Jeopardy! is no stranger to controversy — we all remember the Great Hosting Snafu Of 2021 — and its fans have been known to pick up a pitchfork or two when it comes to upholding the sanctity of America’s favorite quiz show. Lately it’s the WGA writer’s strike and the actors’ SAG-AFTRA strike that have people up in arms, and Jennings has faced pressure to follow Mayim Bialik’s lead by stepping down as host in solidarity of the show’s writers. There’s been increasing criticism of Jennings, as huge changes have been made to keep the show in production during the strikes, and the Jeopardy! GOAT’s podcasting partner has heard enough.

Ken Jennings stepped in for Mayim Bialik at the end of Season 39, when the Call Me Kat alum skipped the final week to support Jeopardy!’s writers, who are members of the Writer’s Guild of America. Many people reportedly took issue with his decision, to the point that Omnibus podcast co-host John Roderick went on a tirade, accusing Jennings’ critics of not understanding how labor unions work. He wrote, in part, on Facebook (per TV Insider): 

John Roderick vehemently denied that Ken Jennings is doing anything wrong by continuing to keep Jeopardy! on the air during the strikes, and he went on to specifically address Celebrity Jeopardy! finalist Wil Wheaton calling one of Jeopardy!’s biggest winners a “scab” for crossing the picket lines. Roderick continued: 

Ken Jennings has also defended himself — albeit not in as many words as his Omnibus partner — by pointing out that Alex Trebek also continued working through the 2007-08 writer’s strike. He also called the writers “the engine that runs Jeopardy!,” and indeed, executive producer Michael Davies has ensured they will never air material not written by WGA members. Instead, recycled clues and previously written new material will be used for a Second Chance Tournament, and Season 2 of Celebrity Jeopardy! can move forward, as its clues were already written ahead of the strike. 

In speaking up for Ken Jennings, John Roderick really just implored people to not blast others on the Internet if they are not fully informed of a situation and to rather do some independent research on the unions. 

Meanwhile, Jeopardy! will be without Mayim Bialik longer than expected, with Jennings behind the lectern for the Second Chance Tournament to kick off Season 40 on Monday, September 11, as well as Celebrity Jeopardy!, whose second season will premiere at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, September 27, on ABC.  

The second half of summer 2023 has been a dicey one for the promotion of movies due to the ongoing WGA writers strike and SAG actors strike. As both unions have been pushing back on Hollywood on the picket line, there’s been a pause of press tours that have already delayed some 2023 new movie releases, including Zendaya’s Challengers. The movie was initially going to open the 80th Venice International Film Festival before it was pulled from the festival and moved to April 2024. However, it's just been announced that Jacob Elordi’s Priscilla will still get its Venice premiere and fall wide release. What’s up with that? 

Priscilla is an A24 film from Sofia Coppola that tells the story of Elvis Presley through the eyes of his wife, Priscilla. Here’s what we know about what’s different about the releases of Priscilla and Challengers. 

How Come Priscilla Can Premiere At Venice? 

As reported by Deadline, Priscilla was actually given a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement to go forward with the promotion of its release because it was shot in Canada under the production company TCB Productions Canada. Some independent movies, many of which are from A24, have been given Interim Agreements from SAG as well to continue filming as many Hollywood productions remain paused for the same reason because of their independent status separate from the Hollywood machine. 

With that in mind, Priscilla will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in Italy next week with the allowance for Sofia Coppola and its cast to be present and even do press (if they decide to). The report also indicated that Coppola is already planning on attending the premiere alongside the subject of her movie, Priscilla Presley.  

What Happened With Challengers?

On the flipside, Challengers, which stars Zendaya as a tennis player who gets caught in a love triangle with two fellow players, was pulled from Venice Film Festival amidst the SAG actors strike last month, and its release was delayed from this September 15 to April 26, 2024. Why did one Euphoria star get a pass to still be released while the other didn’t? It really comes down to Challengers being financed by MGM, which doesn’t make it an independent movie like Priscilla, even though it might be a smaller budget movie that would have benefitted from the eyes of Venice. 

Movies can still very much be released right now in light of the Hollywood union strikes, but without a major actor like Zendaya doing press for Challengers, the movie has less of a chance of getting eyes on it in the current climate. 

Priscilla, however, is set to hit theaters on October 27 after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival next week. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news on both these movies.

Amid the ongoing strikes by SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, which have brought numerous Hollywood productions to a screeching halt, veteran actor Will Smith turned to social media for a profound moment of introspection. Taking the time to contemplate his illustrious career, the acclaimed star of Men in Black spoke candidly about his acting journey. He also lent his support to his guild as well as those who are on the picket lines.

The Wild Wild West actor didn't hold back, sharing his emotions of feeling like he's "on borrowed time" while acknowledging the significant role his acting coach, Aaron Speiser, has played in shaping his journey as an actor. It was at the end of the weeek that the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast member took to Instagram, where he shared the following heartfelt message:

The Oscar winner's candidness brings to light the challenges that even accomplished performers can face in the ever-changing world of showbiz. While the Bel-Air producer has encountered a few high-profile setbacks, like the infamous Oscars slap incident, one could make note of numerous great performances from Will Smith. Despite his success, the 54-year-old star admits to experiencing moments of uncertainty, making him feel like the young kid from Philly once again, unsure of his place in the industry.

Playing a crucial role in guiding the I Am Legend star through the highs and lows of his acting journey is his dear friend, teacher, and mentor, Aaron Speiser. Smith later shared more about his friend with the following sentiments:

Amidst the countless comments pouring in response to the Emancipation producer's post, the non-profit SAG-AFTRA Foundation promptly expressed its gratitude with a heartfelt "Thank you for your support, Will!"

While the “Gettin' Jiggy Wit It” performer recently concluded filming for Bad Boys 4 alongside Martin Lawrence in Atlanta a few weeks ago, his commentary goes beyond addressing the ongoing strike. The actor took a nostalgic journey back to the past, visiting the Screen Acting Studio in LA, a place he holds dear. You can get a snippet from his visit in the post embedded below:

Will Smith has always been one to highlight others. So it's not surprise to see him shining a high-profile spotlight on his fellow actors and writers while acknowledging his mentor's dedication to nurturing and supporting young talent. This gesture is particularly noteworthy during a time when the future of Hollywood remains uncertain due to the ongoing strikes. As the labor action persists, it's genuinely heartening to see an established star like Smith taking the initiative to connect with the next generation of artists. One would think that they appreciate his willingness to give them the much-needed encouragement and motivation to chase after their dreams.

Get ready to catch Will Smith again in the highly-anticipated sequel to one of the best action movies, Bad Boys 4, which will hit the 2024 movie release schedule. For those eager to plan their next trip to the cinema, remember to take a peek at our schedule of upcoming movies.

The world of scripted TV was thrown into chaos in May, when the Writers Guild of America went on strike, and they were joined by SAG-AFTRA in July. While some productions were immediately shut down when the strikes began — Saturday Night Live and talk shows, for example — the effects on other projects will take longer to become obvious. Some series like General Hospital, however, have continued to work through both the writers’ and the actors’ strikes. How have they been able to keep from shutting down production?

Both the WGA and actors’ unions failed to come to an agreement with the Alliance for Motion Pictures and Television Producers before their contracts expired, leading the current fight over fair wages and other issues like streaming residuals and the use of artificial intelligence. Writers and actors alike have been on the picket lines, as no writing can be done and actors unable to be on set or doing promotion for their projects. General Hospital, however, has continued production by using temporary writers, TVLine reports.

The longtime ABC soap opera has reportedly begun using “financial core” writers — members of the WGA who resign from the union in order to pursue work. One of General Hospital’s writers Shannon Peace reportedly wrote on Instagram on July 21: 

Her Instagram page has since been made private, but in the post she also reportedly encouraged fans to keep watching the show, saying it is possible to “morally support the writers AND keep the show [on] the air.” Because daytime soaps are filmed pretty far in advance, scripts from the fi-core members aren’t expected to tape until August, when the cast returns from a previously scheduled summer break, according to TV Line.

This begs the question of how the actors are able to resume their work amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. It turns out cast members of daytime series are under a different contract — the Network Television Code — which reportedly also covers daytime talk shows, news programs, game shows and unscripted reality shows.

While General Hospital has apparently turned to fi-core writers until the WGA strike ends, it was unclear if other popular soap operas like Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless would follow suit.

As we prepare to wait longer than usual for our favorite fall shows to return, some productions were unaffected by the writer’s strike, like House of the Dragon Season 2, whose scripts were finished before the strike. Jeopardy!, as well, was able to finish out its season since all of its games had already been written. However, Mayim Bialik chose to walk out in solidarity with the show’s writers, and there have been some struggles in terms of next season and this year’s Tournament of Champions, with some of those contestants saying they will not cross the picket line. 

There’s a lot up in the air, so keep your eye on the 2023 TV schedule to see what all is coming up. Meanwhile, General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC and can also be streamed with a Hulu subscription. 

Even if you only tune in for the occasional happy-ending focused film on Hallmark, you probably know that the network has a lot of dedicated fans who can’t wait to watch one thing in particular, and that is the long-running series, When Calls the Heart. Season 10 of the ever-popular hit will debut at the end of July, but viewers are already looking ahead, and glad that another season is also greenlit. Fortunately, despite a large portion of Hollywood being on strike, the show is currently filming Season 11, and we know why it’s been allowed to continue production when most shows can’t.

How Is Hallmark’s When Calls The Heart Still Filming During The Strikes?

The WGA writer’s strike began in May 2023, leading to most scripted shows that would have begun preparing for their next season to shut down. They were then joined by striking actors in mid-July for the SAG-AFTRA strike, meaning that even more productions which had managed to avoid a work stoppage then had to close up shop. But, Hearties will be happy to hear that this has not been the case for When Calls the Heart Season 11, as Deadline confirms that the series has been given an interim agreement from the actors’ union so that it can continue filming.

As of this writing, a total of 68 projects have been granted such waivers that allow filming amid the actors’ strike, with those scripted projects being given that privilege because the productions in question are independent and don’t have direct ties to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the governing body that SAG-AFTRA was attempting to negotiate new contracts with, which necessitated the strike after no agreement could be reached.

What Does When Calls The Heart Still Filming Season 11 Mean For Fans?

Basically, the show being able to get this production waiver from the actors’ union is fantastic news for Hearties everywhere. As with any long work stoppage in any industry, the writers’ and actors’ strikes mean that any production affected will be delayed. So, When Calls the Heart viewers who are used to waiting about a year or so for new episodes can now count on the drama (which will air its 100th episode in August) returning right on schedule next year.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for a number of network, cable, and streaming shows, with most of them shutting down in the wake of the writers’ strike. We’re already seeing the effects of it, as when networks like NBC revealed their fall TV lineups, they relied heavily on things that had completed filming before the strikes, like recently canceled Magnum P.I., repeats of scripted shows, and reality/competition shows. 

There are usually dozens of new (or returning with new episodes) scripted series on air come the fall television season, but when you have a major network like NBC, which currently only has five new/returning scripted shows on the 2023 TV schedule, you know things are going to be very light in that area across the board. And, most of the projects given waivers are big screen efforts, with only seven shows total granted the right to keep filming.

While fans can look forward to the quickly approaching WCTH Season 10 and Season 11 in 2024, we’re not sure right now how many upcoming Hallmark movies have been hit by strike stoppage, as only a few of the channel’s hotly anticipated Christmas films have been confirmed as completed before the strikes, though we’ll find out what exactly we’ll be able to watch this holiday season before too much longer.

The ongoing labor disputes within Hollywood have been further fueled by the power of social media, with writers and performers using their platforms to rally public support for their cause. Amidst the numerous messages that have emerged as the SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA writers on strike, one particular actor's passionate comments captured attention due to their brutally honest nature—Ron Perlman. In a social media livestream, the Hellboy actor aimed a “heated” warning at an unnamed executive with a callous stance toward the striking members. Now, the Hand of God star is providing clarity about his comments following some pushback.

The Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts star took to Instagram on Friday to address a story published in Deadline earlier this week. An unnamed movie studio executive had expressed the company's alleged intention to prolong the labor dispute until union members faced financial hardships, including losing their homes. In a since-removed video, ron Perlman passionately responded, stating, "There are numerous ways to lose your house... Some involve finding out who made that comment and where they live." However, in a subsequent video, he clarified that he did not wish harm upon anyone and walked back some of the more aggressive rhetoric, saying: 

While acknowledging his stance, the Drive actor clarified that he did not harbor ill wishes toward anyone and refrained from issuing a direct apology. He emphasized that the ongoing strike in Hollywood reflects a more significant issue in America—the pervasive corporatization of various aspects of society. He expanded on the disillusionment and frustration people experience with the following sentiments:

The actor emphasized the importance of humanity and dignity in the industry, recognizing the collaborative effort involved in filmmaking. He expressed gratitude for the transformative power of movies in shaping his character, stating:

The ongoing actors and writers strikes have caused significant disruptions, with notable productions like Deadpool 3 being forced to halt and Gladiator 2 reportedly getting creative. This united front of performers and scribes puts significant financial strain on Hollywood studios, resulting in substantial daily losses.

One of the latest strike casualties is the film Wolves, which marks the big-screen reunion of George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The movie, expected to be released exclusively to those with an Apple TV+ subscription, had to temporarily pause its production due to the strike–which Clooney issued a response to. The film revolves around two professional fixers hired for the same job. Undoubtedly, the Batman & Robin star, who is both an actor and producer on the project, is eager to resume filming and see the movie through to completion.

As the SAG-AFTRA strike continues, Ron Perlman's statement serves as a reminder of the underlying tensions and challenges faced by writers and performers in Hollywood. The quest for fair working conditions and compensation goes beyond individual interests, representing a collective effort to maintain the integrity and value of the creative arts.

We're over two months into an industry-wide writers strike in Hollywood, which has shut down pre-production on a slew of scripted shows and movies. While it isn’t technically against guild rules, it is frowned upon for production to continue on pre-strike written projects. Many sets have shut down in solidarity with the writers as they picket for better pay and working conditions. However, Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story has opted to continue shooting its twelfth season and, recently, a producer of The Blacklist called out the FX show. 

The continued work on AH12 is viewed as controversial, as it requires many industry professionals to cross the picket line. The studio where production takes place has become a picketing location, as many writers have organized lines in the vicinity. It would appear that some feel like the ongoing shoot is a slight to the writers, who are looking for solidarity as the Writers Guild of America fights for a better contract with the major studios. T Cooper, a WGAE strike captain and previous executive producer on The Blacklist, name-dropped AHS while speaking to Deadline and explained why he views this as a "hard" situation:

Kim Kardashian was announced as one of the co-leads for the season alongside Emma Roberts back in April. The reality star has been a target of much WGA grief, as she's continued to film the Ryan Murphy-produced show despite the union's urging to shut down production. Kardashian recently tweeted from the set and received major backlash from supporters of the WGA strike. As T Cooper alludes to, Kardashian is a major player in the entertainment industry and could theoretically be a driving force for the scribes' cause if she sided with them.

Ryan Murphy has also been scrutinized during this time. Not only has he chosen to continue to film his show, forcing many industry professionals to cross picket lines, but he also threatened to sue Warren Leight, a WGAE strike captain. Said lawsuit was sparked by a tweet Leight shared, in which he claimed that Murphy's employees would be "blackballed" if they walked out. After litigation was threatened, Leight took down the tweet, apologizing for his sentiments. At present, Murphy's show continues to shoot at Silvercup Studios and will be available for Hulu subscribers to stream sometime in the near future. 

