Posted on 10/22/2007 11:52:29 AM PDT by abb
Before the writers and producers get back to the bargaining table Monday, I'd like to share with you my reporting about what the Hollywood moguls are thinking now that the Writers Guild Of America members have overwhelmingly (by 90.3%) authorized a strike to start anytime November 1st or later against the Alliance Of Motion Picture & Television Producers. I must say, what I learned truly shocked me.
First, this is where the individual moguls stand vis a vis a WGA strike. I'm told they break down into only two groups, not the three groups from last time around. So instead of hawks, moderates and conservatives, there's now only hawks and conservatives:
Hawks: Peter Chernin (News Corp/Fox), Bob Iger (Walt Disney/ABC), Barry Meyer (Warner Bros), Jeff Zucker (NBC Universal), Michael Lynton (Sony Pictures Entertainment).
Conservatives: Les Moonves (CBS), Ron Meyer (Universal), Brad Grey (Paramount), Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures Entertainment), Harry Sloan (MGM, which also reps United Artists in this), Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks Animation, and the most moderate of the bunch).
Nothing about this list should be terribly surprising. Sloan's struggling studio with all its financing and box office problems needs a strike like a hole in the head right now. Katzenberg wants to be the mogul who brokers a compromise, but his bigwig brethrens don't care to let him play the hero role. (More about Katzenberg below...) Zucker, with GE threatening to sell the entertainment unit, doesn't want to get mired into more onerous financial formulas that are going to make his business even worse. Lynton wants to be a moderate but, like Zucker, needs to lower his upfront costs and, like Zucker, answers to a very strong-willed parent company whose businesses are diversified and who demands the entertainment unit now posting a return on investment in the low single-digits to at least get back to high single-digits (since no one expects the old double-digits anymore).
As for Chernin, Iger, Barry Meyer, Moonves, and also Zucker, they actually welcome a strike because they believe the 2007/2008 TV season is dead on arrival anyway. So many new shows are tanking in the ratings and/or going over budget and/or having production problems (Fox's Back To You, Nashville, K-VILLE; CBS' Kid Nation, Cane and Viva Laughlin; NBC's Journeyman, Life and Bionic Woman; ABC's Cavemen, Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies.) Even returning hit shows are losing their Nielsen luster (NBC's Heroes, ABC's Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, CBS' CSI:Miami and Cold Case) that they feel this is as as good a time for a strike as any. As one mogul told me, "We can get rid of the overhead and regroup and rethink everything. If we were having a great year, it might be different. But we're not, and this is like an automatic do-over." As Les Moonves last week told his personal publicist (or is it apologist?), Bill Carter of The New York Times, "I'm not concerned about the state of CBS. I'm a bit concerned about the state of network television generally."
I found this news really surprising because of the willingness of the network moguls to so readily give up eyeballs that may never return to broadcast television. Didn't any of them notice the Halo 3 phenomenon? But even more shocking because the WGA's TV writers who make up the vast majority of the guild membership have been clearly operating under an illusion. (This won't be the first time for that by either side...) As I wrote Friday night, intense pressure is coming from the TV writers to strike sooner rather than later in order to hurt the primetime business to the greatest extent possible. They argue that waiting until January 1st would allow most shows to bank 6 to 8 more episode scripts, and the only real way for the WGA to wield palpable power is to shut down the TV season as soon as possible, even by November 1st. Now I find out that this will play into the hands of the TV moguls who certainly sound ready to give up the season entirely. It's useless to point out that the last strike was in March 1988, lasted 22 weeks, and cost the industry a half-billion bucks. Because the answer I get back from the moguls is that they've now mastered the programming "art" of cheap reality TV and game shows. (See my previous, Strike Vote In For WGA: 90.3% Say "Yes")
Here's another shocker: there are no meetings planned by the moguls for the moguls. And none have been held to date. Lots of communications by telephone. But no brainstorming sessions like the ones held at Katzenberg's house when he headed Walt Disney Studios. The moguls were supposed to "stand by" for a meeting sometime in the next few days. But now that looks unlikely, I'm told.
At the same time, the moguls are convinced they're losing the PR war in the pre-strike period. Because I understand the studio and network bigwigs thought their renouncement of residual rollbacks was a "really big deal" concession that would get the writers in a positive frame of mind. I'm told the moguls were genuinely shocked at the WGA spin to members that it wasn't much of a concession since it never should have been on the table in the first place -- and there are dozens and dozens of other AMPTP-proposed rollbacks for the guild to still worry about. "Right now, the attitude is that we made a major move, and they're kicking sand in our face," a mogul told me.
So some of the moguls want to come up with a way to get their unfiltered viewpoint across to the WGA. Katzenberg is the most vocal about this, floating the idea of "putting a face out there to show we're human". Suggestions include holding a press conference, sending one or several studio and/or network bigwigs to the negotiating sessions, or starting a so-called "mogul blog" to focus on the strike. Or maybe creating a Q-&-A session with those moguls who feign sincerity better than others and posting video of their conversations on an AMPTP web page.
The moguls also have spent the past five days "devising our own alternatives" to present to the WGA. The problem, say the bigwigs, is that "no one at the WGA has come to us with a formula" and "without residuals, the WGA is having a hard time articulating what they really want." In other words, the bigwigs are looking for all the i's dotted and t's crossed specifics of, say, a New Media plan that would give writers a share of digital revenue before they can even consider it. So the moguls and their business side people and their negotiating committee are "looking at different packages, putting alternatives and options and combinations together" so something new is on the table for Monday's session or soon after. "We're trying to narrow the issues to those issues that really matter," a source told me. "As cavalier as some of the hawks and conservatives are, the goal is really to avoid a strike."
