One additional distinction between the other talk show hosts… Barrymore isn’t a writer, isn’t a standup, and although she has experience acting and producing, she doesn’t have decades of writing experience (and a backlog of material in her back pocket) to draw from while her writers are away. If she says anything at the top of her show by way of a prepared introduction or monologue, somebody wrote it, and that somebody was doing the job of the writers.
Leno and Letterman could tell jokes written 15 years earlier. Colbert and O’Brien could draw upon their improv backgrounds. Kimmel could… I don’t know… stare into the camera and smirk. During the last writers strike, I believe Colbert took heat from the union because he was coming up with new material (due to the nature of his show at the time, that was inevitable), whereas the others were doing mostly “found comedy” such as putting a camera inside the Hello Deli or reading funny headlines from a newspaper or talking to their uncle the wacky doorman. Leno and Kimmel used to interview each other because nobody else would go on their respective shows. Barrymore’s host persona is too fluffy for me to tolerate for more than a few minutes. She had the mom of a coworker of mine on last year and I tried to watch the segment, but I couldn’t finish it. But she is obviously prompted on what to say throughout the show. That type of prompting is a form of writing, and I’d have to look at the contract to be sure, but I suspect that qualifies as a job traditionally done by a WGA member. On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 11:55 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > So I have been able to read a little about how late night talk shows dealt > with the last WGA strike in 2007-08. After going dark for several months > these programs returned in January 2008 without writers: > > - *The Colbert Report* > - *The Daily Show with Jon Stewart* > - *Late Night with Conan O’Brien* > - *Real Time with Bill Maher* > - *The Tonight Show with Jay Leno* > > They all returned without writers. They got some criticism from the Union. > They all emphasized that they supported the Union, but also had to think of > all the other employees who depended on them for work. Also, these hosts > were employees themselves and in the end had no choice. > > *The Late Show *and* The Late Late Show* were able to return to work > cleanly because WWP owned the shows directly and signed a side deal with > the WGA. ( see: > https://lastnighton.com/2023/05/11/what-happened-to-late-night-tv-when-writers-went-on-strike-in-2007/ > ). > > One difference this go round is likely that late night programs are much > less profitable than they were 15 years ago, so likely less pressure to > return. > > Mahr’s return is likely a direct reflection that he does not support the > Union, and I suspect now actually makes it harder for the others to go back > without being tainted by association with him. > > This from yesterday’s Deadline: > > “Meyers, a member of the WGA who has been regularly seen on the picket > line, told Deadline earlier this summer > <https://deadline.com/2023/06/seth-meyers-takes-a-closer-look-at-future-of-late-night-snl-1235421363/>, > “As a writer who identifies as a writer, there would be no trying to get > around [it]. I wouldn’t be looking for loopholes to figure out how to write > [the show],” he said. > > Deadline has spoken to sources close to some of the hosts and while they > would like to return to work, they have no interest in returning to work > during a strike. > > Could they? Theoretically, yes, under the same rules that allow Maher to > return as the host on Real Time. > The difference? Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel, Meyers and Oliver are more in > line with the WGA’s demands than Maher, who previously called some of the > WGA’s demands “kooky”. > <https://deadline.com/2023/09/bill-maher-wga-strike-1235536973/>…” > > > https://deadline.com/2023/09/writers-strike-bill-maher-returns-will-other-late-night-hosts-follow-1235548255/ > > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > > On Wed, 13 Sep 2023 at 7:29 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> I support labor, but I am struggling to understand the beef here. Didn’t >> we see all the Kate night talk shows going back to work during the last >> strike, without writers? I don’t recall them being criticized like this. Is >> Barrymore using scab writers? Is it that she is crossing a Union picket >> line (though as Tom points out often picket lines are not actually boycott >> lines)? >> >> She is from one of the most honored acting families in history, she could >> do shows on the history of Hollywood exploitation of actors and writers, >> the importance of human actors and writers, etc. >> >> Aren’t we likely to see Colbert and the Jimmys back sans writers if the >> strike goes more than another month now that summer is over? >> >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> >> On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 at 10:41 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> From what I understand from the article the WGA picket line consisted of >>> Drew’s four writers and they weren’t trying to keep people from crossing >>> the picket line. The two people who got stopped for their pins weren’t yet >>> in the studio. The news story hadn’t yet broke. If you were Drew’s producer >>> would you interrupt her preparing for a season premiere to tell her this >>> happened? >>> >>> On Tue, Sep 12, 2023 at 12:15 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> For the record, Drew claims she was not aware of any of this. I'll >>>> give her the benefit of the doubt here, although I know that the response >>>> will be that she's not aware of anything. But she does do the show for >>>> you--take it with you. (I only know this catchphrase because I've been >>>> hearing it many mornings when switching over to watch "The Price is Right." >>>> When their season starts, I'll be hearing instead "the news continues now >>>> on our CBS News Chicago channel on Pluto TV, we'll be back in an hour here >>>> on CBS2--have a good day.") >>>> On Monday, September 11, 2023 at 6:30:04 PM UTC-5 Kevin M. wrote: >>>> >>>>> Actors are gonna blacklist that show when the strike ends. It just >>>>> looks bad. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 11:04 AM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> The two NY students, who claim they were not aware of the strikes >>>>>> (!), were handed the pins by picketers as they entered the CBS Broadcast >>>>>> Center this morning--security told them to take them off--one did and one >>>>>> didn't, the one who didn't was noted by a crew member and they were both >>>>>> tossed out of the studio--they then accepted WGA strike shirts and joined >>>>>> the picketers: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/drew-barrymore-show-audience-kicked-out-1235587064/ >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/88318bb6-8b2a-43f5-9847-0b1ef825e5b1n%40googlegroups.com >>>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/88318bb6-8b2a-43f5-9847-0b1ef825e5b1n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>>> . >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/2eb7a694-562d-4dc2-818d-72b39f6c1081n%40googlegroups.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/2eb7a694-562d-4dc2-818d-72b39f6c1081n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiGdU80S0rkkVjVEk98Hzt2-VwQhECcK-mG3AL1JoHRrmQ%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiGdU80S0rkkVjVEk98Hzt2-VwQhECcK-mG3AL1JoHRrmQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2B6%3DKHJvcXhXMLZ8yPibk%2B-dzGYoLHfHH2SmH7zD1hjQw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2B6%3DKHJvcXhXMLZ8yPibk%2B-dzGYoLHfHH2SmH7zD1hjQw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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