SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES
-----------------------------------------
'Tonight' books first guest since strike
By Paul J. Gough and Kimberly Nordyke
December 31, 2007

NBC has confirmed at least one guest for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" when it returns Wednesday night with its first new episode since the writers strike started. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is set to appear in the first original "Tonight Show" installment since the writers walked out Nov. 5.

The former Arkansas governor's camp is expected to make the announcement this week ahead of Wednesday's taping. The networks' late-night shows have remained mostly mum about the guests that will be featured when they return from reruns Wednesday as they have been struggling with A-list guests worried about whether appearing on the shows would break solidarity with the WGA.

One exception is CBS' "The Late Show With David Letterman," which has already announced that it will feature Donald Trump and musical guest Shooter Jennings on Wednesday.

The Hollywood Reporter

Hmm, if I was Huckabee I wouldn't do that as this is crossing picket lines IMO though I'm not sure if these shows have the blessing of the WGA union. Perhaps more fodder for his opponents? As to 'The Donald' and the rat on his head, who cares?

augie wrote:

Hmm, if I was Huckabee I wouldn't do that as this is crossing picket lines IMO though I'm not sure if these shows have the blessing of the WGA union. Perhaps more fodder for his opponents? As to 'The Donald' and the rat on his head, who cares?

He could not go back on without the blessing of the WGA since he is a union member himself. What they agreed to was that he cannot use any of his staff writers. The same deal was made for Conan O'Brien and Carson Daly, who follow him. All three shows are owned by NBC Universal, one of the big companies the WGA is striking against.

In the case of David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, since David Letterman's company owns both shows, they were able to negotiate a deal with the WGA which does allow them to have their writers back on the shows. They were able to negotiate their own deal because they are not owned by the network.

phileysmiley wrote:

augie wrote: Hmm, if I was Huckabee I wouldn't do that as this is crossing picket lines IMO though I'm not sure if these shows have the blessing of the WGA union. Perhaps more fodder for his opponents? As to 'The Donald' and the rat on his head, who cares? He could not go back on without the blessing of the WGA since he is a union member himself. What they agreed to was that he cannot use any of his staff writers. The same deal was made for Conan O'Brien and Carson Daly, who follow him. All three shows are owned by NBC Universal, one of the big companies the WGA is striking against. In the case of David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, since David Letterman's company owns both shows, they were able to negotiate a deal with the WGA which does allow them to have their writers back on the shows. They were able to negotiate their own deal because they are not owned by the network.

Thanks for the explanation Larry and I hope this isn't the first chink in the armour for the WGA as I think that they have a valid point as times have changed as everywhere else in the entertainment field with the internet. I believe the networks alone lost $500M+ in the last strike. It is sad though that so many that supply the industry are getting shafted too.

All I know is I want to watch "journeyman", so pay those writers! lol!

Xstream wrote:

All I know is I want to watch "journeyman", so pay those writers! lol!

Amen to that

augie wrote:

phileysmiley wrote: augie wrote: Hmm, if I was Huckabee I wouldn't do that as this is crossing picket lines IMO though I'm not sure if these shows have the blessing of the WGA union. Perhaps more fodder for his opponents? As to 'The Donald' and the rat on his head, who cares? He could not go back on without the blessing of the WGA since he is a union member himself. What they agreed to was that he cannot use any of his staff writers. The same deal was made for Conan O'Brien and Carson Daly, who follow him. All three shows are owned by NBC Universal, one of the big companies the WGA is striking against. In the case of David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, since David Letterman's company owns both shows, they were able to negotiate a deal with the WGA which does allow them to have their writers back on the shows. They were able to negotiate their own deal because they are not owned by the network. Thanks for the explanation Larry and I hope this isn't the first chink in the armour for the WGA as I think that they have a valid point as times have changed as everywhere else in the entertainment field with the internet. I believe the networks alone lost $500M+ in the last strike. It is sad though that so many that supply the industry are getting shafted too.

This is really a good thing for the writers. It was the actually the idea of the WGA to approach individual producers like Letterman's WorldWide Pants and is, in reality, a chink in the armor of the congloms. When the congloms refused to budge on issues like new media, the WGA realized that it could individually approach companies and cut deals that would allow work to continue under the rules they had sought.

Big media has been opposed to this approach, so this is really a victory for the writers. The deal between the WGA and WorldWide Pants includes all the provisions for new media compensation that the writers have been seeking from the industry. Letterman's acceptance of those terms is a victory for the writers, and the hope is that other producers will follow suit and fall into line.

Letterman's company has done the right thing in agreeing that writers deserve at least one cent for the right to use their work on the Internet. This is really a landmark deal and establishes the idea that media companies do not have to bargain as a bloc and that the head of the AMPTP does not necessarily speak for all producers.

Quote:

This is really a good thing for the writers. It was the actually the idea of the WGA to approach individual producers like Letterman's WorldWide Pants and is, in reality, a chink in the armor of the congloms. When the congloms refused to budge on issues like new media, the WGA realized that it could individually approach companies and cut deals that would allow work to continue under the rules they had sought.

Hehe, a complete 180 on what I thought but then what do I know about the entertainment business? That is indeed really good to hear! As long as it doesn't add $5 to my movie rentals, which it won't.

More reasons not to weep for the congloms:
http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/about100711.html

Hehe, both Dave and Conan grew a beard, Dave was normal and Jay did pretty well. Conan is no worse off without the writers and Craig had no guests, he did fairly well.