While AHS12 has opted to continue production and Kim Kardashian and Ryan Murphy have continued to work, many stars have publicly supported the writers. Secret Invasion's Dermot Mulroney walked off the set of The View as a public demonstration of support. In addition, Pete Davidson brought pizza to protestors, and Mark Ruffalo and Mariska Hargitay have both tweeted about their solidarity with the writers. More stars may be striking soon themselves, as the Screen Actors Guild contract will be up on July 12th. 

The writers strike has delayed many projects, like Stranger Things, and Daredevil: Born Again and further delays could be on the horizon. Of course, American Horror Story Season 12 may not experience changes due to the fact that it's still shooting. Time will tell if that continues to be the case, and we'll also have to wait and see if the writers are able to agree upon a new deal with the studios. And as for whether others like The Blacklist's T Cooper calls out AHS as time goes on, that remains to be seen as well.

Some of the Bones creative team reunited this weekend, but it wasn’t for a gross skeleton gag. Instead, members of the crew reunited to support the WGA writer’s strike that’s made headlines in recent weeks. At the picket event, the creator of the series Hart Hanson said those who worked on the show are “in contact” with one another. Yet, would he ever revive the beloved Fox series? 

Previously, back in 2017 as the show was ending, Hanson actually spoke to Deadline about how in a “couple years or something, it might be a lot of fun” to get the band back together. It’s been more than a couple of years since the show ended at this point, but the dream doesn’t seem 100% dead. According to Hanson, “it’s complicated,” but the creative team is “nostalgic” about the series. The longtime showrunner spoke to Variety about why it isn’t as easy as just picking up the phone and asking for people’s “availability” though, noting: 

Listen, clearly figuring out this whole rights thing is complicated. The Disney and 20th Century Fox merger has been complete for a few years now, but it sounds like the provenance of old shows is a giant legal hassle that might make certain revival efforts more trouble than they are worth. Even without that, there’s a whole question about where content should be housed. Some Fox shows, like The Simpsons are randomly found on Disney+ streaming, while others like Masterchef are on Hulu. Some FX shows are on FX first and some are Hulu originals, like The Bear, now. 

Then you have David Boreanaz, who is very busy with a full time TV gig, as Seal Team was renewed for Season 7 on Paramount Plus fairly recently. He’s in the past also said he likes to “look forward” and not “backwards” when asked about a Bones reunion, making him committing possibly the diciest bit of this plan. Emily Deschanel, on the other hand, also seems to have slowed down her acting output, only taking work in podcasts, guest stints, and miniseries work in recent years, so I’m not sure how excited she’d be about the TV grind. And as much as I love Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne and Tamara Taylor, you can’t have Bones without Booth and Brennan. 

But is this really a pipe dream? Here’s what I think should happen. 

Yes, Bones should have a reunion at some point. Instead of going back to network TV, the show should do a streaming reunion and it should go more in the vein of Zoey 102 in that the reunion would be longer form. What I suggest is going in the vein of a Hallmark Movies and Mysteries series and signing the cast back on for 3 “episodes” or “movies” that are all like an hour and a half instead of 42 minutes. These could be parceled out ala Hallmark over a period of weeks or they could drop all at once. 

This would feel like a TV event in the same way that Sherlock always felt like a big TV event and it would give everyone a chance to work together in a meaningful way for meaningful storylines without marking crazy work weeks – which is one of the things the Bones creative team was protesting this week anyway. 

Obviously this wouldn’t solve any of the actual “Who owns Bones?” rights issues (or Boreanaz’s possible lack of enthusiasm) but it would solve some of the time stuff. Given Hart Hanson also called Bones “a happy place to work” – a somewhat rare phenomenon – I’d hope it would be easy to get people back on board. So perhaps we will be hearing about a revival sometime soon, no matter what format it might come in? One thing’s for certain: we’ll have to wait for the writer’s strike to end first. 

Fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the much-discussed American Horror Story Season 12, and one of the reasons for that may be because Kim Kardashian is set to be the co-lead. While few details on the story and theme for the latest chapter in the franchise are unknown, Kardashian’s involvement seems to be stirring up a bit of buzz. Yet it appears that the business mogul now finds herself facing a bit of backlash related to the show. She recently tweeted from the set amid the ongoing WGA writers strike, and a number of the picketers responded with some honest thoughts. 

Many of Hollywood’s most notable scribes have put down their pens (or keyboards), as they seek better wages, working conditions and more amid the strike. However, American Horror Story and other productions overseen by TV mogul Ryan Murphy are still in production, per reports. Kim Kardashian’s Twitter post confirmed that when it comes to the long-running scary show. The star tweeted the message below while she was apparently working on the show: 

In May, the SKIMS founder made headlines after she was spotted crossing the picket line in New York, where production on AHS has reportedly been taking place. Once news of the reality TV veteran’s actions became known, she received a considerable amount of blowback at the time. So when she posted about her experience this past week, a number of writers (civilly) condemned her post. When the 42-year-old star inquired about how other Twitter users were spending their time, comedy writer Jesse McLaren simply said: 

Queen of the South and Kevin Hill alum Jorge A. Reyes also caught wind of the Kardashians star’s message. Like Jesse McLaren, Reyes was concise: 

Former Roswell, New Mexico writer Glenn Farrington was among the industry veterans on strike who responded to the post. He provided the same sentiment dropped by his peers while also calling out the star: 

FANtasies and Animeme Rap Battles alum Dani Fernandez took a somewhat different approach. She invited Kim Kardashian to join her and others on the front lines:

Whether the mother of four actually sees – let alone accepts – that offer is anyone’s guess at this point. What can be said is that this point is that the reality TV vet is going to be starring on AHS Season 12 – which is subtitled Delicate – alongside Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Matt Czuchry, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and more. The businesswoman’s casting has drawn mixed responses, as franchise veteran Patti LuPone wasn’t too thrilled about it. Though fellow alum Zachary Quino had nothing but kind words to say about the media personality after meeting her on the set of the new season.

The mixed thoughts on Kim Kardashian aside, it’s unclear when the public will even get to view this new season. It’ll be interesting to see how production continues to progress amid the strike and whether Kardashian will address her recent post.

While waiting for the new episodes, fans can check out past seasons of American Horror Story using a Hulu subscription. You can also check out the 2023 TV schedule for help deciding on other viewing options.

If you grew up in the glorious decade that was the 2010s, I’d bet money that Pitch Perfect played some sort of role in your childhood. Well, maybe not everyone's, but it was definitely formative to me. I grew up singing along to the “Bellas Finals,” the “Cups" song, and the “Riff Off,” so when the opportunity presented itself to speak with Utkarsh Ambudkar, who played the Treblemakers' beatboxer Donald, I had to ask him about the 2012 classic, and he delivered. Not only did he sweetly reflect on his love for the cast, he also teased his return to the musical world, noting what needs to happen for him to come back. 

While Ambudkar has gone on to work on other beloved projects by joining casts like Free Guy and Never Have I Ever, he still gets recognized for Pitch Perfect all these years later. As he spoke to CinemaBlend about his upcoming movie World’s Best he also noted how much he loves the devoted fans of various shows and movies he's been a part of. And when it comes to the appreciation for the a capella comedy, he said:  

Don’t get me wrong, this whole quote is super sweet, however, it’s the final sentence that really piqued my interest. While Utkarsh Ambudkar listed lots of co-stars he’s still in contact with, Adam DeVine is maybe the most important one to note, as he’s the star of “the Bumper show,” as the Ghosts actor referred to it. Bumper in Berlin got picked up for Season 2, per Variety, and pending the WGA strike, the freestyle rapper teased that he might be on it to reunite with his Treblemaking bestie. 

Seeing Ambudkar join DeVine and Sarah Hyland on Bumper in Berlin would be so much fun! To see Bumper and Donald “gettin' it” on screen again would be hilarious, and seeing a more grown-up version of the Treblemakers’ lead singer and beatboxer/rapper would be amazing. As an OG Pitch Perfect fan, getting that cast together in any capacity is always exciting, especially when it's an in-world reunion and the characters haven’t been on screen together since the first movie. 

Of course, this is all pending the writer’s strike. Once the writers and the studios are able to reach a fair deal, it sounds like Bumper in Berlin Season 2 will be back in action, and there’s potential for Donald to make a comeback. While it likely won’t be on the 2023 TV schedule, if this reunion happens there would for sure be “magic” in it, as the Treblemakers sang in their epic final performance:

You can stream Pitch Perfect with a Netflix subscription, and Bumper in Berlin is available with a Peacock plan. Also, to see what Utkarsh Ambudkar is up to now, you can check out Seasons 1 and 2 of Ghosts with a Paramount+ subscription. And his new movie World’s Best will be available through a Disney+ subscription on June 23, which, like Pitch Perfect, features a lot of him rapping, which is always a delight.  

The writers on Jeopardy! were among the 11,000 Writers Guild of America members who hit the picket lines over a month ago, demanding fair contracts in the changing landscape of entertainment. As Mayim Bialik chose to exit the season early to stand in solidarity with the WGA, Ken Jennings came in to finish out the already-written games. That apparently didn’t go over so well with some members of the crew, however, the Jeopardy! GOAT made his feelings about the writers known when he spoke about the show recently, calling their work “a piece of art.”

Job security for WGA’s members amid the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence is a big issue for the striking writers, and Ken Jennings weighed in on the issue in a conversation with the New Yorker. The interviewer pointed out that the Jeopardy! co-host had praised the clue-writing in one of his books, pointing out that it’s not just about knowing the facts, but that the writers often include a twist or surprise. Jennings said: 

It’s been said that even if contestants don’t know the correct response right away, there are often hints within the clue or category that can lead someone to the answer. That nuanced writing, according to Ken Jennings, is something that must come from human intelligence, not A.I. He continued: 

He certainly does make it sound like an art form! Ken Jennings isn’t one to underestimate the capabilities of artificial intelligence, either. In 2011, he and Brad Rutter — two of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history — played against the IBM computer system Watson and lost. 

Ken Jennings is also more familiar than most with the work that the writers put into the Jeopardy! clues. In addition to serving as a host of the quiz show, he holds the record for most consecutive games won with 74, which came from his time as a contestant back in 2004.

It remains to be seen how long the WGA strike will last and if Jeopardy!’s next season will be affected. When it comes to the writers, however, both Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings have made their stances pretty clear as to how valuable they find that work. Be sure to see what is coming soon to TV and streaming with our 2023 TV schedule. 

It’s been weeks since the Writers Guild of America members have gone on strike, picketing outside of major studios, as they seek fair wages and contracts in the age of increasing popularity in streaming, as well as provisions regarding artificial intelligence. The work stoppage for the union’s 11,000 members has shut down production on several projects and threatens to delay the starts of upcoming seasons of everything from Grey’s Anatomy to Stranger Things Season 5. Amid the strike, actors and others in the entertainment industry, including Mariska Hargitay, Pete Davidson, Flavor Flav and Merle Dandridge, continue to show solidarity with the writers. 

While no progress has been made, actors and others in the business continue to show their support for the unions, either by joining the writers on the picket lines, continuing to provide pay to their employees while production is shut down, or providing food to the striking workers. Let’s take a look at what they're doing and saying. 

Merle Dandridge

The cast members of Station 19 have been voicing their support for the Writers Guild of America members, with Danielle Savre joining the picket line in the early days of the strike, per The Wrap. On June 1, her co-star on the ABC firefighter drama Merle Dandridge joined the protests as well. She said of the writers (per SAG-AFTRA’s Twitter page): 

Station 19 is set to return this fall for Season 7, but as with all scripted content, that’s a big question mark right now.

Lil Wayne And Flavor Flav

Rapper Lil Wayne showed his “appreciation and support for the writers” by sending a Fatburger food truck to the workers on strike outside the Warner Bros. office in Burbank, California, on May 25. Several people posted photos thanking the “A Milli” artist: 

Flavor Flav made a similar move the week prior, providing those on the picket line outside the same office with pizza, burgers and fries. 

He reportedly danced along while “Fight the Power” blared on a boom box, Billboard reported, and numerous tweets showed him firing up the crowd as he fed them.

Mark Ruffalo

MCU actor Mark Ruffalo also joined the protests, talking about how high the stakes are right now for talent in the entertainment business, given how audiences are consuming movies and TV shows and the constant strides being made in artificial intelligence. He tweeted his support for SAG-AFTRA members to authorize their own strike, saying:  

Mark Ruffalo is just one SAG member who asked others to vote for a strike ahead of the start of the union’s negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which begin today. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher sent union members an audio message late in May in support of a strike, Deadline reports, saying “acting careers are at stake.”

Mariska Hargitay

Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay joined the picket line outside of Paramount Global’s New York City office on May 25, where she credited her success on the longtime NBC drama to the writers, saying: 

Many of the actors who have spoken out tend to agree that they would not be able to do their jobs without the writers.

Pete Davidson

Pete Davidson was set to return to Saturday Night Live as a guest host before the strike went into effect, and while we hate to think about what were sure to be some hilarious sketches on that episode, it was cool to see the comedian delivering pizzas to the writers protesting outside Silvercup Studios in New York. As he dropped off lunch, he told onlookers: 

It wasn’t just Pete Davidson’s SNL gig that was affected by the strike, but he also just wrapped the first season of Bupkis on Peacock with no news about its future. Davidson co-wrote the show with Judah Miller and Dave Sirus, who were also present on the picket line. 

Amanda Seyfried And Olivia Wilde

The conversation about fair wages and the changing landscape of entertainment was a big one in the days leading up to the strike, and a few actors had the chance to weigh in as they climbed the famed staircase at the Met Gala on May 1. Amanda Seyfried didn’t hold back her blunt opinion about what the union members are owed, telling Variety: 

Olivia Wilde also weighed in at the Met Gala, saying during a red carpet interview that she thought the strike was going to affect every part of the entertainment industry and even those beyond. However, this was a move the unions needed to make to get what they deserve. You can listen to her comments below: 

The Don't Worry Darling star said while she wished it didn't have to come to this, she supported the union and the writers.

Jennifer Coolidge

Jennifer Coolidge used her platform during the MTV Movie & TV Awards to show her solidarity with the writers. After being awarded the Comedic Genius award, The White Lotus actress said (via CNN): 

The support in Hollywood for the thousands of Writers Guild of America members on strike has been plentiful, with dozens of other celebrities standing with them either literally on the picket lines or through their words or actions. Rob Lowe, Quinta Brunson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Elizabeth Olsen, Yvette Nicole Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Drew Barrymore, Melanie Lynskey, Snoop Dogg and so many more have lent their voices to ensuring the union members are given the fair wages and contracts that their work has earned them. 

The last time the WGA went on strike was 2007, and the 100-day work stoppage took a big toll on every facet of the entertainment industry, including the audience. It remains to be seen how much longer the protests will continue before the two sides can come to an agreement, and what that means for the 2023 TV schedule going forward. 

