Yes, thanks for the post Top, it's certainly clarified many of the questions I would have had about the strike. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow once the strike starts. I read that there was likely to be pickets at CBS Radford amongst many other sites (as would be expected for such a strike of course).
thats kind of a bummer that thats gonna happen... jeez now I'd kind of like to be a scab... If any of us here were scabs, we could fix up some of the continuity problems and that, but it wouldn't be that much of a good thing to do, it'd be kind of mean to the writers. I don't know though, I don't know much about strikes in general.
Well in terms of scripts and storylines and things like that, producers can always stop over here and read what we're posting...I've gotta think if i was a director or producer and i had no one to get stories from, i'd be going to every site like this to find some ideas, ecspecially if this strike lasted a while.
cSiNyFrEaK30, that's where the lawsuits come from. If you had a fan fiction story and they used it in an episode without your permission, you could sue them for lots of money. But if they paid you for the story in advance, then the strikers would accuse you of being a scab. But they would still need the other unions for lighting, directing, make-up, wardrobe, transportation, etc. Some of them could walk off the jobs and go on strike in support of the writers.
Yes. From personal experience when one union strikes, it is expected that other unions will show solidarity. When I went away to University, our cafeteria workers went on strike, and they would not allow any buses (including wheelchair buses) to cross the picket lines. There were some heated comments made for those bus drivers who did.
Most productions have very strict rules on what forums/boards people involved in the production can view/participate in because they don't want to be accused of "stealing" a story. While I can't think of a case where such a suit was upheld, they are a nuisance. I don't know of any production currently working that looks at unsolicited material. And even the friendliest productions keep very firm rules about what is and is not allowed because of the threat of possible lawsuits. Of course, even if someone would be able to sell the production a script, they probably would never work after the strike was over. On the other hand, such efforts keep us amused during the strike. *grin*
Glad I could help clarify--and big thanks to Partly for all the strike, teamsters, and '88 strike info, too! I don't think any network show will turn to scabs. It's just not worth it in the long run, either for a scab or the network. Plus, I doubt crossing picket lines is a pleasant way to go to work every day. That will be hard enough for the actors, who have been told by their guild to keep working, and the teamsters if they do go to work. It's an interesting topic, but I really hope the strike doesn't go on for too long. It's only going to hurt scripted television in the long run.
wait a minute...is the previous strike in '88 the reason Bobby in Dallas came back to life and it was "all a dream"?*starts wondering how serious this strike is going to end up* on a serious note though, thanks for all the info, it's been really interesting to find out the details behind what's going on. Please keep us informed with how it affects CSI. Well, at least now I have no excuse to catch up on the four boxsets of X Files I have yet to watch.
I highly apologize for going off topic... The university of Manitoba was on strike not to long ago(and I have no idea if this was a national thing), and it was the cafeteria workers. My mom works there so when she would drive into work, the people would let about 3 cars go by then cross the street a couple times, then let about 3 more get by and so on. I think the strike is over now though. But from what I remember it was going to be the professors next. lol and my older brother's in his first year of University so that wouldn't have been to fun for him. But anyway, on this writers strike, I really hope it can be resolved fast because I don't want to be half way through the season and left hanging, but I don't think anybody wants that. I guess I'm a little concerned about SNL too, I love that show so I'm wondering whats gonna be going on with that show.
Just found out that someone did try and cross the picket lines. The driver threatened to run over people who didn't move. Then he proceeded hit a writer for "Talkshow With Spike Feresten". Luckily the writers ok though, apart from an injured leg I don't think running the writers down with your car is going to help.
It was my first year too. It was horrible, the food we ate was from the reserves. The strike lasted for two weeks, it was disgusting. That's absolutely insane. That's certainly not a way to gain sympathy.
The local ABC affiliate KABC led with the strike as main story and covered the writer being struck by the car. An NCIS writer witnessed the incident; she said the driver remarked, "Get the f--- out of the way" and then hit the gas before the picketer could even take one step to move. I just hope it doesn't get nasty. Well, nastier.
Oh my. And it's only the first day. I live in an area where the unions have always held a lot of power and consequently there have been plenty of strikes. Depending on the circumstances they can get pretty uncivilized, to say the least. On the one hand I understand that people get emotional - this is their livelihood, after all. But on the other hand, my father was "management" for a company during an illegal strike and I wasn't allowed to even answer the phone during that time. This was in a small community, so all the nasty threatening phone calls we received were made by our neighbours. A friend of mine whose father was also "management" was actually quite terrified something would happen to him. And neither her father nor mine really had any say in anything. They just happened to hold supervisory positions, but they had nothing to do with the actual negotiations. Fortunately that strike was short in duration and nothing bad happened (well, not to anyone I knew) but it was a horrible time. My first instinct on reading this thread was to make some kind of sarcastic comment about even MORE reality shows (sob, whimper). But in all seriousness, I hope that both sides are not foolish enough to dig in their heels, that they will be open to negotiations and that this nasty business doesn't last very long.
Realizing how little the writers are getting for the DVD sales, it's making me consider holding off on getting some of the box sets I was going to buy, at least until there's an equitable resolution. (although since some of them were BBC productions I'm feeling a little less guilty about them)