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Friday, November 9, 2007
11/9: More writers strike fallout, Big Brother’s early return
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TBS held a phone conference for print media with Ellen DeGeneres to promote her new variety show November 19 and we naturally asked her about the writers strike impact on her dailiy talk show. (Her variety show was pre-written in anticipation of the strike.).
“Personally, it’s heartbreaking,” Degeneres said. She didn’t tape shows on Monday but came back on Tuesday. “I love my writers. We’re a family. It’s a really hard thing to have to deal with where they are and where I am. I’m caught in the middle. I have 135 staff members. They are depending on me for a paycheck every week. It’s hard.”
Here’s what she said on today’s show, taped Tuesday: “I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I’m not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they’re asking for. And I hope it works out soon. In the meantime, people have traveled across the country. They’ve made plans. They’re here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show.”
With the strike likely to drag on, CBS is also bringing “Big Brother 9” back early February. If you want to try out, go to this site.
And TBS’s new sketch comedy show starring impressionist Frank Caliendo “Frank TV” will likely air only five episodes instead of a scheduled eight because of the strike. I spoke with Caliendo for an advancer on “Frank TV,” which starts November 20, while he was at Turner studios Thursday to do a sketch with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith playing Charles Barkley. When it came to the strike, he played it neutral:
“It’s nuts. It’s awful. We support the writers,” he said. As for the issues behind the strike, “I have no idea how to weigh it… They’re friends, too. It’s just hard. There’s no animosity.”
Many shows have already shut down because the “showrunners,” who both write and produce, are refusing to do either. Sitcoms have to stop because the writers are needed during taping. That means “The Office,” “Desperate Housewives” and most sitcoms have already shut down and the supply of actual shows to air will be fairly modest.
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