A great deal has happened in the MCU to many characters in Phase 4, but none have been through quite so much as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The web-slinger is now in a world where literally everybody has forgotten who he is following the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Fans are, of course, very interested to see where this story goes. And we know that Spider-Man 4 is in the plan, but it appears that the project has been stalled thanks to the ongoing WGA Strike.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has been an important part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since his introduction in Captain America: Civil War. Holland has moved almost continuously from one Spidey project to the next since then. While there was the possibility that the solo franchise could end with a trilogy, following the massive box office of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it wasn't exactly a shock to learn that another movie was on the way. 

However, we haven’t heard much about Spider-Man 4 recently beyond assurances from Producer Amy Pascal that Spider-Man 4 is happening. Speaking with Variety, Tom Holland explains that while there have been very early talks about the project, they are on hold due to the writers’ strike. He explained…

The three previous MCU Spider-Man movies were written by the pair of Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna, and while the writers of Spider-Man 4 have not been officially announced, it seems likely they will return considering the last three movies were all solid hits. While some early pre-production conversations could likely be had without them involved, the team has decided not to do that as a show of support for the striking writers.

Spidey is far from the only Marvel hero that’s seeing a slowdown due to the writer strike. The long-gestating Blade movie is once again on hold as the script had not been completed prior to the strike, so nothing can be done with that project until the strike is over. Other Marvel movies, like Deadpool 3 and Captain America: New World Order, are moving forward, with both projects already filming, though doing so during the strike presents its own share of potential problems. 

Spider-Man is still one of the most popular characters in all of media. The fact that the wall crawler is seeing success in both live-action and animation simultaneously is proof of that. There is almost no doubt that another Spider-Man movie will come but fans should be patient as it likely be some time before we know anything about it. 

Ever since Jeopardy! fans believed that either Ken Jennings or Mayim Bialik would be named the quiz show’s one true host following Alex Trebek’s death (and plenty of other drama), a debate has raged over who is more deserving of the title. Even after EP Michael Davies named them permanent co-hosts, people are still weighing in on who they like better. Now, there may be additional fodder for the discourse, and it has to do with people allegedly being upset about Jennings taking over for Bialik amid the WGA writer’s strike.

When the Writers Guild of America went on strike May 2, Mayim Bialik announced that she would be stepping away from Jeopardy! for the remainder of its season to stand in solidarity with the writers. The decision was made to go ahead with the production of the final episodes, and Ken Jennings was called back to host. RadarOnline reports that this move prompted some to call the Jeopardy! GOAT an “opportunist,” saying he has “showed his true colors” by taking her place during the strike. According to the source: 

The writers on the iconic game show are members of the WGA, however, all of the clues for the rest of Season 39 had been written before the strike started. It was reported that Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse were among the Jeopardy! writers on the picket line.

Before the strike inspired her to end her season early, Mayim Bialik was scheduled to finish out Season 39 behind the lectern. Ken Jennings had already hosted more episodes than anticipated, after the actress’ Call Me Kat production schedule prohibited her from returning to Jeopardy! at the beginning of the year as planned.

Ken Jennings reportedly hosted the episodes filmed from May 16-19, which would mean those episodes are likely to begin airing in July, with the season ending on July 28.

While fans have passionately debated whether Mayim Bialik or Ken Jennings — one of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history — was better suited to host the quiz show, there’s never appeared to be tension between the co-hosts themselves. The Big Bang Theory alum has even joked that she prefers Jennings too!

Executive producer Michael Davies recently addressed the strong opinions that social media users share regarding the hosts, saying that no matter which one of them is behind the lectern, the ratings have remained the same. He also said he stands by his decision to bring Ken Jennings on board to share duties with Mayim Bialik — who had previously been announced as the host of prime-time tournaments — following former EP and would-be host Mike Richards’ firing.

Ken Jennings served as host of the recently wrapped Jeopardy! Masters tournament, which saw James Holtzhauer win the inaugural Alex Trebek Trophy, and earlier this year, Mayim Bialik delivered the clues for the Celebrity Jeopardy! spinoff, which Ike Barinholtz won in dramatic fashion.

Check your local listings to see how to catch Mayim Bialik’s final Season 39 episodes in syndication, before the former champion takes the reins again, and be sure to take a peek at our 2023 TV schedule to see all of the upcoming premieres. 

The WGA strike has been ongoing within the entertainment industry. The Writers Guild contract with the studios expired at the beginning of May, and the Guild is now striking for a new contract. Many modern issues are the subject of debate for the strike, and it has ceased all writing activity within Hollywood. The situation has brought out several notable faces to the picket lines, including Kristen Stewart’s fiancée Dylan Meyer, who recently shared a funny sign on her social media inspired by the comedy film, Zoolander.

Meyer supported the writers on the picket lines this weekend as the strikers have been picketing outside of major studios on the East and West Coast. The signs the writers have been holding have been absolutely hilarious, many of which have been inspired by lines from movies and television shows. Meyer’s sign was no exception, and it referenced an iconic line from Zoolander. You can see the story post from the actress’s Instagram below:

Meyer isn’t the only famous face who has been seen supporting the striking writers. Pete Davidson brought pizzas to the picket lines in New York. While other notable figures like Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Rob Lowe, and Jason Sudeikis have also been seen striking. Zoe Kazan has been picketing as well, and her husband Paul Dano stated at the Cannes Film Festival that he has every intention of joining her after the festival. 

The ongoing Writers' Strike has called for a complete shutdown of all writing activities within Hollywood. Daily scripted shows like late-night television have ceased production and other scripted shows will likely be affected as we get closer to fall premieres. The strike has affected several projects currently in production, including Daredevil: Born Again, which has paused filming, and Marvel’s Blade reboot which has been delayed. In addition, the Screen Actors Guild has a contract expiring soon, and is currently voting on whether or not to strike as well, so Meyer may continue to be on the picket lines for a while. 

Stewart and Meyer have been together since 2019. Stewart announced her engagement plans on the Howard Stern Show at the end of that year, and they officially got engaged in 2021. Meyer is crazy proud of her partner, and posts adorable photos of Stewart on her Instagram. They have talked about their wedding plans, however, haven’t tied the knot quite yet. They also plan on writing a television show together, after the WGA contract is negotiated of course. 

Due to the ongoing strike, it may be a while before we get the long-awaited Meyer/Stewart project. In the meantime, you can check out Moxie, which was written by Dylan Meyer and is available to stream on Netflix. Fans can also check out Kristen Stewart’s latest film, Crimes of the Future, which is streaming with a Hulu subscription. For more information on other films set to release later this year, make sure to consult our 2023 movie release schedule. 

Before the ongoing WGA writers’ strike took hold of the entertainment industry, Pete Davidson was supposed to host Saturday Night Live nearly a year after his departure from the NBC variety series. Longtime cast member Kenan Thompson expressed his excitement over having his friend and former colleague on the show again but, unfortunately, the strike led to production on SNL being suspended, with the show effectively shutting down for the remainder of the season. Now, series newbie Devon Walker has revealed whether there are sketches involving Davidson that are just waiting to be dusted off.

Pete Davidson wasn't the only person set to serve as a host, as Jennifer Coolidge and Kieran Culkin were in the same boat. Devon Walker spoke to People about the now-shortened season of SNL, which was just three episodes short of completion. Based on Walker's comments, it doesn't seem like much had been done yet for Davidson’s episode by the time things had been shut down. He attributes that to the timing of the strike:

It is disappointing that we missed out on the star's return to Studio 8H, and it would've been comforting to know that there were sketches lying around that had his name on them. Nevertheless, there may still be a possibility that when Saturday Night Live comes back for Season 49, Pete Davidson will get to host. In the meantime though, Davidson will likely continue to stand in solidarity with the writers and protest with them as he's done before.

The comic left SNL at the end of Season 47 after being on the show for eight years. His exit came at the same time as a Kate McKinnon's departure and those of others. The cast was drastically different by the time the list was finalized for Season 48. And as the long-running show continues to navigate its new era, the King of Staten Island star is on to new things. Mostly recently, he marked the release of his new comedy, Bupkis, which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription. 

Not only that, but  Pete Davidson is making moves with big-screen productions as well. He's set to voice Mirage in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and is also starring in the movie Wizards! alongside Orlando Bloom and Naomi Scott. It's great to see him working and doing different things, but it'd still be great to see him return to his old stomping grounds at some point. Let's hope that he gets to do so eventually and that  the resulting sketches turn out great.

It's likely that Saturday Night Live will return to the 2023 TV schedule later this year, should the writers strike subside sooner rather than later, of course.

The WGA writers strike has already had an effect on several television productions, shutting down Saturday Night Live ahead of Pete Davidson’s return for a guest-hosting gig and putting network late-night talk shows on indefinite hiatus. Now it seems the game show industry will also be impacted, as Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik has announced that she will not be present for the final week of filming for Season 39, as she stands in solidarity with the writers. Production of the quiz show, however, has not halted, so what does that mean for the final episodes? 

Mayim Bialik Steps Away From Jeopardy! In Support Of The Writers 

The Writers Guild of America officially went on strike May 2, with its 11,000 members seeking fair pay in the age of streaming and amid the growing popularity of artificial intelligence. To that end, Mayim Bialik has decided not to continue hosting for the remainder of Jeopardy!’s current season, Deadline reports.

She joins several members of Hollywood who support the writers’ rights, as many have been seen on the picket lines themselves, and late-night hosts including Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have continued to pay writers out of their own pockets.

Jeopardy! is a WGA show that features contributions from its members, and writers Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse are among the quiz show’s writers who have joined the picket lines over the past week. However, as the clues for the remaining Season 39 games were written ahead of the strike, the show will continue production — just not with Mayim Bialik leading the way. 

Ken Jennings Will Return As Host For Jeopardy!’s Final Season 39 Episodes 

Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik have passed the baton back and forth this season on Jeopardy! after being named permanent co-hosts. However, when Jennings — one of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history — ceded his spot behind the lectern on May 1, that was supposed to be the last we saw of him in syndication this season. (The GOAT is currently serving as host of the primetime spinoff Jeopardy! Masters.)

With Mayim Bialik exiting the show early in support of the WGA Writers Strike, Ken Jennings’ fans will be excited to learn that he’ll take over the remaining Season 39 episodes, which are set to film between May 16 and 19. That likely means he’ll be returning to our screens with his signature dad jokes in July for the final few weeks of competition.

This marks a pretty big period of transition for Mayim Bialik, as her decision comes on the heels of her sitcom Call Me Kat being canceled by Fox following its third season. Fans of the Blossom star can continue to see her in syndication (check your local listings for air times) on Jeopardy! for a few more weeks. 

While we wait for Ken Jennings to return, viewers can watch him on Jeopardy! Masters, which returns to ABC at 8 p.m. ET Friday, May 12. Be sure to also keep your eye on the 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are headed your way soon. 

2022 was a big year for Brendan Fraser, as he received considerable praise and numerous accolades for his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. Fraser capped off the stellar awards season run with a Best Actor win at the 2023 Oscars. He has a few upcoming productions that are on the schedule of 2023 new movie releases. However, it would seem that Fraser has yet to line up another gig since receiving his gold statue. That’s apparently because the veteran actor  is being very “picky” about his next movie.

Brendan Fraser is obviously no stranger to picking out acting jobs, as he’s had to do it throughout his decades-long career. Of course, one would assume that winning an Academy Award can change your mindset when it comes to selecting a role. The beloved actor addressed his professional future amid an interview with People, during which he also mentioned how the ongoing WGA writers strike might also factor into plans: 

Because of the strike, a number of film and TV projects – that are in numerous stages of production – have been delayed. So even if the Mummy icon were to sign on for something right now, there’s a chance that it could be a while before the cameras would actually start rolling. He doesn’t sound all that worried about that, though, based on his comments. If anything, it would appear that he’s more preoccupied with the strike and the prospect of joining his colleagues on the picket line. 

If one were to be honest, I don’t think the Encino Man alum is going to have any trouble landing work after his Oscar win, a result of his first-ever nomination (which he celebrated with his son). Hollywood pretty much knows what he’s capable of as a performer at this point, and his work in The Whale will possibly put him on the radar of even more top-tier filmmakers. As fate would have it, his next collaboration involves one of the greatest directors of our time. 

The actor is set to star in Martin Scorseses’s adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon, which is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month before hitting Apple TV+ in the fall. Scorsese’s latest feature puts Brendan Fraser alongside acting greats like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and John Lithgow. Fraser will also appear in the comedy film Brothers, which stars Josh Brolin, Glenn Close and Peter Dinklage. In addition, fans can still look forward to his work in the upcoming final episodes of DC’s Doom Patrol. 

I think Brendan Fraser could actually use a bit of rest considering all of the work he’s done as of late. It would seem that he’s going to take some time to think over his options amid the ongoing strike And once the industry returns to some sense of normalcy, I’d expect him to choose a project that speaks to him just as Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar-winning drama did.

Looking at all the updates for the Mahershala Ali-led Blade reboot, it seems as though this upcoming Marvel movie has been facing a particularly uphill battle getting off the ground. For instance, last September, director Bassam Tariq departed the reboot, and a few months later, Yann Demange was hired to take over helming duties. Following the reveal last week that True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto has been brought in to polish the Blade script, it looked as though this project was on a steady track to begin principal photography soon. Evidently that’s not the case, as word’s come in that it’s been hit with another setback due to the writers strike.

Although the WGA writers strike has already impacted a number of television shows since it began at 12:01 am on May 2, THR reports that Blade is the first tentpole picture to be disrupted by it. The  reboot has shut down preproduction, which has already been paused once before. The cast and crew members are being notified of this development, and naturally this means cameras won’t begin rolling next month as original planned. Once the strike is finished, then Marvel Studios will restart Blade’s production. 

The Blade reboot was first announced back at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, with Mahershala Ali being brought on stage during the Marvel Studios presentation. Originally Stacy Osei-Kuffour was hired to write the movie, but when Yan Demange was brought in as the new director, Michael Starrbury was selected to rewrite the script, and Nic Pizzolatto was working off that material before the writers strike began. Blade will mark Ali’s third time playing a Marvel character, having previously appeared in Luke Cage as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes and voiced Aaron Davis, a.k.a. The Prowler, in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Regardless of how long the writers strike lasts, with Blade already having to wait longer to roll cameras, it’s likely the movie will have to be delayed further. It’s currently set to conclude the MCU’s Phase 5 on September 6, 2024, so now the question is if it’ll simply closer to the end of that year, or if it’ll become necessary to turn it into a 2025 release. The last of the Wesley Snipes-led Blade movies, Blade: Trinity, was released in December 2004.

However, as far as the entire Marvel Studios operations go, there’s plenty to keep the company busy even in the midst of the writers strike. Captain America: New World Order, Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Wonder Man are all currently in front of cameras, Deadpool 3 is set to begin shooting later this month, and Thunderbolts is still on track for principal photography to start in June. It is noted in the article that Fantastic Four, which is slated for early 2025 and in the casting process right now, is looking to begin production In January 2024, but may not come to pass if the writers strike lasts for six or more months, though THR’s sources say that’s “unlikely” to happen.

Keep visiting CinemaBlend for more updates on what’s happening in Blade, including when work on the movie will resume and if/when it’s pushed further down the theatrical calendar. You’re welcome to pass the time by watching the Marvel movies in order with a Disney+ subscription.

Hollywood is in the middle of another WGA Writers Strike, with the last one lasting 100 days from November 2007 to February 2008. Whether this new one will go for nearly as long or perhaps longer remains to be seen, but for now, various TV shows are already feeling the effects of the writers strike, and it’ll obviously start affecting film productions too. However, word’s come in that Superman: Legacy, which DC Studios co-head James Gunn is directing and writing, is safe on the scripting side of things.

