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So after all the hullabaloo about the writer’s going on strike and not getting treated fairly, etc. we have to question the leadership of the writer’s guild. Quietly the director’s guild reached a new three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

It’s a tentative deal and still has to be ratified by the 13,500 some odd directors out there. But here’s the skinny:

• Establishing DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet
• Boosting the residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) by double the current rate
• And establishing residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.

Wow, it’s almost like the AMPTP did this just to spike the poor writers. Surprisingly, the striking writers had no immediate response to this tentative deal.

“This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides,” said DGA president Michael Apted said in a statement. “Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production — both derivative and original — compensation formulas are meaningless. Second, the Internet is not free. We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution.”

Essentially, the same things the writer’s have been striking for. It looks as though their strike could go on indefinitely, with the assumption that they will eventually cave to the AMPTP. This article in the New York Times makes it seems as if the writer’s guild is about to fracture, especially with the side deals being made with certain studios.

Mr. Ridley, an open critic of the striking writers guilds whose credits include the “Barbershop” and “Third Watch” television series, created ripples here last week when he became the first prominent writer to break publicly with the Writers Guild of America West by declaring “financial core” status. Such standing allows someone to pay union dues and work for employers under its contract without observing its rules as an active member.

Earlier, a handful of soap opera writers — including the two head writers for “All My Children” — took a similar step, even as other writers continued with a strike that began on Nov. 5 when some 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East walked out.

Such actions have been rare, and they mark the extreme edge of discontent within the guild, which has — like the major companies they oppose — so far retained a united front as it seeks more compensation for new media, among other issues.

But that’s not all. One of the most prominent guild writer’s turned blogger, Craig Mazin at The Artful Writer, has been weary of the tactics and even insists that all the writeups of the DGA agreement have been nothing but trite summeries. He suggests heading here to read the full agreement, but as always he’ll have a breakdown on his own site. Meanwhile, this is what he has to say about the ongoing strike.

How does this help anything? How does fighting against Jay Leno and his decision to write his own jokes help get us a contract? How does letting it happen hurt us getting a contract?

It doesn’t do anything. Unless the lack of a Jay Leno monologue somehow convinces the DGA to not bargain early and, in fact, link arms with us and fight to the death for the deal terms we’re asking, picking a strange and likely losing battle with Leno makes no sense at all right now.

I think we should just leave the guy alone. He could have been on air since our strike began, but he stayed out. Didn’t have to. Did. And if he owned his own show, there’s no doubt he would have signed the same interim deal Dave signed. He doesn’t, he did the best he could, he’s not asking his writers to go fi-core and come back to the show, he’s just trying to exercise his right to write self-performed material as excluded by the WGA…and our leadership apparently feels the strong need to try and stop him.

Well, good luck with that.

Things are starting to get out of control for the writer’s and in light of the recent DGA deal, probably only worse.

Looks like the WGA is working their “divide and conquer” strategy against the studio moguls.  First, they reached a deal with David Letterman’s World Wide Pants production company and now they’ve reached a deal with Tom Cruise and Paul Wagner’s re-started United Artists.

Of course Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily, which is the essentially source for strike news, has the scoop.  She reports that United Artist has agreed in principle to all of the WGA’s demands.

I’m told the deal was hammered out under the utmost secrecy by UA’s Paula Wagner, who has long been Cruise’s producing partner, and WGA leaders Dave Young and Patric Verrone. Guild sources said it definitely helped during negotiations that Cruise is a longtime SAG member and Wagner also started out as an actress before she became an agent then producer and then UA studio mogul. ”They said, ‘All we want to do is make movies. And we know that you can’t do that without the artists, especially the ones that create the stories. And those are the writers.’ “

The announcement should break sometime late tonight for Monday’s papers and whatnot.  Details of the agreement are being kept under wraps.  Wonder if this is an anomaly or the first domino to fall.

Although I certainly understand what Jim was talking about. Almost all the shows are done with new episodes for the foreseable future.

