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Bad day at ‘The Office’ as strike halts taping
Popular sitcom is the lastest show on hiatus as walkout enters third day
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Hollywood on strike Members of the Writers Guild of America are joined on the picket line by several of TV’s hottest stars. more photos |
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 | Strike forces late night TV into reruns Nov. 6: Shows that rely on writers to turn fresh material every day, like the Tonight Show and The Daily Show go into reruns. NBC's Jinah Kim reports. NBC News Channel |
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Shows affected by the strike |
Networks said the following shows will immediately go into reruns because of the writers strike: —NBC: “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” —CBS: “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” —Comedy Central: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “Colbert Report.” Networks and publicists cited these other impacts: —“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will air new episodes on Monday and Tuesday that were filmed before the strike. —ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” will air as usual Monday and Tuesday. —CBS soap operas such as “The Young and the Restless,” “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns” will continue uninterrupted for several months with completed scripts. —ABC’s “The View” talk show will continue uninterrupted because of contingency plans made before the strike. —ABC soaps, including “All My Children,” “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital,” have been written into the new year and will not be interrupted. “The Oprah Winfrey Show” doesn’t employ union writers and will continue uninterrupted. |
LOS ANGELES - Writers were back on the picket lines Wednesday after their strike forced at least eight prime-time shows, including the popular NBC sitcom “The Office,” to halt production.
As the strike entered its third day, no new negotiations were scheduled on the main sticking point between writers and producers: payments from DVDs and shows offered on the Internet.
One of the largest rallies yet occurred outside the gates of the Disney studio in Burbank. About 60 people, including a number of powerful producer-writers known in the industry as “showrunners,” joined the protest, despite that networks expected many of them to report to work as managers.
Among them was Greg Daniels, executive producer of the “The Office,” who said filming stopped on the show after star Steve Carell refused to cross picket lines. Writers and actors from the show used their time on the picket line to make a video and post it on YouTube.
Sally Field, who won the best actress Oscar in 1979 for the pro-union film “Norma Rae,” left the set of her ABC show, “Brothers & Sisters,” to visit strikers outside the Disney lot.
Writers “are not being allowed to participate in the future of the business,” Field said. “This can be a very lucrative field, but also incredibly insecure for all of the artists, writers, actors and directors.”
Mark Perry, executive producer of “Brothers & Sisters,” said filming on the show will end next week as it runs out of scripts.
Jay Leno drove a vintage sports car to the rally and stopped to chat with strikers. He apologized for not having any funny lines to share, blaming the problem on — what else? — the strike.
The strike began Monday after last-minute negotiations failed to produce a deal. The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said no new talks had been scheduled. Neither group offered further comment Wednesday.
Production of at least seven sitcoms has been halted because of the strike, and the hit ABC drama “Desperate Housewives” was scheduled to finish filming its latest episode because it had run out of scripts.
Along with “The Office,” sitcoms that will stop the cameras include “Back to You,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” “Til Death,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
Filming on the 13th episode of the freshman ABC comedy “Carpoolers” was also set to finish Wednesday, ABC Studios spokeswoman Charissa Gilmore said. No new episodes have been ordered.
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Networks were expected to announce plans for alternative programming in the coming days.
The strike immediately brought repeats of late-night comedy shows, but it was not expected to have an immediate impact on production of movies. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and many TV shows have scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
Writers have not gone on strike since 1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
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