As the first upcoming DC movie slated for the new DC Universe’s Chapter One slate of projects, there’s a lot riding on Superman: Legacy, the first standalone theatrical Superman movie to be released since Man of Steel in 2013. Well, according to The Wrap, Gunn turned in his first draft last week, mere days before before the writers strike kicked off. As such, this event is not expected to interfere with the timetable, with Legacy’s preproduction having begun last month and principal photography expected to start around February 2024.

Although James Gunn had indicated that his Superman: Legacy script was complete, it’s good to hear that it was properly filed before the writers strike. However, the article notes that this was the “first draft,” and anyone remotely familiar with filmmaking knows that even people as talented as Gunn make revisions from there. Even when a movie does start shooting, changes to dialogue and even story beats can be made on the fly, and Gunn is particularly known for coming up with ideas on set to implement immediately. The point being, as long as this writers strike is going on, Gunn will not be able to tweak his Legacy script in any way until it’s over. 

Still, if the writer/director feels confident enough to begin Superman: Legacy’s preproduction, then evidently he’s comfortable enough with his script to leave it untouched at least for a little bit. Gunn actually had the opportunity to make a Superman movie years ago, but he decided to do The Suicide Squad instead. When the opportunity came his way again to leave a cinematic stamp on the Man of Steel, he was ready to seize it, and that was on top of his duties running DC Studios with Peter Safran.

Naturally specific plot details for Superman: Legacy haven’t been revealed yet, but the movie is taking a cue from The Batman by following a younger Clark Kent, but not delving into his origin story again. The storyline is partially inspired by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman, and while it remains to be seen when we’ll learn who’s playing the new Clark/Kal-El, Gunn said he’s looking for "somebody who has all of the humanity that Superman has, but he's also an alien,” and can also express the character’s kindness and compassion. Whoever is cast will succeed Henry Cavill, who played Superman in four DCEU movies (counting both versions of Justice League) and was originally going to conintue as the character following his cameo in Black Adam until those plans were shelved.

Superman: Legacy is set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025. Keep visiting CinemaBlend for updates on its progress and use your HBO Max subscription if you’d like the stream any of the older DC movies in order.

The strike from the Writers Guild of America that has been looming over the entertainment industry for months has begun, which means that some shows will have to stop production altogether. Saturday Night Live is one such show, but House of the Dragon fans don’t have to count on the strike delaying Season 2 of the Game of Thrones spinoff. Even though the fantasy drama won’t be back for some time, the writers strike doesn’t mean an extra postponement.  

What’s Happening With Saturday Night Live

The timeline of the WGA writers strike goes back to February of this year, and TV shows like Night Court with its early renewal and La Brea with its surprise Season 3 renewal could start work on their new seasons without a break. With Saturday Night Live writing sketches over the week between episodes, there was no way to plan ahead to get Pete Davidson’s hosting gig (which had longtime SNL star Kenan Thompson excited) ready for broadcast before the strike started on May 2. 

Just a day after the writers strike began, NBC announced that SNL will air repeats until further notice, beginning on Saturday, May 6. (Repeats can also be streamed via Peacock subscription.) There’s no news as to whether Pete Davidson and planned musical guest Lil Uzi Vert will be rescheduled once production either restarts on Season 48 or begins on Season 49. SNL coming to an immediate halt isn’t a surprise due to the weekly nature of the writing, but what about scripted comedies and dramas?

What’s Happening With House Of The Dragon

Production on Season 2 of House of the Dragon began back in April, complete with a list of characters who will be returning for the second season. With the show already not expected to return until summer of 2024, potential delays due to the stalemate between the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers would have been bad news for fans. According to a source cited by Variety, however, filming for Season 2 won’t be affected as the scripts have all been finished already. 

Given that the strike would apply to WGA members working internationally, unfinished scripts likely would have meant an unfinished Season 2 for longer than expected. The strike presumably does mean that writers rooms for other upcoming Game of Thrones TV shows and spinoffs can’t move forward and rewrites can’t happen for House of the Dragon, but the Targaryen origin story series isn’t shutting down. Season 2 is already expected to be shorter than Season 1, although that’s not necessarily worrying news for fans. 

While we know what the immediate future holds for stalled production on SNL and continued production on House of the Dragon, there are still questions about the future of scripted entertainment. Notably, the strike does not apply to WWE writers who are not members of WGA, according to CEO Nick Khan in an update about the wrestling world. 

For now, we can only wait on further developments of the writers strike and how many other shows will be affected by stalled production.

Much of the entertainment industry is currently in shutdown mode due to the WGA writers strike, with hundreds of scribes and supporters picketing in L.A. and New York. The list of TV projects being affected is growing, with delays derailing future seasons of hit shows such as ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Showtime’s Yellowjackets, and viewers are no doubt wondering how widespread the strike issues will be for programming outside of traditional small-screen dramas and comedies, such as WWE’s Monday Night Raw and the pro wrestling world at large.

Thankfully, the organization’s big boss man — no, not that one — was able to address the issue in the best way possible, confirming upcoming WWE events will not be directly affected by the writers strike. While on a call about quarterly results for the company (via Deadline), Nick Khan directly explained why this sector of the wrestling industry will be moving forward unencumbered, while also expressing his support for the creators fighting to make themselves heard. In his words:

That should come part and parcel with a big sigh of relief from wrestling fans, since we might be in for a summer of repeats and imports by way of fictional content on TV and streaming. Monday and Friday nights will continue to bring in new wrestling fans with Raw and SmackDown, and it doesn’t sound like the pay-per-view schedule will be affected, either.  

In this way, the WWE is similar to the Fox News talk show Gutfeld!, which is perhaps the only late night talk show that released a new episode on Tuesday evening. The Greg Gutfeld-hosted series reportedly also doesn’t boast any WGA members among its writing staff, putting it in stark contrast to broadcast fare like The Tonight Show and The Late Show. (One of Jimmy Fallon’s staffers called the host out for not showing more support for his Tonight Show writers, who will now reportedly be paid through the first two weeks of the strike.)

I’m intrigued to see if any former WWE Superstars who made the transition to the acting world attempt to come back to the ring if they’re unable to move forward with other projects during the strike. Probably not someone like The Rock, who has roughly 7,000 projects in his To Do pile that likely also aren’t affected by strike updates, but there’s at least a possibility that some former faves will return to live shows and pay-per-views in a limited capacity. (Whether or not A&E’s Stone Cold Takes on America will face delays, I’ll still just blindly hope for his next return anyway.) 

Nick Khan's Update On WWE Negotiations With NBCUniversal And Fox

During the earnings call, Nick Khan dug into the business side of things, laying out lots of financial and stock-centered stats while also talking about the impending merger with the UFC under parent company Endeavor. (To that end, Khan foresees zero issues with corporate oversight, pointing to the lack of pointed changes in Dana White's MMA company after Endeavor took over.) But arguably the more pressing issue for TV viewers involves WWE's ongoing negotiations with its small-screen homes at USA, Fox and Peacock.

With Raw and SmackDown ratings on the up and up in March and April, surrounding the buyout news, one might think neither NBCUniversal nor Fox would balk at continuing the relationship. But in a week where high-rated Fox hit 9-1-1 was shockingly cancelled and picked up by ABC, despite 9-1-1: Lone Star not being part of the move, nothing anymore can ever be certain. Khan did claim the conversations with both corporations have been "productive," and continued by saying:

While splitting away from Fox would be unfortunate, SmackDown would be the only main issue, while a break away from NBCU would affect not just Raw's home at USA, but also the pay-per-vews and thousands of hours of content currently only available with a Peacock subscription. Hopefully that deal can be worked out as easily and quickly as the stipulations and requests surround the WGA strike. 

Back in late 2007 and early 2008, Hollywood writers went on strike for 100 days, and it sent numerous ripples throughout the industry. Loads of movies, many of which are now widely disliked, were rushed into production like Quantum of Solace, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Terminator Salvation. Additionally, network TV shows like Heroes halted production, and in lieu of paying writers, a bigger pivot to reality programming occurred. Hollywood lost over $2 billion as a result of the three-month strike. With the 2023 Writers Strike here, which has over 11,000 members of the WGA demanding fair pay, alongside the SAG-AFTRA strike, Hollywood has virtually been at a stand still.

Across nearly 150 days of the WGA writers strike, tons of productions of series and movies have been halted and changed. As the major Hollywood event has reached its conclusion, here’s a timeline of everything we know about it, including what the recent negotiations means for the actors who remain on the picket line.

The Origins Of The 2023 WGA Writers Strike 

Fears of a writers strike had been looming over Hollywood since early this year, with the Writers Guild of America’s three-year contract set to expire on May 1. When the U.S. union met in February 2023, they voted on a “pattern of demands” regarding a standardized compensation for writers. Ninety-eight percent of members approved of it back in early March, per Variety. Negotiations then began on March 20 and concluded on May 1, without an agreement. 

The main issues of the WGA writers strike come down to a few key issues. For one, with the prominence of streaming services in this day and age, there's been a change to the model in which writers get paid for writing scripts for its content. With streaming services often not being transparent about streaming numbers, for example, writers are left in the dark, especially when it comes negotiating for higher residuals. Another big issue is the increasing prevalence of AI-produced scripts, and how that add to the industry might affect writer wages. The other two main issues (via Washington Post) has to do with the size of writers' room on TV shows and the length of time in which they can be employed for any one project. 

The Writers Guild of America Call A Strike 

On the evening of May 1, the WGA announced that it had voted “unanimously” to call a strike effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday May 2, per Twitter. Throughout the day on Tuesday, writers took their picket signs to studio buildings like Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros and more. Among the attendees were loads of TV writers, but even actors like Rob Lowe and Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein came out to support Hollywood writers. 

Late Night Shows And Saturday Night Live Go Dark 

Amidst announcements on Tuesday of the 2023 Writers Strike, the first major affected aspect of television to fall was the late night sector. It was announced that network shows including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, among others, would not be in operation this first week with support from its hosts, and they instead would air reruns. Though, one talk show host will push on: Fox News' Greg Gutfeld. It was later reported that late-night hosts like Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon will pay their staff personally out of pocket along with NBC additionally offering two weeks of pay, per Business Insider. 

Additionally, Pete Davidson’s upcoming hosting debut on Saturday Night Live after saying farewell to the show last year was set to happen this weekend, but it has been cancelled as well. NBC said the show would “air repeats until further notice.” 

Mayim Bialik Steps Away From Jeopardy! But The Show Goes On 

Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik decided to step away from her hosting duties on the game show as the writers strike continues, per Deadline. The report also said that Ken Jennings would take her place and the series would continue filming in May. Since resuming his hosting duties, Jenning is now reportedly facing pressure to step away from his hosting duties as of mid-July. 

Scripted Network TV And Streaming Shows Currently In Production Paused 

Since the writers strike was called, tons of major shows are already being affected by the 2023 Writers Strike as well. Here's an updated list of TV shows that have reportedly been paused due to the strike. 

• Night Court: The NBC series also reportedly gone dark for now on Tuesday, per Deadline. 
• Abbott Elementary: Writer Brittani Nichols shared that the ABC writers room is currently closed as well. If the strike continues, both of these network shows’ tight schedules and episode content could be gravely affected by the strike. 
• Cobra Kai: Creator Jon Hurwitz updated fans that there were “no writers on set” amidst the strike as the Netflix series films Season 6. 
• Yellowjackets: The co-creator of the Showtime series has also shared that one day into Season 3’s production, amidst our many questions about what’s next for the show, its writers room closed too.
• Unstable: Season 2 of Netflix comedy series starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe has seen a shut down in production, per Deadline, after six of eight scripts were written and production was set to begin later this spring. But, not every series is being affected by the strike. HBO's House of Dragon for example isn't shutting down Season 2 production because all the scripts have already been written. 
• Severance: Per Deadline, the second season of Severance has also shut down production in New York due to the strike. 
• Big Mouth: The Netflix animated series was six weeks into writing, but has not paused this process.
• Andor: The Disney+ hit Star Wars series has reportedly ceased all "writing-related work" of production after previously filming in the U.K, per its showrunner Tony Gilroy. 
• Stranger Things: The Duffer Bros shared that the final season of the Netflix series would not get to filming until the strike is over, thus delaying Season 5 of Stranger Things. As the creators shared, "writing does not stop when filming begins.
• Daredevil: Born Again: The upcoming Marvel series that will see Charlie Cox back as Daredevil has reportedly stalled filming two months into production due to the writers strike as well.
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Games of Thrones prequel series has closed its writers room for the “duration” of the strike according to George R.R. Martin, per Deadline. 
• Billions: The Showtime series has shut down for the second time, and has no resume date for the time being.  
• The Last of Us: Variety has reported that Season 2 for the HBO hit series has been put on hold as well after the casting team was asking actors to read sides directly from the game as they wait for scripts. 
• Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: An upcoming Pretty Little Liars spinoff has shut down production in New York. 
• Power Book II: Ghost Book: The first spinoff in Starz Powerverse has also paused filming, per Deadline. 
• P-Valley: The third season of the Starz series halted production in Atlanta and will continue to do so until the strike is over.
• The Penguin: The Max The Batman spinoff, The Penguin, officially paused filming on June 14 due to the writers strike and will reportedly halt production until the strike ends. 
• Duster: The J.J. Abrams period drama has shut down production until the writers strike is over. 
• The Really Loud House: This Nickelodeon series shut down production due to picketing. 
• Hacks: Season 3 of the Max series halted due to the strike as well. 
• The Old Man: Season 2 of the Jeff Bridges FX series completed filming through episode 204 before suspending production on May 22. 
• Etoile: Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Amy Sherman-Palladino has been in production on a ballet drama called Etoile. Though, it’s currently shut down production until the writers strike is over. 
• Zero Day: A Netflix series starring and executive produced by Robert De Niro has also paused production due to the writers strike. 

But, not every series was affected by the strike. HBO's House of Dragon for example didn’t shut down Season 2 production because all the scripts have already been written and can continue filming during the SAF-AFTRA strike. Additionally, Amazon's Rings of Power pushed through filming, but without its showrunners on set, per Variety and reportedly wrapped Season 2 right before the actors strike. 

Economic Toll Reported From Writers Strike

With the writers' strike going on for two months, the economic toll on Hollywood became evident, especially for small business owners who do everything from catering on film sets, florists, prop people, equipment rentals and costumers. Per the WGA (via the National Review) the strike may have cost the local economy $30 million a day. 

Actors Join Picket Line With SAG-AFTRA Strike

On June 27, over 300 actors including the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, Amy Schumer and more signed a letter to SAG-AFTRA sharing that they are “prepared to strike” if negotiations regarding their new film and TV contract are not met to their expectations after June 30 expiration. Depending on how things go, an upcoming actor strike could impact the WGA strike as actors band with writers on the picket line. The letter (via Deadline) said “this is not a moment to meet in the middle” as it pushed for the “change we need” and “protections we deserve.” 

Then on Friday, July 14 the SAG-AFTRA actors strike went into effect after the union’s own negotiations with movie studios did in fact not meet their expectations. With actors on the picket line too, even more productions were halted, which in solidarity with writers put more pressure on the industry to meet demands. With the SAG-AFTRA strike in effect, actors cannot promote their upcoming movies and series, one example being the Blue Beetle movie, which Xolo Maridueña spoke out about just before the strike. 