Yet, I’d like to draw your attention to a phenomenon which has been under the radar. When you think of the TV landscape you may think of your favorite reality shows–American Idol, Survivor, Dancing With the Stars . . . whichever–but odds are you believe that this is another Golden Age of television drama. And you would be right.

We’re getting shows which are hits often without one big star, because they combine talented ensembles with excellent writing.

Crime dramas: Without a Trace, Life, Criminal Minds and Law and Order times three. Forensic crime shows: Cold Case, NCIS, Numbers and CSI times three. Medical dramas: ER, Grey’s Anatomy and House. SF/Fantasy: Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Pushing Daisies and Medium. Anti-terrorism: 24 and The Unit.

I don’t know if TV Guide still picks a “Best Show You’re Probably Not Watching,” but this year’s is Friday Night Lights.
And that’s a category unto itself. It’s unfortunate a show this rich, layered and complex about the problems of high school and football in Texas has been relegated to the wasteland of Friday nights.

And that’s not even mentioning some of the basic cable shows, like The Shield, The Closer, Damages or The Riches (my personal choice for the show that can replace the Sopranos–more on that later). Cable outlets like FX, USA, TNT, TBS, AMC, Sci-Fi and A&E have all provided a home for adventurous, well-written television.

So, what’s the stealth phenomenon? Slowly, quietly, this has become a real Golden Age for comedies, as well. Yeah, Friends is gone, and so are Raymond, Tim Allen, Roseanne, Fraser and Cheers. For each of those traditional sit-coms, there is one probably equally good, if you think about it. My Name Is Earl, Scrubs, Back to You, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men.

Jim was right, Neil Patrick Harris is in the zone amongst the other (really good) cast members in How I Met Your Mother. And there are the non-traditional comedies, The Office, Entourage, Ugly Betty, The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, Extras, Family Guy, Weeds. The Emmy for best comedy went to 30 Rock, which, the more I watch, think may have actually deserved it.

So, I suggest you use the time you are not watching reruns, to go on line and catch episodes of some of these shows you may have missed. I especially recommend Big Bang Theory and Back to You, because they are new and need some love. but you must see all of the 30 Rocks. Even if you think Alec Baldwin is an asshole, that just makes him funnier. And Tina Fey is my future ex-wife.

I don’t have the time to verify the veracity of Brent Evans information, but he’s compiled a dossier on how every television show is being effected by the writer’s strike.

I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I’ve all but stopped watching television this week. My interest has waned and I’m not even bothering with repeats. I will say it’s afforded me the chance to get back to reading. I finally polished off Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and I’m about halfway done with Chuck Hogan’s Prince of Thieves, about Charlestown, MA bank robbers in the early 90’s. Makes me miss Boston in a way I could have imagined, but it’s also one of the better pulp novels I’ve come across.

Related: CBS has plans to call up Dexter, their grisly serial killer show on Showtime, up from the minors and reedit it for broadcast. That plan isn’t making some people happy, but for television fans this is a good plan. Why wouldn’t other television networks reuse shows from their cable outlets. ABC could use Greek and NBC has a cadre of shows like Monk, Battlestar Galactica, Eureka. They could use this as a chance to further build their audiences.

So, are you guys still watching television and if so what shows have you found worth watching now that everything is in repeat? Also, if you’re not watching television what have you been doing to occupy your time?

Entertainment insider, Nikki Finke is reporting that “there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides” regarding the writer’s strike in Hollywood.  This is significant for a lot of reasons; for television watchers it means that if a deal gets done soon, then shows will probably start production up at the beginning of the new year.  In about a week or two most television shows are going to run out of episodes, if they haven’t already.

“It’s already done, basically,” the insider describes. That’s because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week.  But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.

As always, we’ll keep you posted about any developments, but Finke is very clear that negotiations are going to be dark, leaks will be few, and this being Hollywood, well, the possibility of a deal falling apart is nothing new.

This past weekend, the cast of Saturday Night Live performed the show from the bowels of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chelsea. Michael Cera hosted the evening and Yo La Tengo was the musical guest. Though the audience only numbered around 200, it featured among others such as Will Arnett, John Krasinski, Samm Levine, Julian Casablancas and Norah Jones. Tickets were rumored to be going for about $300 a pop on Craigslist ($20 face), but there is no price you could put on seeing something like this.

