The Hollywood writers' strike entered its second week today, and so far, no new talks have been scheduled between the writers and producers. The industry buzz suggests we should get used to it: The strike could be even longer than the five-month strike in 1988. The walkout is hitting non-writing crew members, and the outcomes are starting to look bleak all around (except over at Fox, where executives believe the strike could be good for the network). Here are some of the headlines from the strike's second week:
- Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence refused to write an emergency series finale for his show, and it's not clear what would happen to the unwritten final seven episodes of the series if a strike continues.
- When The Office shut down production, 102 non-writing staff members were laid off.
- Meanwhile, the staffs of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien will be laid off at the end of the week unless the strike ends or the shows decide to come back — either with their regular hosts or with guest hosts.
- Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof has witten an op-ed for the New York Times about the death of television.
- Gabrielle Union was working on a deal to play Wilhemina's sister on Ugly Betty before the strike scuttled those plans.
- Here's a very detailed list of how many episodes of various series are yet to air.
- Variety explains how the strike could affect next year's Emmy Awards.
Among the newest people trying to explain the issues behind the strike: Buffy creator Joss Whedon. Want to hear him try to make sense of things? Just read more
View Photos: Gabrielle Union
That's the thing that bothers me most about this with the networks. OK, people like Longoria and Hatcher make thousands and thousands of dollars and episode and can be off work for months at a time. But shows aren't only made up of the big stars: there are stylist, gaffers, grips and hundreds upon hundreds of other people who don't make that kind of money and they can't just sit on their asses for 5-months without working. But I guess when you're a multi-millionaire sitting in your big corner office, a grip is the last thing you're thinking about.