The WGA Strike Passes One Hundred Days Without A Deal 

As mentioned at the top of this article, the 2007-2008 WGA strike of its kind lasted 100 days before it concluded and writers put away their picket signs to get back to work. However, on August 9, the strike reached its 100th day without an end to the protest in sight. The milestone occurred just a few days after WGA reps met with studios without a deal. Per Deadline, studios were “willing to increase” its offers on a few writer-specific TV minimums along with having discussions that would factor in AI, but “did not indicate willingness to address screenwriter issues” and so forth on the union’s list of demands. 

Hollywood Strikes Change Major 2023 Movie Release Dates

With the summer season coming to a close and the WGA remaining on the picket line since May and SAG-AFTRA since mid-July, additional major ramifications then took place in Hollywood. Between July and August, some major fall 2023 movie releases were moved in addition to the fall TV season being shaken and tons of TV and movie productions at a halt. Among the big movies that moved out of 2023 are Sony’s Kraven the Hunter and the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel. Also, Dune: Part Two was pulled from the November calendar along with another Zendaya movie called Challengers. 

Between major 2024 releases like Deadpool 3, Gladiator 2, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and so forth not getting the opportunity to move through production, more changes to release date schedules for more movies and TV shows remain imminent. 

Drew Barrymore Gets In Hot Water Over Returning To Talk Show

The host of The Drew Barrymore Show made the decision her talk show would return on September 18 in compliance with WGA guidelines and without writers, and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Barrymore made the choice to keep her staff at work and was backed by SAG-AFTRA to do so, however the WGA along with various writers and actors were not happy with her decision. Following the backlash, Barrymore decided to then pause the premiere until the strikes reach a conclusion. 

The WGA Reach An Agreement, Ending The 148-Day Writers Strike 

On September 24, it was announced that the WGA and the majors studios and streamers had agreed to a tentative agreement that would end the over four-month-long writers strike. Per Variety, the agreement was made between the WGA and the AMPTP after five days in a row of negotiations between the two parties. The WGA’s negotiating committee shared that they feel “this deal is exceptional” and includes “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.” 

Then on September 26, it was reported that the WGA officially voted to conclude the strike after 148 days, taking effect on 12:01 am PT Wednesday. Per The Hollywood Reporter, 11,500 members have been officially authorized to return to work. 

Late Night Shows Could Be Among The First Shows To Return

In light of a tentative deal being reached, it was reported that late night shows hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers could be among the first shows to return in early October. Since they don’t star actors, the chat shows could see writers return to their jobs and the hosts perhaps interviewing non-actors like athletes, politicians, authors and musicians for example in the interim. Other productions like The Drew Barrymore Show and The Jennifer Hudson Show could also come back rather soon. 

SAG-AFTRA Strike And Impending Video Game Performers Strike Remain 

Even with a deal on the horizon for the WGA, that doesn’t mean it's the end of the road for movie studios and negotiations. The SAG-AFTRA strike remains in effect until studios can reach their own deal with the actors union. Additionally, now performers who work on video games are also raising their voices about their own rights as well and are prepared to strike as well, per Reuters. 

We’ll keep you updated here as the WGA writers strike hopefully concludes for real in the near future.  

The last time there was a strike in Hollywood among writers it did serious damage to our favorite TV shows and movies. Now on the eve of another one, it appears that the two sides may be on the road to a solution. The possibility of another Hollywood writers strike has been building for quite some time as the Writers Guild of America, West had a number of issues they wanted to be addressed. However, the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers sat at the bargaining table late into the night and the two sides now have apparently reached a tentative agreement.

According to the New York Times, the two sides have reached a deal which will bring in more than $130 million in additional revenue for their members over the life of the contract. The Writers Guild was primarily looking to see an income bump on writer's pay from streaming shows. They also wanted to see a change in how TV writers were paid, as many TV series are now seeing fewer episodes produced than previously, while those episodes are taking longer to make, resulting in writers getting paid less while working more.

The details of the deal have yet to be released so we don't know exactly what concessions were made to the Writers Guild. In a website posting, the Writers Guild does say that they did not receive everything that they wanted in the deal, but it does appear that they got enough. The Writers Guild will have to vote on the new three-year contract before it is officially accepted but based on the social media response from many writers it at least appears that the outlook is good.

If no deal had been made a strike from the Writers Guild would have sent a shockwave through Hollywood. Writers on everything from late night talk shows to major motion pictures would have ceased working almost entirely. While this would only have had a minor impact on films that already had completed scripts, anything that was currently in the writing phase would immediately cease moving forward. Based on the production timelines of films, television would have seen a larger impact first, but considering how far in advance studios are now planning films, a writers strike would have essentially destroyed the release calendar as we currently see it.

The last time that writers went on strike it only lasted 100 days, but the repercussions were felt for months afterward. Certainly, as fans of movies and television, we're glad that a strike was averted this time. Odds are that negotiations will be serious in three years when this new deal expires, but at least we'll have three years of uninterrupted entertainment.

There could be huge trouble ahead for the movie business, because the Writers Guild Of America are threatening to strike in the imminent future if their demands are not met. How imminent? They are actually planning on stopping work and walking off sets as early as May 2. However, one more meeting is scheduled for next week between the Writers Guild and the studios to try and avert the strikes.

There are many reasons why the Writers Guild Of America deems it necessary to take such action against the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers, which represents over 350 production companies and studios, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, who are referred to as the Big Six. The profits for these half a dozen studios have risen exponentially over the last few years, to the point that in 2016, the AMPTP reported $51 billion in operating profits, which was about double the amount of what they'd achieved a decade earlier.

The Writers Guild Of America are requesting that television writers receive higher pay, because the manner in which the landscape of the medium has changed during this time has severely affected their income. While there are more scripted television shows than ever before because the likes of Netflix and Amazon are seeking original content, while they're currently in vogue with networks, too, the amount of episodes per season has actually shrunk. In the past, seasons consisted of 20 to 24 episodes, but nowadays mostly consist of just eight or 10 episodes. In many cases, that has undoubtedly increased the quality of these shows. But since writers are usually paid per episode, they are getting the same amount of money, but are being asked to spend more time working on the script.

The situation is complicated even further by the fact that most television staff writers are held to exclusive contracts, which stops them from finding additional compensation. Also, when writers are in between shows, they were previously able to rely on residual payments courtesy of past episodes that are in syndication. But, in comparison to network re-runs, streaming websites don't pay as much for syndication, meaning that writers have lost out on additional money there, too.

Another major issue is the fact that the Writers Guild Of America's health care plan is nearly bankrupt. In fact, it is projected to be completely bust by the end of 2020, and the WGA believe that the studios should help to cover the costs and deficit. Of course, since the line between television and film has never been more blurred, many movie writers recognize that they could easily delve into the world of the small-screen in the near future, which is why, alongside the fact that they're standing toe-to-toe with their writing brethren, they will be striking.

The Writers Guild Of America will finalize a vote to authorize the strike on Monday, April 24, and then the next day the union will resume talks with the studio and see if a compromise can be reached. The prospects don't look good, though. That's because, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the writers are looking for a $535 million deal, while the studios are looking for an agreement closer to $180 million.

The world of television is complicated. Every three years the various writers groups, including The Writers Guilds of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, renegotiate contracts, most of the time with little fanfare. But recent reports have indicated that this time around may not be the same. Instead, people have been worried the two groups are bracing for a strike, which means we probably should, too. If negotiations don't work out, it could be affecting our TV in the future.

Currently, negotiations are set to get underway on March 13, so it's a little early to expect that a writers strike is definitely going to happen. The groups will meet to renegotiate contracts, and will need to come to an agreement before the current Minimum Basic Agreement expires on May 1. Per the NY Post, the last time there was a writers strike, people went back to work after the writers finally got a share of Digital earnings for shows, among other complaints.

A writers strike could be a big deal. The last time there was a big writers strike was in 2007, when the writers in the industry shut down work in November of 2007 and didn't pick up again until mid-February in 2008. That year, TV dealt with far shorter seasons, because when writers are not working, new episodes are not being produced. Previous reports have indicated that some writers are not happy with their current lot this time around, especially since there is so much additional TV being produced for myriad services these days.

If there is a strike and if negotiations run over, the good news is that most major TV shows will be wrapping up for the season, soon. This means our TV viewership during the 2016-2017 should mostly remain unaffected. Depending on if and when the strike is called and how long the theoretical strike would last, it could certainly affect next season's TV schedule, however. We'll keep you posted as soon as negotiations are underway, as well as when an outcome is achieved.

For now, TV is running strong. A lot of people have bandied about the term "Golden Age" in regards to TV in recent years, as subscription cable and cable have ramped up production of originals and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have also entered the original programming game. That means there's a lot of work for writers in the TV realm right now, but the writers still have demands in regards to treatment by the industry. While there are plenty of jobs, the payscale for a lot of these jobs have gone down, possibly because some networks have bigger budgets than other networks and streaming services.

While we wait to see what happens with The Writers Guilds of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, you can find out what TV is heading to the schedule with our midseason TV premiere guide. In addition, you can take a look at what has already been cancelled and renewed with our network rundown.

Well, the writers strike may be long over but that doesn’t mean there aren’t disgruntled TV writers out there. Playwright/screenwriter/actor/director/producer Tyler Perry’s production company is in hot water as the WGA West has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against House of Payne LLC, on behalf of four writers on Perry’s TBS TV series House of Payne.

Variety reported the news stating that the guild alleges that Perry fired four writers on the TBS series as well as the upcoming Meet the Browns (spinoff of the play and film) this week as retaliation for them trying to negotiate a WGAW contract for the writers on the show. Perry’s attorney denies the accusation, saying the real reason the writers were let go was due to the quality of their work. Three of the four writers fired were WGA members. Perry’s also being accused of “negotiating in bad faith” with the guild over the last six months.

It’s interesting that Perry would have problems with writers, considering he’s a writer himself and is likely to be sympathetic to their cause. I’m sure both House of Payne and the spinoff both have other writers on staff, so I wonder how, if at all, the suit will directly affect either series. If anything, the press could draw more attention to the series.

It looks like there may be good news for Scrubs fans! Yesterday, E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos announced that there's a rumor going around that ABC might be picking up the series for as many as 18 episodes.

Since the writers strike put a halt in the production of what was meant to be the final season of the NBC comedy series, there was some concern (to put it mildly) among fans as well as the series creator, Bill Lawrence as to whether or not we'd even get to see the ending of the series. The very idea that this show, which has been on the air for seven seasons should end without a real ending seems kind of ridiculous. Granted, the series was never huge in comparison to some of NBC's other shows but it does have a very loyal fanbase and it deserves to have a proper conclusion.

According to the E! Online article, whatever options NBC was giving Lawrence to close out the series (possibly a one-episode farewell or a straight-to-DVD special) weren't good enough. Well if NBC isn't able to give the show the conclusion it deserves, perhaps ABC will if the rumors are true and the series really is going to make the jump from the peacock to ABC. It would certainly give ABC an actual comedy series that people would watch. They could even slide it into the Tuesday night time slot in place of their failed Cavemen series.

The rumor has apparently gotten NBC a bit stirred up. Variety reported last night that NBC Entertainment/Universal Media Studios co-chair Marc Graboff stated, "NBC has a license agreement with ABC Studios, which includes a right of first negotiation and first refusal to extend the series term beyond this season.". The article went on to say that the network is in talks with ABC over the fate of the series and whether or not they (NBC) will commit to a big series finale. NBC wants assurances that if they do shell out the money for a big finale, that ABC wouldn't then take the show over to their network and air another 18 episodes.

It's probably best if Scrubs fans don't get their hopes up for another 18 episodes of the series but I'm thinking that it does seem likely at this point that the show will get some kind of ending once NBC and ABC can come to an agreement. In the meantime, let's hope that NBC doesn't go the lame DVD ending route. Is their summer line-up so full that they can't spare 30 minutes a week to air the rest of the series?

The day that we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. Tonight, the Writers Guild of America voted to end the three-month long writers strike that has plunged us deep into a pit of reality shows, repeats and Jay Leno babbling even more incoherently than normal.

The combined WGAW and WGAE votes were overwhelmingly in favor of returning to work, with 3,492 votes in favor of ending the strike and only 283 trying to hold out for a better deal. All told, the strike has cost the county of Los Angeles $3.2 billion in direct and indirect lost revenue, but it will be business as usual starting Wednesday, when most of the writers return to work.

Patrick Verrone, president of WGAW, considers the strike to be a success, saying, "these advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet." Even Les Moonves, CEO of CBS is able to put a positive spin on the strike: “At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry.”

So it seems as though the strike has ended, and while neither side got everything they wanted, it seems to be a situation with which they can both live. What really matters now is that the cast and crew of all of our favorite shows get to go back to work and save what’s left of this TV season.

After a solid week of heavy speculation, the day TV fans have been hoping for could be just around the corner. The WGA and the AMPTP have reached a tentative deal that could bring an end to the 3-month writers strike as early as this Wednesday. Yesterday, both WGA East and West held membership meetings, and while the writers had a great deal of questions, the mood was generally positive. One writer who attended the West Coast meeting said, “There is no question in my mind that because of the atmosphere in that room this strike will be called off. There is no gearing for a fight. It's over.”

While the tentative agreement is contingent upon the strike being called off immediately (which would put the writers back to work on Monday), it looks as though WGA leadership is going to delay any decision about the strike in order to allow its membership 48 hours to look over the deal points, which can be found here. This 48-hour review process will put the writers back to work on Wednesday, providing that they agree to the deal being offered. After the review, there will be a 10-day balloting process that will allow members to formally accept or reject the new deal.

If the strike does in fact end Wednesday as it is likely to do, not only will the full Oscars show go on as planned, but the back 9 episodes of many of this season’s shows will still be able to be produced. In addition, while it will be truncated, we will have some sort of pilot season next season as well.

While the deal is of course not perfect, the writers seem to have made gains in a number of areas, especially the critical New Media. One of the last remaining trouble spots involves a “favored nations” clause with SAG. Right now, the WGA has a verbal agreement that if when SAG negotiates in June they receive a better New Media deal than the WGA, then the WGA will automatically receive that same deal. WGA not only (understandably) wants this in writing, but would like to get it for areas besides New Media. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen, but as far as the immediate impact on Hollywood, the outlook is good. A WGA member who attended last night’s East Coast informational meeting said, “I'll stop short of calling it a love fest, but not all that short. Legit questions were raised and respectfully answered. Again, no defensiveness. There was an informal applause poll, and the room was overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike before a membership ratification vote.”

Let the countdown to good TV begin.

From $20 million to virtually nothing. That’s what has happened to NBC’s Golden Globe’s revenue. Following the forced cancellation of the three-hour broadcast due to WGA and SAG boycotts and dissention within NBC’s ranks over the planned replacement news conference, NBC has given up the Golden Globes all together. In a statement released today, The Hollywood Foreign Press announced that they have regained control over the awards show.