(photo via NY Times)

Michael Cera’s monologue consisted of him reading past host’s monologues in his deadpan, awkward delivery, such as Donald Trump’s (”Who’s bigger than me!”), Paris Hilton (”That’s so hot”) and Snoop Dogg (”I see the word schnizzle”). By all acounts it was a great night of comedy and music, with former cast members returning to pitch in and the change of venue allowed the sketches to be a bit more risque, it helps that this was not broadcast.

With the extra sketches, some of which may eventually reach the small screen, the live “SNL” felt much like an amped-up TV “SNL.” Though not everything hit, and there was some scattered yawning in the audience, the final scene, with Will Forte as an unexpectedly forthright gold lamé-clad street performer, killed. It dated from his time in the Groundlings the Los Angeles. comedy troupe. Though he had performed it for his “SNL” audition, it was way too dirty for television — a theme of the evening. Even the weeks-old “Weekend Update” jokes were racy.

Proceeds from the tickets were to go to SNL’s production staff, most of whom had had been recently laid off; some were in the audience. But the performance was less about money than community. (A sold-out live version of “30 Rock,” the Tina Fey comedy, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday at the theater.)

Sounds like it was a great night of comedy. Read more about it from folks who were there on the A Special Thing Message Board.

One final note, an audience member did note that Amy Poehler was filming this for a potential documentary about the writer’s strike, which means hopefully we’ll get some YouTubage of this event sometime soon.

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello has a rough estimate of when your favorite shows will “go dark” this season.  Again, this all depends on when the writer’s reach an agreement.  But by all estimates most shows have between three and five shows left.

Obviously this is a pretty biased look at the issues behind the writer’s strike, however, it does go a long way into explaining the issues between the writers and the studios.  It’s clear, it’s simple and you can’t help but feel like the man is screwing the little guy again.

Makes you wonder what the studio’s progaganda video would look like.

Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me that we’re beginning to flog a dead horse around here.  But it sounds as if the writers are intent on not caving, which is good for them, bad for television watchers.  Joss Whedon shares his thoughts on striking and getting a fair deal and he makes it sound as if the WGA is going to be resolute.

This of course means that many shows will be pushed back if this drags on through December and into the new year.  TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello claims that everyone’s fav mystery show Lost, might not air any new episodes until 2009.  Holy schnikies you read that right: 2009!

If the strike extends into the new year and beyond, there is a chance ABC may opt to delay the new season until the fall. Or worse yet, February 2009. Another scenario has the network simply airing the eight episodes already in the can this February as originally planned — something Team Darlton would not be in favor of.

Says Lost cocreator Carlton Cuse, “Damon [Lindelof] and my concern about running the [eight] episodes we will have made is that it will feel a little like reading half a Harry Potter novel, then having to put it down. There is a mini-cliff-hanger at the end of Episode 8, but it’s like the end of an exciting book chapter; it’s not the end of the novel. Damon and I didn’t write [the ending of Episode 8] differently [with the looming strike in mind]. We wrote it to be the ending of Episode 8.”

In any case, he concedes that the decision to hold or air the episodes isn’t ultimately theirs. “It’s really [ABC honcho Steve MacPherson's] call,” Cuse notes, adding, “No one was happy with the six-episode run last season.”

Damn.  Not that I think this is a bad idea, but clearly the creators of the show had an idea for the last three seasons to each be 16 episodes long.  By tacking on the first half of what would be Season 4 to the entirety of what would be Season 5 (this would comprise the last eight episodes of Season 4 and the first eight of Season 5), ABC would then essentially be forced to air an elongated version of the final Season 6.

So all of that is to say that instead of three seasons of 16 episodes, viewers would get two seasons of 24 episodes.  Would it be worth the wait?  Would ABC dare do this to loyal viewers?

On a related note the first mobisodes shot for Lost won’t be aired on ABC.com until Nov. 22, but the first one has already popped up online in crappy quality.

