The latest round of casualties during the current strike are writer-producers on TV shows as the studios have used the strike to cancel contracts with many of them.
Even though the studios have contracts with the producers to create 'X' amount of episodes per year, the studios are able to get away with this because of a "force majeure" clause in the contracts - in this case, the strike is out of the studios' control.
According to Variety, some 75 deals got cancelled on Friday. Some were deals with producers of shows currently on the air, while others were deals for shows that were in development.
In essence, it's the studios' saying there will be no more new TV for the rest of this season.
In related news, producers for both the Oscars and the Grammys have said in various media outlets that those programs will still go on in some form, and they were exploring various options in producing those shows. The Grammys shouldn't be affected too much, since most of the ceremony involves musical performances from the nominees, but no doubt the Oscars took note of the Golden Globes fiasco from Sunday night and will try to avoid that if it can't reach an agreement with the Writers Guild.
Some people seem to think that because the Directors Guild of America has begun negotiations with the AMTMP on its own deal, it may spark something getting the WGA and the studios back to the table. But there's no reason to think that the directors will want to give up residuals on new media any more than the writers would, so there's not too many reasons to be optimistic, especially since the AMTMP refuses to go back to the negotiating table.
WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: "Comanche Moon" (CBS, 9 p.m.) wraps up with Part 3 tonight, while "Cashmere Mafia" (ABC, 10 p.m.) is also new.
Ellen Degeneres guest stars on "Deal Or No Deal" (NBC, 8 p.m.), followed by "Law & Order: CI" and a new "Law & Order."
"American Idol" (Fox, 8 p.m.) continues its auditions tonight as more and more people seem to want their 15 minutes of fame, regardless of the fact they have no talent for anything other than bufoonary.
Finally, "Pioneers of Television" (PBS, 8 p.m.) looks at variety shows, followed by part 2 of "The Jewish Americans" at 9 p.m.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
More Strike Fallout
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2 comments:
Phillip, just to follow up on my post yesterday, it "feels" like only about 5 episodes of "Life on Mars" has aired and I am now concerned I may have missed some. Crap.
I will really miss Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt. They can't get this "80's" spinoff with the Gene character made fast enough in my book.
Shocker. (not). No new GOOD TV to be added for the rest of the 06-07 Tv season from hell, but more IDOL tonight.
The phrase "Life is really effing unfair" sometimes comes to mind.
Sadly, I actually had dinner last night with a couple I am frineds with - both with a college degree, both fairly intelligent - and they counting the seconds until "American Idol".
If you think you missed an episode of Life On Mars, BBC America repeats the previous week's episode at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays before airing the 9 p.m. new one. I'm also guessing that the network will do a marathon of episodes in the next few weeks.
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