Ugh. A writers strike means that shows that don't involve "writing" will dominate, i.e. reality TV.

a little clarification - it's not 90% of WGA members, it's 90% of the WGA members who actually voted - but it's still a record breaking response.

and yeah - this will suck profoundly for TV audiences - unless you really really like game/talk/reality shows.

All this says to me is that they'll start using all the stuff they've been stockpiling under the parsimony principal. Maybe we'll finally see some new material instead of a rehash.

This is hilarious! Writing for TV/Film is a buyer's market.

In other words, there are plenty of fresh, unknown writers ready, willing, and able to serve as scabs. The WGA is too easily replaced.

Sorry to say, I don't think this strike stands a chance.

@misseliza, whups, thanks, I've clarified.

Not just in NYC! After the decision to finally get rid of the horribly outdated zone system, DC cabdrivers are threatening a strike on Halloween. Should be interesting to see how this one plays out...

That's odd.... I a always just assumed they've been on strike for the past 10 years?

And it looks as though Broadway may close down with a strike soon, too.

Strikes are trendy in NYC!

Because TV and Movie writers have been doing such an AMAZING job the last 15 years? HA!

The problem with TV writers in particular is they tend to be the folks that are smart, driven and educated but lack any true creative talent. Hence the garbage we see.

DJPerl, the studios aren't going to hire non-guild writers. I live in LA and have several friends who work on TV shows (not as writers). The shows are gearing to shut down production as soon as the strike happens. Everyone will be out of work, from the actors to the grips to the set designers. I have a couple of friends with movie scripts in re-write mode right now. If they're not sold before the strike, they have to wait until the strike is over to get paid.

Most people had predicted the strike would happen after the first of the year, so many people in the industry had been planning financially for that. Unfortunately the writers have moved up the strike by at least a couple of months, leaving their colleagues high and dry and many in very precarious financial straits.

If the strike happens, I have a friend who plans to move in with his parents (along with his wife and child). I have another friend who will probably be moving in with me (into a 1-bedroom apartment).

I see some of the writers' points, but they also are impacting many people's lives with their demands.

In addition, here's a quote from an LA Times article about Marc Cherry (creator of Desperate Housewives):

"What sustained him in the fallow years, before his desperation inspired ABC's 2004 hit "Desperate Housewives," were the little green envelopes that showed up in his mailbox. Reruns of "The Golden Girls," which got a second life on the Lifetime cable channel, brought residual checks that one year totaled $75,000.....Without residuals, Cherry said, he might have been forced to "get a real job.""

Cry me a river, Marc Cherry. We should all be so lucky to get $75,000 a year from our old jobs and not be forced to "get a real job."

I don't know who does PR for the Writers' Guild, but I don't think talking heads like Marc Cherry are going to be garnering any sympathy.

...You know, what would put an end to all this bullshit bickering out in Hollyweird would be for fans and consumers to split evenly into two groups and file class-action suits against the studios and the unions. Make both sides realize that keeping the entertainment flowing is more important than getting two cents a head for every rerun.

There's only one reason that unions exist in Hollywood: to make the work palatable enough that someone will (1) perform the jobs, and (2) have a chance at making a living at it.

It's easy to say that there are lots of wannabe writers waiting for the chance to step in. That's true of any union during any strike in Hollywood. Those wannabes are going to last just long enough to discover that if most of the LA production companies have their way they're never going to be able to make a living.

No unions in LA would mean a constant churn of newbies getting into the business long enough to learn that they can't afford to stay in it once they start raising families and planning for retirement.

The film and television industries are very difficult to survive in. Breaking in isn't always that difficult; it's staying in over the long term that proves to be the real challenge. Not only is it tough to keep getting the work, it's tough to do the work. A 12 hour workday in Hollywood is a short day.

If you'd like to know how hard the business can be on rank-and-file workers, the IATSE (the union that covers the various production crafts, ie. camerapeople, grips, electricians, art department, sound, editors, etc.) has statistics that say that the average IATSE retiree collects, on average, 14 pension checks upon retirement. Those are monthly checks. Hopefully the writers do better.