But the moguls think what else is missing is a Big Name to help solve this mess. The legendary Lew Wasserman is long gone. And uberlawyer Ken Ziffren saved the moguls' and writers' asses by ending the last WGA strike. And Bob Daly, ex-Warner Bros chairman, stepped in and stopped a WGA walkout from even starting in 2001. Who's it going to be this time around? The names I'm hearing include Daly, Ziffren or his law partner Skip Brittenham, even The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ex-Sony and ex-Paramount bigwig Jonathan Dolgen's name has also surfaced (as one source told me, "Because in my experience he's one of the smartest guys ever with numbers. And he doesn't need charts and graphs. He's just brilliant at explaining it to people.") There's also ex-Viacom and ex-Universal mogul Frank Biondi, who knows the business inside and out and can be a calming influence. You know, and I know, the decision will be made (if at all) on the basis of who will offend the least amount of people involved.
Tomorrow, I'll file on what compromises might be in store...
If you have WGN channel, check out this show sometime.
So far the rural Canadian sitcom is clean and funnier than the so called hip shows Hollywood is making. Only sitcoms I watch any more is Corner Gas, Red Green Show on PBS, and surprisingly I think “Everybody hates Chris” is cleaner and better than most shows anymore.
This is like the UAW building Ford Pintos and Chevy Citations and wanting a cut of the trade-in value on AMC Pacers.
We’ve been enjoying Pushing Daisies. Only a few things that have gone over the kids’ heads and a few bad words. (My kids are 11 & 13).
It’s basically PG rated, but not G.
Anyway, it’s entertaining for adults and my kids were busting up laughing last week. It’s very querky and different.
The last really great comedy was WINGS on NBC from ca 1990 to
ca 1997.
Crystal Bernard was fabulous as was Lowell Mather (Thomas Hayden Church)!
Other than WINGS since 1990, why even bother?
MV
I'm pretty sure Nikki Finke is a female.
Hubby and I like the Office. Sometimes it misses the mark, but then there are times when it is just genious.
We like it when they do more subtle humor. For example, the boss was giving a boring speech and a TV was going on in the background. It had a logo bouncing around, and they were cheering when the logo would hit the corner. The boss kept on thinking they were cheering him.
Anyway, it was very simple humor and my husband and I were cracking up.
We watched the first episode, and weren’t thrilled with it. Has it improved?
I rec TVLand and American Life.
On Mon nights, AmLife runs Mary Tyler Moore, Newhart, WKRP in
Cincy and The Newhart Show. Begins at 9:00.
On Tues (think its Tues), AmLife runs Rat Patrol, Combat and maybe
Gallant Men. Not sure of the start time. Maybe 8pm. Watch Hans
Gudegast lose yet another battle again and again and again.
Another night they run Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Voyage to the
Bottom of the Sea.
MV
Yep, the old DVD Screen Saver...that's kept me entertained plenty of times during boring meetings as well. It's amazing how much, for me at least, The Office imitates real life.
Clueless and blinded by money these idiots don't get it! One reason I tune in to TV-land...I love Lucy, Andy Griffith show, except MASH, can't stand mash! Good Times is another one I like and the Jeffersons etc...except MASH(puke)!
Maybe TV-Land could buy these old episodes. Lucy, Beaver and Andy are wearing a little thin.
The old Red Green shows are the best! Many Saturday nights we stayed up til 11:30 to watch Steve Smith’s comic genius. I’d love if they brought back SCTV. I could look for sets of DVDs, I guess.
...THE OLD VERSION?? UGHHHHH, I missed it!! I love Dr. Smith....bummer:(
MASH is great!
Henry Blake rooled w/ a marshmallow fist!
Classic dialogue from MASH w/ guest star Edward Winter (Col Flagg):
Col Flagg to Klinger (dressed as a woman): Hey, up close you’re a guy!
Klinger: Far away, too!
bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahaha
MV
Yep, the old version. Check local listings.
Marta Kristen was one hot tamale to this then 6-yr old!
MV
You mean people actually get PAID to write the crap that’s on TV???? Paid in American money??? Actual, redeemable currency??? I thought that slop just dribbled out of a failed AI experiment on some kid’s Apple II.
Did you see the new Beaver series:
Leave It to an Actual Beaver!
bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha
MV
There’s lots of good shows on, though most are on cable.
Burn Notice is excellent, The Shield is fantastic, Rescue Me is a hilarious satire, Mad Men is good, Monk is GREAT, Damages is good, except Glenn Close reminds me of Hitliary.
The Dead Zone, The 4400, and especially My Boys are all really good, and Tony Bourdain’s No Reservations is outstanding.
On the networks, The Office is great and My Name is Earl is pretty funny. House has lost its interest for me since they got rid of House’s team because they wanted a pay raise, and the new candidates are dull and boring.
Ugly Betty is trashy but I still enjoy watching it, Prison Break is mildy enjoyable, although it’s getting far-fetched, and the Discovery Channel has Mythbusters, Ice Road Truckers, and Deadliest Catch, all of which are very good.
It may seem like I watch a lot of TV, by the way, but I Tivo everything, fast-forward through the commercials and wait for a boring, rainy Sunday when nothing’s going on, to watch them all!
Ed
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