The latest and final iteration of Sunday’s Golden Globe presentation looks much like the last one, but with a few key differences. Instead of an-hour long news conference that will be aired exclusively on NBC, the HFPA is airing a 30-minute news conference that is open to all media outlets. The conference, which will take place at 9 pm Eastern time, will be telecast from the international ballroom of the Beverly Hilton. Since NBC is no longer involved, the WGA has promised that it will not picket the event, paving the way for some A-list stars to be on hand to help announce the awards.

This is just another example of the WGA rewarding companies that work with them, saying, "We were pleased to give the HFPA assurances that we will not picket nor will we be opposed to a small number of talent helping to announce the winners, because the HFPA has been honorable and respectful and honest with us, unlike many of the other parties involved in this situation." In recent weeks, the guild has struck side deals with Worldwide Pants, United Artists and The Weinstein Company.

While the guild forced the recent People’s Choice Awards to be pre-taped with no celebrities in attendance, it allowed The Independent Spirit awards as well as the SAG awards to proceed picket-free. All of these awards shows, however, are minor compared to the big Kahuna airing in February: The Oscars. Scheduled to air the 24th, there’s a very real possibility that Hollywood’s biggest night could go dark. The WGA has proven that with SAG on its side, it has the power to crush a major awards show. The guild is, in effect, telling the Oscars, “You’re next.” The question is whether or not Hollywood will listen before it’s too late.

It looks like the writers strike has forged some unlikely alliances. Faced with a dwindling list of potential guests and a lot of airtime to fill, Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel are attempting a ratings grab by agreeing to be guests on each other’s shows. While Kimmel and Leno may be on different networks, ABC and NBC respectively, they are in the same boat. Unlike their CBS counterparts, Dave Letterman and Craig Ferguson, Leno and Kimmel came back to work last week sans writers.

SAG’s recent announcement that its members would not be attending The Golden Globes means that any chance the writerless hosts had of scoring any actors is pretty much gone. Without its normal stable of guests, the hosts are joint forced to think of new and creative ways to grab headlines and ratings. In a statement released by NBC and ABC Sunday, Leno said of the stunt, “There are only a few people in the world who know how tough this job is. Jimmy is one of them. It will be fun to discuss who's a good guest, who's a difficult guest and everything else that comes with sitting behind these desks.”

Part of the reason for the two network rivals joining forces is probably their growing frustration with the strike. Both hosts paid their non-writing staff out of their own pockets up until they came back on the air. Since returning, both have expressed their displeasure with the ongoing strike and the deal that the WGA worked out with Worldwide Pants that allowed Letterman and Ferguson’s writers to come back. On his first night back, Kimmel said, “I don't want to depart too much from the party line, but I think it's ridiculous…I don't know. I just think at a certain point you back off a little bit…I'm pissed off, I'll be honest with you.” Whether they’ll keep it light and fun or spend the time commiserating about how pissed off they actually are remains to be seen. The special episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are scheduled to air on January 10.

Leno’s return to late night TV may have been a success for the network. After all, his ratings were up and he managed to score 2.2 million more viewers than Letterman did with his own comeback on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for Leno, not having the consent of the WGA has put him in hot water with the guild after he admittedly wrote his own opening monologue for the episode.

Wednesday was a big night for late-night television and with the strike tension just as intense as ever, it’s not that surprising that there would problems after the fairly successful return of the most popular late night talk shows. According to the Hollywood Reporter, there seems to be a bit of confusion between the WGA and NBC over what’s allowed in terms of pre-written material for the show.

Leno admitted in the opening monologue that he worked on the bit prior to the episode. Apparently that sort of thing is against the rules and according to reps from WGA West, it was brought to Leno’s attention when they met with him prior to the episode airing, “to clarify to him that writing for The Tonight Show constitutes a violation of the guild's strike rules.”

Meanwhile, NBC says, “The WGA agreement permits Jay Leno to write his own monologue for The Tonight Show. The WGA is not permitted to implement rules that conflict with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the studios and the WGA.”.

The return of late-night TV could probably be considered step backward for the WGA, especially considering NBC successfully beat out CBS in the ratings. This surely wasn’t what the WGA wanted to see after making a deal with Letterman to allow his writers to return for his show. The desired result would probably have been for NBC to suffer without the help of the writers. In the end though, chances are a lot of the late-night TV watchers out there were more curious to see how Leno would do without the help of his writers than they were in watching a regular episode of Letterman.

Regardless, the whole spat doesn’t look good in terms of the strike. Between this and the guild’s plans to picket the Golden Globes, it doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight.

Viewers watching next Sunday’s Golden Globes telecast may notice something kind of important missing: the actors. The Screen Actors Guild has just announced that none of its members will be in attendance at the awards show. This means that not only will the 70 nominated actors be absent from the proceedings, but there won’t be any actors on hand to present the awards to the behind-the-camera nominees.

In a statement Friday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg said, "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters. We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity for striking Writers Guild of America writers."

SAG’s decision comes after a failed attempt on the part of Dick Clark Productions, who produces the Globes, to come to an agreement with the WGA. The production company’s offer to make the same deal the guild made with David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, was met with a firm “no” from the guild, who is proceeding with plans to picket the telecast.

Up until this point, NBC has put on a brave face and released continued assurances that the show would go on as planned. But without the actors, is there even a show that can go on? With neither actors nor writers attending the show, there will be precious few people in the auditorium. A quick check of both nbc.com and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association website offers no insight into what will be done about their latest predicament. But really, what can be done? People may be willing to watch late night shows without writers, but an awards show without actors is a much tougher sell.

The Golden Globes are less than two weeks away and as the writers strike is still underway, it’s likely that the Hollywood Foreign Press is worried that this year’s award ceremony is going to be a total bust. Not only is there the obvious issue of not having anyone to write the jokes for the host and presenters, but there’s also the strong possibility that a number of celebrities and industry people will opt not to attend the event in an effort to show their support for the writers.

All hope for the event isn’t lost though. Today, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press, Jorge Camara issued a statement saying that as of last Saturday (12/29), their attorneys were in discussions with the WGA to work out a similar deal to the one made between the guild and Worldwide Pants, which has allowed WGA writers to go back to work on The Late Show with David Letterman. Camara sounded very optimistic when he said, “We are pleased that the WGA has made interim agreements available for independent production companies. The process established by the WGA permits writers to get back to work, grants the WGA the rights it is seeking on behalf of all writers, and allows certain shows to move forward.”

Unfortunately for the Hollywood Foreign Press (and we, the viewers of what could end up being the most dull/awkward Golden Globes ceremony ever) WGA East president Michael Winship didn’t sound nearly as optimistic about the deal, saying “there have been some informal conversations but really nothing more than that.” Winship went on to say that there were still plans to picket the Golden Globes and he believes this might encourage some of the nominees to skip the event and stay home.

If a deal is going to be made, it will have to happen fast. The writers would only have about a week and a half to come up with some witty banter for the presenters to toss around prior to handing out awards.

Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be back on the air, without monologue writers, two months after the Writer’s Strike left late night TV viewers without new punchlines. The AP reports that NBC will begin airing fresh episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O’Brien on Jan. 2.

This follows a recent move by O’Brien who promised to pay non-striking show staffers out of his own pocket.

"Both Jay and Conan have supported their writers during the first two months of this WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike and will continue to support them," Rick Ludwin, NBC’s executive vice president of late night and primetime told the AP. "However, there are hundreds of people who will be able to return to work as a result of Jay's and Conan's decision."

Viewers might also be able to look forward to new episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman. The AP reports that the Writer’s Guild is negotiating a deal with Letterman’s production company WorldWide Pants.

Letterman’s company might reach a deal with the writer’s, so don't expect a big format change there. But Leno and especially Conan use a lot of scripted material on their shows. There are no reports on any format changes for these two shows yet, but I suspect viewers will see some changes when they return in January. NBC might not be helping the writers much with this move, but at least non-striking staffers will be able to earn a paycheck again.

It’s been almost a month since the members of the WGA went on strike. Since then we’ve seen lots of writers on the picket lines (wearing T-shirts and smiling in L.A., bundled up and less cheery in New York), tons of hilarious YouTube videos, and even a series of short films directed by Oscar winners and featuring every star you can imagine (find them all here). No one is saying when the strike will be over yet, but since talks between the WGA and AMPTP resumed this week, there’s been some hope, as well as a lot of rumors.

When negotiations began anew on Monday, the WGA set up a media blackout, which meant no one would be giving official reports about how talks were going. The main source for any news was Nikki Finke, who runs the blog Deadline Hollywood Daily and has a crazy amount of insider information. All week she’s reported that progress was being made—that they had reopened debates about Internet revenue and the studios had made an offer—but today’s report is less optimistic. She reprints an e-mail sent out by WGA leaders to members that says, “Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.”

Elsewhere, though, specifically at Hollywood Elsewhere, rumors are flying that the whole thing could be over by Pearl Harbor Day, which would make the strike little more than a blip on TV production schedules and totally rework the way we’ve been imagining our spring TV watching to be. The WGA has taken a break until Tuesday to consider the offer the AMPTP made on Thursday; though the WGA had those harsh words to say in the above e-mail, the AMPTP believes they’ve done something to “shake it loose.”

What does this mean for the rest of us, you ask? Well, it’s a good sign that the WGA hasn’t just told the AMPTP to take their offer and stick it, though it’s clear they’re not ready to come crawling back just yet. Basically, no one knows what’s going to happen. Finke is by far the most informed person giving out any information to the public, and Deadline Hollywood is a must-read for anyone interested on the minute-by-minute details. For now, though, as we have for the last month, we just have to wait and hope.

This is part 2 of a two-part interview that I had with Emmy-winning The Daily Show writer, Rob Kutner (part 1 can be found here ). He was kind enough to agree to be interviewed about the writers strike. In this part of the interview, we clear up some rumors, discuss how the strike is affecting The Daily Show specifically, and find out exactly what Jon Stewart has been up to since the strike started. We also discuss why Jay Leno should pretty much just tell NBC to suck it.

I saw your first [Daily Show-style] newscast on YouTube . What made you guys decide to do that?

Well, we were inspired by, have you seen “The Office is Closed” video?

Yes.

That was what inspired us. That came out and we thought, “we should go out and do something like this that’s low tech. We’ve got a camera, we’ve got YouTube, that’s all we need.” We’re The Daily Show, so we have to do one in our style. I guess you can say The Office one is kind of in their style of conversational meandering, so we decided to do a news story. We spent a few days basically hammering out a script through email, which was sort of funny for us, and gathering elements. Honestly, it’s good for all of us to have a sense of purpose and work together, so that was part of it too.

Is it something that you think you’ll do more than once?

I don’t know. I hear people asking us if we’re going to do another one. It’s kind of like we only have the one story to do, but if it seems like there’s a need or a clamor for that sort of thing it may be something we do to help sway the debate. But we’ll see how it does. It’s gotten 30,000 hits on YouTube since yesterday [note: the number is closer to 330,000 now], so if that keeps going and it becomes a big viral phenomenon then maybe we would be interested in doing that.

I think especially for something like The Daily Show, none of the late night shows have been airing since the strike and I think people are already desperately missing them and would like that.

Yeah, it’s a tricky thing because on the one hand people are saying, “yeah, I got my Daily Show fix,” but part of the point is we don’t want you to get your Daily Show fix. We want you to be so mad that you’re gonna harass the networks and say, harass Viacom until they make a deal so we can put the real show back on the air.

Well I think that’s the thing. It’s not a replacement, but it serves as a nice reminder of what we are missing.

Right. Well I hope that’s the function but we don’t want to get people used to thinking, “well that’s okay. I’ll just watch the archives of The Daily Show online that they’re not getting money for and I’ll be fine with that.”

I’m so glad you brought the Daily Show site up, because that was recently launched, thedailyshow.com , and it’s a gorgeous site…

Yeah, it’s great.

Your entire archives are online, so what is your feeling on that? Because on one hand, it’s got to be nice to have this permanent record where people get to see your work, but on the other hand, it’s got to be annoying that you’re not getting paid for it.

I think in some ways, it’s a great thing. It launched a few weeks before the strike and we were having a great time going through and finding old Steve Carell and things like that. It was fun for us, especially those who are new to the show to go back and see some of the stories. But it really proves our point, because people have been saying, and I agree with this, that it shows what the whole TV/internet convergence might be like in the future. It’s basically an On-Demand Daily Show. So that could conceivably be how it works in the future. But it proves the point that there’s a viable way to do that where they sell advertising for it, and we should get money for that because they’re getting money for that. If I know Viacom, they’ll structure it in a way so that in the future they’ll get even more money for it.

Absolutely. And I do want to clarify, since you are a writer on The Daily Show, are you currently getting any money from that site?

(Chuckles) What do you think? What would your guess be?

(Laughing) My guess would be “no.”

Right. You would be a good guesser. And that’s not even getting into iTunes, which you know has been successful for a while for us, but I don’t think it was ever mentioned. I think there are a few cases where there are some arrangements with some shows and they get some money for digital downloads. I don’t really know how it works, but it needs to be the industry standard. The same way there’s an industry standard for salary minimums and residuals. It just needs to be across the board that you get paid for this delivery.

Right, because for regular TV residuals, everybody gets the same percentage, correct? I mean as far as writers go?

Yes, everybody gets the same percentage. Well, that’s not completely true. We have a special formula for The Daily Show and the Comedy Central shows that we worked out. We just joined the guild like last year. So because the Comedy Central model is that they show multiple reruns, as opposed to the network shows that only show reruns sporadically, and the late night shows only show maybe one rerun, The Daily Show has so many reruns in its model, they came up with a different formula for it. So they pay us a flat rate for the first 24 hours then they pay us after that. So ironically, we may be getting more residuals now because they’re going to be running more reruns. As for the rest of TV, it’s more of a standard model because reruns aren’t as frequent.

Well, until now.

Yeah, they weren’t until recently.

Now, it was just announced a couple of weeks before the strike that one of your correspondents, Demetri Martin, was getting his own show.

Right, and it’s being produced by Jon [Stewart’s] production company.

Right, by Busboy. Now can fans still expect to see that? Has it been affected?

It’s in the same position as everything else. It’s a Comedy Central show and would be covered under guild rules, as I think all Comedy Central scripted shows are now. So like everything else, it’s ground to a halt. Demetri’s been out on the picket line a few days. I’ve seen him; but he’s in the same boat as everyone else.

Right, so as far as you know, it is pushed back, but not gone.

No, I don’t know that anything has been canceled that was in the works. I haven’t heard about anything anywhere in TV being canceled yet. I imagine that it’s going to happen sooner or later, but I would guess that the studios are probably holding onto everything that they possibly can right now and deciding what they want to keep and what they want to jettison if they decide to wait this out.

Before the strike actually happened, when it looked like it was going to, there was some speculation about the late night shows like The Daily Show, like Letterman, like Leno coming back without the writers. Have you heard anything about that specifically in regards to The Daily Show?

No, I haven’t. We know that Jon is very concerned about keeping the staff employed and in fact one of the reasons you haven’t seen Jon so much is that he’s doing a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure the staff continues to get paid. He’s worked it out with Viacom so that the staff will get paid through Thanksgiving and the week after that, so we’re trying to take it day by day. So that’s a big concern. You’ve probably heard that Letterman paid his staff through Thanksgiving too [note: the staff of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson are reportedly being paid until the end of the year]. So the concern of the host is that, and also I think they have contractual obligations or ways the networks can threaten them or cajole them into [returning] eventually. So it’s definitely a possibility, and that happened in 1988 as well. Eventually some of the hosts came back, but as far as specific rumors or indications, I don’t have any.