“Lost: Missing Pieces are 13 two-to three-minute stories of compelling, new, never-before-seen moments from LOST. These newly-created scenes (not deleted scenes from previous episodes) reveal answers and new details about your favorite characters. For each story, we leave it up to the you, the fans, to figure out where these pieces fit into the overall mythology. Watch new episodes on ABC.com”

Well, until the WGA strike resolves itself and we need to update you on the fallout.  Anyway, we’re still not 100% sure why the talks are stalling and we’re still not sure if we even care.  However, Judd Apatow does and he talked with the guys over at IGN from the picket line about his thoughts on the strike, why he’s picketing, etc.

“Here’s how I would explain it: If you’re a teamster, you get paid to drive a truck. But if someone invents a new kind of truck, and you’re still driving it, you should still get paid.” Apatow noted that watching TV or movies online is becoming more and more common, remarking “We’re switching trucks at this point. But if someone comes up with a three wheel truck, you’re still driving!”

Good enough, good enough Judd.  Though most of you are getting paid considerably more than your standard truck driver.

So movie and television writers in Hollywood went on strike early this morning, at 12:01 a.m. on the east coast for the WGA East and at 12:01 a.m. on the west coast for the WGA West.

Late-night shows like Conan, Leno, Letterman, et al. will feel the impact immediately.  Soap operas will also no doubt feel the effects of the strike, though one wonders if anyone will notice with the plotlines mostly being the same for the past 50 years or so.  My mom’s probably freaking out over the fate of Luke, Laura, Sonny and Carly on General Hospital.

Network shows generally have about five or six episodes to burn, so if the strike doesn’t get resolved immediately, then you can expect those shows to go dark around the end of November/beginning of December.  Mid season shows like 24 and Lost face the possibility of being pushed back to February sweeps.

Seems like most movie studios were anticipating this and lined up many film projects before the strike, according to this story.

Variety has an interesting look at the impact on The Office.  Many of the shows stars are also writers, like B.J. Novack and Mindy Kaling.   NBC Studio execs expect the actors to show up on set and act, even if they are striking as writers.  Should be an interesting fallout.

Obviously the LA Times has some extensive coverage, so you can check back with them for updates.

At the heart of this is the issue of compensation for reality television writers and online redistribution residuals.  The writers believe they deserve their fair share of compensation for what they’ve helped create, while I’m guessing studio execs want to keep their slice of the pie.  What’s lost on the studio execs is that in about 10 years or less, they are going to be completely obsolete in terms of television.  Studios are but the middleman when it comes to television content.

You’ve got content producers, advertisers supporting that content and then a distribution model which relies on television networks.  Well, it’s safe to reason that both the internet and technology like Tivo and OnDemand makes the television networks essentially useless.  Should be fascinating to follow these developments in the next few years.

The point being is that if I want to watch Lost why do I need ABC?  Once content producers figure out that problem, it’ll only be a blessing for them and consumers who want to watch television whenever and wherever they have the time to do so.

Anyways… with that out of the way.  Weeds, that wonderful sitcom on Showtime has been renewed for a fourth season.  We always love more Mary Louise-Parker.

Dennis Leary’s fantastic firefighter show Rescue Me has been given another season and this time it will be super-sized.  Instead of the usually 13 episodes viewers will get 22.

So the proposed Heroes spinoff, that was to feature six stand alone episodes and written by some of Hollywood’s big shots like Kevin Smith, has gotten the axe from NBC.

They claim it has to do with the impending writer’s strike of doom that’s to take effect tonight at midnight.

“Looking at everything in context of the strike, we’re evaluating all of our production commitments,” said one insider. “Scripts haven’t been written yet.”

Origins was designed to provide fans with six episodes of a fresh Heroes-related show in place of repeats in the spring. If the labor situation changes quickly, the network could revisit the decision to scrap the show. 

On a related note, is anyone else getting tired of Heroes this season?  There’s something about it that just isn’t doing it for me.  It seems non-sensical and cliched and too convoluted and the payoffs have been few and far in between.  Just not sure about the new characters and the continued screen time of the boring ones from last season, cough cough Claire cough cough.