agonizing period for television, and it was agonizing to watch as announcers tried to mask the issue with words like "special encore," code for RERUN. Now everyone in the audience and the industry can breathe a hefty sigh of relief!
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