Okay, because NBC is already pressuring Leno and threatening to bring in guest hosts if he refuses to do it.

My guess is that Leno’s not going to do it because he already feels really bitter towards NBC about the whole Conan O’Brien thing.

Yeah, for good reason. The guy’s getting crazy ratings for them and they’re pushing him out.

It’s ridiculous. In fact, he made some kind of critical comment about the studios recently and someone said, “aren’t you concerned about angering your bosses?” and he said, “oh, they fired me anyway.”

Seriously, at this point, what are they going to do to him? NBC especially, they’ve been pulling some… interesting stunts lately.

“Interesting” is a nice way to put it.

You mentioned Jon Stewart working behind the scenes, because on the first day of the strike, there was an article in Portfolio that said there was this “well-placed source” that said that Jon Stewart was going to try to continue to pay The Daily Show writers for two weeks after the strike started.

Okay. That wasn’t for the writers; that was for the staff. The rumor was erroneous.

Yeah, the story kept on changing, and we never got a concrete answer.

All of us on the writing staff are perfectly fine with that. Obviously, we prefer to get paid, but we recognize that this was a risk that we took for our future earnings, but it wasn’t a risk that the staff took. They’re caught in the middle of it, so we feel like that’s something we took into account and that we’re going to take that sacrifice and that the staff should definitely be paid.

So just to clarify, when you say “the staff,” you mean the production staff?

Right. Everyone but the writers, basically. The scuttlebutt is that there’s a lot of Guitar Hero being played at the Daily Show production offices. There was some before, but there’s Halo 3 now, there’s Wii; there’s a whole gaming culture.

Well I think that’s all I have. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Before we go, is there anything else that you want to get out there?

Just keep checking United Hollywood , because they’ll have information about campaigns that the fans can do. Also go to the WGA East website for the numbers of the studio heads so you can call them.

Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to visit the picketing writers down in the New York’s financial district. I started chatting with Rob Kutner , an Emmy-winning writer for The Daily Show. We talked about the strike and how it was affecting him and his colleagues. During our conversation, one of the points he was most interested in getting across was the role that TV fans could have in bringing about an end to the strike. To that end, Rob was kind enough to agree to be interviewed for Cinema Blend. This is part one of our two-part interview that took place on November 15, in which we talk about the events that led up to the strike, Picketing with the Stars (the next big reality show), what fans can do to help, and…er, NAMBLA.

Obviously talks went on for quite a while before the strike. Toward the end, say the last couple of weeks before you guys went on strike, what did you and your fellow writers think? Did you think that you would be able to come to a resolution?

We didn’t think it was gonna happen. We thought it was going to be brinksmanship. We thought there was a big bluffing game going on, because a traditional management/labor tactic is to get as close to a strike as possible and not have one, if that makes sense?

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

They kind of want to squeeze the other side as much as they can, but pull back from the brink; and that’s the play we thought was going to happen. But basically we thought it was a lot of tough talk and then we’d finally hammer out a deal at the 11th hour. There was a lot of talk like that.

So up until say, the night of the 4th, were you optimistic?

I think we were all sort of thinking it could go either way. I think we were, but as it was getting closer to [the deadline] we were getting less optimistic, and then when we heard what happened…I’d like to set the record straight on something if I could, about what did happen at the end of Sunday

Yeah, please.

And I’m basing this on Nikki Finke’s reporting. I think people seem to think that she’s sort of the reporter who has the most inside scoop on this stuff. She reported, and this is what the guild told us at the membership meeting last week, that the guild was sort of told informally, through backchannels that if they took the DVD demand off the table then the networks would come with some sort of offer on new media…and only one of those things happened. The guild changed a lot of its proposals on Sunday and was offering different versions of it and then they did take the DVD thing off the table and then, according to them, the studios didn’t make a new media offer.

Right, so it was kind of just a “run out the clock” situation.

Yeah, that’s what it seems like. They felt like they were played and that basically the AMPTP [(Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers)] was trying to see how far the guild would bend, but they weren’t planning on trying to close the deal.

So given that, and given the fact that toward the end the AMPTP was playing a waiting game and wasn’t looking for a deal, what do you think it would take for talks to resume?

Well, our feeling is that we modified and made different versions of our proposals, so we have, as it were, an offer on the table. We have an offer to be flexible and we feel like they have to come back to us with something. Everything that they’ve come back to us with is a rollback of something, like cutting back on something and not even answering the new media and DVD thing, or rollbacks on something else, or putting a cap on the payments to the health and pension plan, or something like that. So we feel like they haven’t offered us anything positive. The one figure they mentioned one time, in the week before, that weekend before the strike, was they tried to say “okay, well new media can have the same formula as DVDs, which is .03%.” [That’s] not zero, but is barely much more than that, which to us, did not seem like a serious offer because the DVD rate, which is .03% is already pretty shitty. So trying to lump them in together, especially considering that it doesn’t cost anything to deliver stuff over the internet… [with] DVDs, at least they have to manufacture and print them, but the internet doesn’t have those costs. So the fact that they were offering the same amount didn’t even seem like a serious offer.

So just to clarify, were they offering you that for downloads, like for iTunes, or was that for the streaming video?

That’s the kind of thing where I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was an overall offer. Sort of the way we’re asking for this 2.5% figure; [the .03%] was sort of their offer, but I’m not 100% sure on that.

Now, the AMPTP, who I always want to call the ANTM, for Americas Next Top Model…

Yeah, and that’s a sensitive subject. [last year, Top Model’s writers went on strike to get guild membership. They were ultimately unsuccessful].

Yeah, I know—

I actually want to call them NAMBLA…

(Laughing) Yes, also known as NAMBLA, there are so many things that they’re saying that just don’t make sense to me. One of which, is a very small thing, but they’re asserting that the WGA was the one who walked away from the table.

Yeah, that in a sense is what set the tone for why there’s kind of an impasse right now. I’m not saying that we’ve been angels either. There have definitely been some personality clashes between our people and them, and I’m not sure that’s entirely helpful either, so I’m not saying it’s entirely them, but we feel like tactically they played us so they can claim that we walked out. When in fact, both sides just came to an impasse and said, “We obviously can’t go any further at this point.” So it wasn’t like we just refused to negotiate; we just both came up against this brick wall and it was reported that the evening just ended on this curt note. But the walkout thing we feel was kind of planned or set up so that it would look like we were the recalcitrant party.

That’s one of those things where if you think about it for two seconds, what are you gaining by walking out? I mean, you’re obviously striking for a reason, but the WGA doesn’t really have an incentive to just stop negotiating.

Yeah, we would definitely negotiate immediately. We think they want us to [strike] because they’re trying to make a point. In the big picture, they’re trying to set a precedent for the SAG negotiations. If they make it too easy, if they either make an agreement with us or just let us strike for a few days and come to the table, that would set an example that [SAG] could just do that and get what they wanted. They have to play tough with us because we’re first in line.

Right, because when it comes down to it, a strike is going to hurt writers a whole lot more than it’s going to hurt Les Moonves.

Yes. In other words, what we’re both getting at and what I’ve heard a lot of people say is that the AMPTP wanted a strike because it would hurt more of us individually than it would hurt them with all of their resources. I mean, there have definitely been people on our side who have been sort of chanting for a strike and taken a tough posture, but people really didn’t want it. We just didn’t feel like there was any other choice. It sucks. Everyone wants to get back to work; nobody likes doing all this. I’m exhausted and starving and I was out in the rain all day today, but obviously all these people wouldn’t be doing this if we thought there was any other choice. We’re not doing it for attention.

As far as the length of the strike goes, do you have hopes of it ending soon, or do you think it could go between now and the SAG negotiations?

There are all kinds of theories on this. The talking points that keep being repeated say that if it’s not resolved within the next few weeks, they will sweat it out until June. I have reasons for hope because I’m very heartened by the incredible support from the celebrities and the public and the fact that it keeps getting play in the media. So that support and for me, the fan vocalization, I think can make a huge difference. I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but apparently there were CSI fans who rented a plane and flew a banner over one of the pickets this week. They found Les Moonves’ office number and they called it so many times that he had to hire two more assistants to take all the calls, and finally his secretary said to them, “Les wants to know what he can do to make this go away.” So my feeling is if that stuff’s happening now before all the fans are getting organized, if that keeps up and I’m seeing other efforts—I told you about how there’s going to be a physical action campaign that’s gonna launch tomorrow, I think. I don’t want to get into it, but the guild has been made aware that the fans are planning to get very organized. So I think if that kind of thing goes on, especially with the internet and YouTube and all that stuff, I think there’s a very possible counterforce that can come from the public and can sway the debate a little bit.

Right, and that to me is so interesting because it’s such a new phenomenon.

Yeah, it’s sort of untested grounds.

You’ve got two strikes going on. There’s WGA West and WGA East. There’s a lot of coverage on the West and they’re picketing with the stars, and they’ve got their Eva Longoria…

That’s the next reality show, by the way, that they’re going to replace us with.

And you know what? It would get 20 million viewers. It would be the hugest thing in the world.

(Chuckles) Right.

There’s less coverage of the picketing on the east coast. What’s it like going out there to different locations every day and picketing?

Well first of all, my wife [writer Sheryl Zohn] is in [WGA] West, actually. She works sometimes on a show in L.A., so she’s been picketing out west and I’m incredibly jealous because in all of her pictures, she’s wearing a t-shirt and it’s sunny. I don’t know; there’s something nice about it though. Out east it’s a very focused effort, because there are only enough of us to concentrate in one place, so the one silver lining is that it’s been great because all of the New York City TV and film writers have gotten to know each other. Even The Daily Show writers—I only knew a few Colbert writers, but now I know all of them and we’ve met some SNL guys, Letterman, and like, Law & Order.

When I went down to the picket on Tuesday, I was wondering about that because I recognized people from three or four different shows and it did seem like a good opportunity for people to meet other TV writers.

For sure, and now everybody is a familiar face to everyone. We have a real burgeoning community that’s coming out of it, that’s all of us against the world.

Part 2 of our interview runs tomorrow, in which we talk about how the strike is affecting The Daily Show. We clear up rumors that have been reported in the media and find out what the production staff of The Daily Show has been up to since the strike began. Hint: it involves a plastic guitar with brightly-colored buttons.

Update: CLICK HERE FOR PART 2!

Since the writer’s strike began two weeks ago, actors have joined the picket lines and stood in support with their striking coworkers. Soon enough many of those television actors will be doing about as much work as the actors as well, with both Sony Pictures Television and NBC putting their actors on hiatus or letting them out of their contracts completely.

The details of this invoking of the “force majeure” clause in the actors’ contracts are complicated, and laid out in more detail in this Hollywood Reporter article. Essentially, though, NBC has decided to suspend the actors from shows like 30 Rock and The Office, a deal in which they will receive half-pay and may be terminated entirely at the end of five weeks. After termination they are free to pursue other projects, but when production starts up again they are guaranteed to have their contracts resigned. So don’t worry, Carell fans—even if he gets terminated in a few weeks, he’ll still be back as Michael Scott.

Sony, on the other hand, has put the stars of Rules of Engagement and Til’ Death on hiatus, which means both that they are not working and they must remain exclusive to the studio. This has resulted in complaints from the Screen Actors Guild, which says it is violation of the contract. Either way it’s bad for those actors, unable to make use of their newfound free time.

The stars of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock will at least be making use of their suspension, gathering together for live performances of each of their shows at the UCB Theater in the next few days. I’m reluctant to even tell you about this, since tickets are sold out and I’m dying to try to get one of the few left, but Michael Cera will be hosting the SNL event and 30 Rock is the greatest thing ever, so consider this a public service. The events will be raising money to benefit the WGA, and promise to be amazing.

Things keep getting grimmer and grimmer as this strike goes on, but it’s events like the ones at the UCB that make me believe that somehow, even with the TVs dark, we’ll continue benefiting from all the creative minds that are out there, looking for the next project.

Getting all of your news from Cinema Blend these days? Of course you are! And you might be in good company soon, since TV news writers are considering joining their script-writing brethren and going on strike. The New York Times reports that the CBS news and television writers are expected to authorize a strike on Thursday, which could send them to join the picket lines with their fellow WGA East members, not to mention the Broadway stagehands elsewhere in the city.

Details on the CBS employees’ contract negotiations are scarce, though they’ve apparently been working under an expired contract since April 2005 (what the hell has taken them this long?!) The Times reported that the union refused a contract that would pay radio writers less than TV writers, and also hire non-union workers for jobs currently performed by union members.

It’s hard to pass any judgment on the meaning of this strike without knowing the details of the contract, but those details will probably come out the moment Katie Couric is left speechless. But wow, what a time for unions! I haven’t managed to stumble across any of the picket lines yet, but with three separate unions on strike, it might be impossible not too before too long. Obviously just the CBS news writers won’t cause a seismic shift in how people are getting their news, especially given that the CBS Evening News is in dead last place anyway. But there’s clearly a snowball effect happening here, and people are talking about unions way more than usual. Hopefully that will provide all of them with the leverage to get their voices heard and be able to get back to work, entertaining us and bringing us our news.

In Los Angeles today, the second week of the writers strike opened up with a “strike with the stars” picket line at Universal. Celebrities including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Marg Helgenberger, Ray Romano and Brad Garrett all supported WGA West members by walking the line. Here on the east coast, things were a bit more subdued. WGA East members picketed in the financial district today to draw attention to the fact that the strike and the millions of dollars it is costing every day in lost revenue is hurting Wall Street.

I passed by the line at about 11 this morning. After raining all morning, the weather cleared up in time for the picket line. When I first saw the group of about 100 writers, they were marching quietly on a small strip of sidewalk right outside of Battery Park—about five feet away from the jack hammering that accompanies downtown’s endless construction. When I came back about twenty minutes later, bearing donuts, there was a man in the center of the circle leading a chant. The writers, including those from The Daily Show, SNL and Best Week Ever, seemed to be waking up and getting more into today’s picketing, which marked day nine of the strike.

If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of a picketing situation, here’s a tip: food makes people like you. Sure, my donuts and I will never rise to the level of Richard Belzer and his sausage and pepper sandwiches, but they didn’t hurt. While I was there, I spoke with The Daily Show writer and Emmy-winner, Rob Kutner. We chatted about the demands of picketing, what the WGA wanted and what fans could do to help. Kutner stressed the fact that the fans can make a difference by calling the studios or writing letters telling the executives that they want the strike to end.

If you want to let the network executives know that you aren’t going to be happy with our fall season being replaced with endless reruns and an onslaught of game shows, the information from the WGA’s handout is included below.

“What you can do: Call or write these media executives and tell them: ‘Give the writers a fair share of the billions your company makes from the content they create. I want my favorite shows back soon!’”

Anne Sweeney, President Disney –ABC Television Group The Walt Disney Company 500 S Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 91521 818-560-1000

Kevin Reilly, President Fox Entertainment Fox Broadcasting 10201 West Pico Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90064 310-369-1000

Bruce Rosenblum, President Warner Bros. Television Group Warner Bros. Studios 3400 Riverside Drive Burbank, CA 91505 818-954-6000

Phillipe Dauman, President/CEO Viacom Viacom 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 212-258-6000

Leslie Moonves, President/CEO CBS Corporation CBS 51 West 52nd St. New York, NY 10019 212-975-4321

Jeff Zucker, President/CEO NBC Universal NBC Universal 100 Universal City Plaza Universal City, CA 91608 818-777-1000

Keep checking TV Blend for more strike-related news as well as my exclusive interview with The Daily Show’s Rob Kutner.

