Carson Daily to resume show

Looks like the strikers lost one but at least he's not in the WGA:

NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" is about to become the first late- night talk show to defy the writers strike and resume production.

[...]

"The Writers Guild of America, East joins our colleagues of the Writers Guild of America, West in expressing our profound disappointment with Carson Daly's decision to return to work," the guild said in a statement that also commended other late-night talk show hosts for showing solidarity with their writers. "We thank them and hope that Mr. Daly will reconsider his decision, including the soliciting of scab writers to provide material for his program."

Daly is not the first talk-show host to go back into production. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a member of the union, has continued taping her daytime syndicated talk show after shutting down the first day of the strike. But "Last Call" becomes the first to break ranks among the late-night shows, which all had chosen to air repeats rather than tape new shows without their striking writers.

John Edwards to visit the WGA picket line

Seems appropriate that the populist candidate would visit the striking union members. Of course these union members are part of the other America but what the heck. The writers have cast themselves as striving against corporate America, why should the truth stand in the way of a good story?

Democratic presidential contender John Edwards will become the first candidate to visit the Writers Guild picket lines, when he visits the NBC lot this Friday.

According to the WGA, Edwards will appear outside NBC's Burbank headquarters around 1:45 p.m.

(via)

"Are we nuts thinking Hillary Clinton could be president of this country?"

The producer of "24," Joel Surnow doesn't think Hillary will win the presidency:

"I'm not even sure that Hillary is a fait accompli [to win the Democratic Party nomination] as this point," Mr. Surnow told a group of reporters and bloggers in a wide-ranging interview during the Young America's Foundation's (YAF) West Coast Leadership Conference. "Are we nuts thinking Hillary Clinton could be president of this country? Honest to God, just stand back and think about it."

He also said that the conservatives in Hollywood can get work if they produce good scripts:

...who dismissed as "whining" conservatives' complaints that they are treated unfairly by Hollywood liberals.

"Our job is not to whine. That's their job,"

[...]

After his speech, sipping a vodka gimlet as he talked to a group of writers, Mr. Surnow scoffed at the suggestion that Hollywood's liberalism prevents conservatives from getting work in film and television.

"There's tons of conservatives who work," he said. "If you write a great script, you could drop it off a freeway overpass in rush hour, and the movie would still get made."

And he wasn't too optimistic about the outcome of the writers strike:

Speaking of the ongoing writers' strike, which has stopped production of many movies and TV programs, Mr. Surnow predicted a long strike that could prove disastrous to the Writers Guild and rejected the suggestion that the union had the industry at a disadvantage.

"Hollywood's not being held hostage. ... I think [the studios] are going to break the Guild," he said, later remarking: "Millionaires on the picket line. ... They're not going to get a lot of empathy."

I'm not sure I totally agree, I do have some sympathy for the strikers because they are on the Internet and aren't getting paid for it -- I can empathize with that :-) Though, I wouldn't pay for content just so that they could get paid.

The writers know that they are going to lose money on the deal but they are concerned about the future when TV is gone and everyone is getting their content online. I think they are premature in their fear and should have waited a few more years when this would become more of an issue. They could have kept raising the concern but waited until networks were making a decent profit from being online and then demanded their fair share reminding the networks that they waited while they got themselves established online (the only site I have no trouble watching episodes is ABC -- CBS is the worst).

(via)

Update:"Back to You" a casualty of the strike?

I have been getting commenters on this post about the "Back to You" sitcom who say that the show has not been canceled. Here's what was reported in the AP:

Sitcoms that will stop the cameras include "Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, which will not return from a planned hiatus, said Chris Alexander, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television.

And here are the comments:

shadowbarry:It's NOT a "casualty" of the season. The showrunners CHOSE to strike after telling the entire crew of their decision. And more power to them. Fox will continue to air the new episodes as well as reruns. And it's still scheduled to air after Amercian Idol in Jan. So that's not a cancellation either. It's a postponement. By choice. I know this because I am a member of the crew.

SomeoneWithInfo: It was NOT cancelled. The press worded the situation wrong and it's' been spreaking around the net that it was cancelled. FILMING was cancelled - NOT the show.

Anonymous commenters or the MSM, who do you trust is right? Hmmmm...decisions, decisions!

"Back To You," a casualty of the strike

Well, the new Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton comedy has been dumped by Fox. I didn't even get a chance to check it out! I wonder if the writers for that show voted for the strike?

(via)

Update: Since commenters are disputing this report, I've posted an update noting their objections.