One of the many concerns with regards to the current writers strike is how it will affect the new series that are just building up some momentum. Worrying about whether or not the growing popularity of series like Chuck and Pushing Daisies will suffer should they be forced to go on an early hiatus is a definite issue, but what about the series that are about to wrap up their final seasons next spring?

Scrubs is one of the series I’m referring to. The season that is currently airing on NBC is set to be the last for the comedy series. The problem is, with the strike preventing studios from producing new episodes, there’s a chance that the series finale might never happen. For fans of Scrubs, who’ve stuck by the series for seven years, the idea that the show could end without an actual end probably seems preposterous.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence was asked to write an alternate ending to the last episode of the first half of the season. That way if the strike happened, they’d be able to close out the series halfway through the season if they needed to. The Heroes writers were asked to do the same thing but in the case of that NBC series, its only the second season so the story would be able to continue next fall if it were cut short due to the strike.

Lawrence opted not to do an alternate ending and wrote the scripts as he normally would have regardless of the threat of a strike. Well the strike has happened and though the season is supposed to run for 18 episodes, only “roughly seven” were shot before the strike started.

So what happens if the strike runs on for months and no new episodes of Scrubs are produced? Lawrence says he intends to write a proper finale for the series and hopes that he’ll be able to work out a deal with NBC to get it produced and aired, even if it has to wait until next season. There’s also a chance that the finale could air on ABC. ABC’s programming chief, Steve McPherson developed the series.

As crappy as it would be for Scrubs to end without a finale, I admire Lawrence’s choice to stick with his initial plan for the final season. Sure, he’s run the risk of having his show end abruptly but its probably better than trying to jam an ending into the halfway point of the season. Scrubs might be just another half-hour comedy but hidden between all of the wisecracking banter and hospital-humor, there’s an actual story being told. The devoted fans of this show deserve a real ending. Let’s just hope that NBC allows that to happen.

“I don’t want TV to go away.”

“I know; did you see this week’s episode of The Office? There’s only one more before it’s over. They’ve shut down production and all the below-the-line people have been fired.”

“No, it didn’t record. I’m about to watch it online.”

“Nooooo! You’re the reason we’re never going to have television again!”

Okay, so maybe I was being slightly hyperbolic when I basically told my sister she had killed television. However, the fact remains, these are desperate TV times in which we live and we the TV fans need to help get things back to normal. The issues at hand are relatively simple and are explained in the video below:

It’s easy to paint the writers as greedy fat cats who are trying to get more money at the expense of the industry, its employees and the TV viewers. The fact is, with the exception of a small percentage of guild members, these writers are a largely middle-class people. While their industry may have some glamour attached to it, they are not much different than you or I. The main thing that separates them from us, in fact, is the prolonged bouts of unemployment that are all but inevitable in their profession. At any given time 48% of Writers Guild members are jobless. Sometimes these stretches of unemployment can last for years. Writers depend on residuals to pay the mortgage, send their kids to school and keep the lights on. They are not asking for the moon. They are asking for basic respect and to be paid a minimum amount (2.5% for online content and 8 cents per DVD) for their work.

Despite the fact that online revenue for television content hit $700 million last year, the networks would have you believe that this newfangled internet thingy is so experimental that they simply cannot figure out how to make money off of it. Sure the network websites are providing content in which the advertisers pay a set amount to insert their commercials at designated points, but it’s on the computer! Because of this, the networks are not willing to pay the writers for showing what are essentially re-runs, despite the fact that the networks are contractually obligated to pay the writers residuals (but only on TV!).

It comes down to money. The networks can afford to wait this out. While the writers are striking, the networks are still making money. They do not care about content, quality, or their employees. Television shows are nothing more than vehicles for advertisements. Keep in mind that the writers are only asking for a percentage of online revenue. If the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) agrees to this and the entire internet blows up tomorrow, completely destroying their online revenue stream, they’re not on the hook for any cash. 2.5% of zero is still zero and the writers are no worse off than they are now.

TV fans can’t sit in on the negotiations. The only way we can help end this strike is by making ourselves heard and hitting the networks where it hurts: in their pockets. How do we do that? By not watching TV on the internet. Don’t watch the streaming shows on the network websites. Don’t download them from iTunes. Don’t download them from Amazon Unbox. Let the networks know that you are not going to show confidence in what they call an “experimental” medium until the writers get a fair deal. When the scripted shows go off the air, do not watch the mindless reality shows staffed with non-WGA eligible writers with which they will be replaced. If the networks aren’t getting the eyeballs, they’re not going to get the ad dollars.

In short, do not let the networks treat you like a mindless consumer. NBC Universal and its partners are readying Hulu’s launch. When that happens, they will not be limited to showing current episodes of their prime-time shows. They’re reaching into the vault and dusting off old favorites that haven’t been making them money for years. Shows like Doogie Howser, MD are going to be shown in and ad-supported format on the internet. If the episodes were being rerun on television, the writers would be making residuals. On Hulu, they will make nothing.

People deserve to be paid for their work. TV fans deserve quality programming. While they are hurting themselves in the short-run, the writers are standing up for themselves by striking. By boycotting internet programming, we’ll be doing the same. Right now, the networks have no incentive to end the strike. If you want your shows back, it’s time to give them one.

This isn’t a sports blog, but more and more this writers strike is reminding me of the time in the late 80s when the National Football League went on strike. Faced with the possibility of no football games on Sunday, and millions of dollars in lost revenue, the franchise owners came up with the one of the worst ideas in history. They went out and got “replacement players” to fill the uniforms of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, causing legendary football fields with construction workers, truck drivers and bartenders. The level of play resembled schoolyard pick-up games, attendance was miserable and it caused fans to rally around the players even more. Twenty years later, NBC is considering a similar strategy, and I’m sure it will lead to the same disastrous results.

According to Variety, NBC is toying with the idea of having substitute host take over for Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, who have been supporting the writers during the week-long strike. Part of this decision is being made because many of the late night shows have said they will fire their non-writing staff if the shows were no longer in production. So even if Jay isn’t behind the desk, many of the non-WGA staff would still be able to work. In a statement, Tonight Show executive producer Debbie Vickers said, “All sorts of things are being discussed, including guest hosts. Our preference is that we return to production of 'The Tonight Show' with Jay as host as soon as possible. We want to protect the staff, who have been loyal to this show for decades, in the same way that Johnny Carson reluctantly returned without his writers in 1988.”

But those Carson show were not considered Johnny’s finest hour. To fill the normal monologue time, Johnny and Ed McMahon would show slides from their family vacations. David Letterman, who was hosting Late Night at the time, would spend most of his pre-interview segments complaining about how much he missed the writers. And even if guest hosts are being considered, most of the people that would be considered for the job are in the WGA, or might not want to incur the wrath of the organization when they do come back on the job. Also, since the late-night shows were more mostly interview segments, actors with projects to push might not want to cross the line of angry writers outside the studio, just to plug a movie.

Now here’s the question: If the talk-show scene becomes a sea of re-runs right up to Thanksgiving, who will be the 1st to blink? Variety reports that Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman are considering coming back without writers, to take advantage of the void in original programming. Dave would be the one with the most to gain, since he could steal the audience who is tired of seeing Jay talk about month-old news. But without writers, would Late Show be a show even worth checking out? And wouldn’t it just fuel the writers’ argument about how important they are to the process of making a network successful and profitable?

So networks, take a lesson from the NFL strike. People love their football, but when you have pretenders filling the shows of pros, you may end up doing more harm than good.

In the space of the last minute I have breathed a sigh of relief and then immediately tensed up again. Despite complaints from series writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, ABC has decided to air the fourth season of Lost beginning in February, as originally planned. With only eight episodes completed before the writers' strike began, and the strike showing no signs of ending any time soon, those episodes will likely be the last we see of Lost before early 2009.

Lindelof is clearly unhappy with the decision. "An eight-episode season is an incomplete season, and I am not going to try to spin it any other way," he told E!'s Kristin. He and Cuse made it clear earlier that they did not write with the strike in mind, and the eighth episode specifically ends on a cliffhanger that offers no season-ending wrap-up. It's as much of a conclusion as, say, Ana-Lucia and Libby getting shot. [...] And you'd be, like, oh my god, I can't believe I have to wait another year and two months for episode nine of this season."

Not only that, but Lost creators recently struck a deal with ABC to have three more 16-episode seasons before wrapping the whole thing up in 2010. It was a risky and frustrating move for Lost fans, leaving such a huge hiatus between seasons; Cuse and Lindelof both assured us fans that it would be a leap of faith worth taking. Now? "I can't look the fans in the eye and tell them that we're executing the original plan anymore."

As glad as I am that I won't be completely without Lost for another year, I'm honestly concerned that this move is going to destroy the show. The six-episode run last fall was a complete disaster, leaving many fans discouraged and vowing not to even bother with the show when it picked back up in the spring. Granted, they threw some pretty terrible episodes at us then, but the disjointed time frame was frustrating. The 16-episode springtime runs were intended to avoid that, to give Lost a solid run with no repeats and wrap up each season tightly. Now the entire thing is a mess, and I wonder if it will ever be able to recover it's momentum. How many of us will get to this dreaded episode 8 and be so frustrated with the clifhanger that we just shut off the TV for good?

Next February is looking to be a dismal time for television, so by then I know we'll all be glad to have something original to watch (since even 24 won't be around). But the disappointment we'll feel around the end of March, when Lost goes away again, will be palpable. With all the good shows on television right now being disrupted, will we look back on this so-called "golden age of television" and realize the writers' strike threw it completely off the rails? When the writers come back they had better be aware enough to earn their hard-won money and keep their shows at the quality we have expected and enjoyed from them for so long.

Since the whole idea of the WGA strike happening started to seem like a serious reality, people began speculating as to how the strike, which officially started this week, would affect television. The obvious solution, should the strike run on long enough for the networks to run out of produced episodes of their current scripted series, is for them to fill the airwaves with reality TV shows. But there is another genre that could come to the rescue: cartoons!

According to a story that Reuters ran today, the writers of a number of animated films and TV shows are covered under a different union. The writers who are members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which includes The Animation Guild – Local 839, can continue working in animated films and television. In terms of movies, this will certainly benefit companies like Dreamworks. As for how it will affect television, perhaps the networks will consider filling some of their primetime timeslots with an animated series or two instead of just reruns and reality TV. Then again, Reuters’ article did state that a studio exec seemed to think it was unlikely that many of the “big-name” writers would be willing to cross the picket line by writing for an animated series or film, even if technically, they were allowed to do it.

In other strike-related news, in case you hadn’t heard, TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello reported that NBC’s hit series, Heroes could be shutting down season 2 early. Ausiello’s sources confirmed that an alternate ending for the December 3rd pre-holiday-hiatus episode is being produced. Initially, the episode was meant to close out the “Generations” arc but due to strike stopping production on new episodes, the alternate ending could be used to tie up the season completely.

I still watch Heroes every Monday but I don’t feel the same excitement and anticipation that I did last season so to be totally honest, an early ending to the season wouldn’t really bother me. I’m more concerned with how the strike will affect new shows like Chuck, Journeyman and Pushing Daisies, all of which have been getting better and better with each new episode. The strike could certainly reduce the momentum that these series have been building.

Admit it, you don’t really know why the writers are on strike. For the most part people have been throwing around terms and figures, but it doesn’t really explain why you won’t be seeing a Heroes spin-off or why The Daily Show is in re-runs (even as well as us kids here at TV Blend have reported on it). Well, leave it to the phony-drones of Dunder Mifflin to put it in terms average humans can understand.

On the website United Hollywood, a video of writer/showrunner Greg Daniels and others from The Office are shown on the picket line and lay out the points that are at the center of the Writers Guild strike. They also mention that Steve Carrel is not working currently, and is not crossing the picket line (they show his “Michael Scott” trailer with the sign “Proud Member of the WGA on the door). In under three minutes, they explain some of the writing they have done that NBC has not compensated them for. They also point out the legal language that the network is using to make sure they don’t get paid.

The video shows the dedication the writers (some of whom are also part of the show's cast) have to this strike. It seems they know the effect it has on the viewers, and Daniels even points out that he’s “picketing to shut down our own show,” which highlights their own attachment to the productions. But when you hear about the work they put into just the website portion of The Office, you can’t help but sympathize with them.

Check out the video for yourself:

Scrubs has had a weird network history since it debuted on NBC in 2001. It’s never really had a steady home on the schedule, it’s nearly been cancelled twice, and it almost ended up on another network altogether (ABC) before it was renewed at the last minute. So it’s no surprise that its planned farewell from television would have some drama attached as well.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scrubs currently only has twelve of its planned eighteen episodes written. This leaves the sitcom’s final show up in the air if the writers strike goes into the New Year. Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence said, “On a personal level, yeah, it would be nice to finish work on 'Scrubs' the way I wanted to. It looks like it's not happening is certainly disappointing, I can't lie.”

NBC has made a lot of the fact that it is Scrubs’s last season on the air. Almost every promo for the show has some dramatic music behind it, or slomo footage from the show like the viewer would be foolish to miss a single second of the show. Although the show never was a real rating winner, it does have a devoted following, and most fans of the Braff-fronted show I know were happy that the show is being tied in a nice little bow in the end, instead of being unceremoniously dumped without saying good-bye.

The good news is that it would take a work stoppage of a considerable length for the show the affected. But Lawrence says the concern is that no one knows how long this will last. “Right now, I fear that a lot of the writers have no real clue just how tough this is going to be. I'd imagine things will get very grim sometime after Christmas," Lawrence said.

They may have saved the world, but it seems the super-humans of Heroes have suffered a loss to two even more powerful groups than Sylar could ever be: Critics and Writers.

According to Variety, NBC has stopped production on Heroes: Origins, which was to be aired while original Heroes took a mid-season hiatus. The show was to fill a void that would normally be filled with reruns, and already had attracted geek-boy favorites Eli Roth and Kevin Smith to be involved. The six-episode project was to focus on a different hero each week, then have an online vote to see which of the six would join the regular cast of the main show.

NBC won’t comment on the situation, but sources told Variety that NBC executives didn’t want to commit to a potentially expensive series when the possibility of production being halted was still a factor. In fact, the publication is saying that any NBC project that isn’t already on-air will be reconsidered and might not see the light of day.

Right now, the news couldn’t be worse for the Heroes crew. In addition to getting its spin-off killed, the current season is being assailed by critics and fans alike. Most people are annoyed that the unifying themes of last season (“Save The Cheerleader…,” “Are You On The List?”) are gone, and have been replaced by too many non-converging storylines. People at NBC are saying that Origins decision had nothing to do with ratings or creative direction, but you have to think that the drop in ratings for Heroes could have been a factor.

This is definitely a sign of things to come. If a formerly monster hit like Heroes is starting to feel the writers strike pinch, what chance do the new shows that are still building audiences? And what will it mean for the shows like 24 or Lost that are in the midst of still shooting their seasons right now? You better go out and get some DVD sets, because the DVD extras might be the most original thing you can watch about your favorite shows.