WGA strike may effect award shows

This article takes the position that this is a bad thing. Honestly, most of the prewritten stuff for the award shows is trash anyway. Think of the last Oscars. Of all the prewritten segments, only the best director introduction where Lucas was made to feel bad and the musical number with Will Ferrell and Jack Black were worth the time. Jon Stewart isn't commenting on how it will effect him. And Bruce Vilanch is, well, however you feel about Bruce Vilanch won't be changed here.

Sorry for the vacation

As a student who also works and is very sick, it sometimes is hard to keep up with everything. On top of that, I can not effectively blog from home because my laptop is, at best, slow. So, for the rest of the day I will be providing all the updates I can.

CONFIRMED: LOST to be split in half.

It seems that, unless the strike ends quickly and abruptly, Season 4 of LOST will be eight episodes, half of the original order, and 24 episodes will air in 2008 in a fashion not unlike, say, '24', according to Kristin on E! Online.

Damon Lindelof had this to say:

"It's as much of a conclusion as, say, Ana-Lucia and Libby getting shot. An eight-episode season is an incomplete season, and I am not going to try to spin it any other way."

So there you have it, it seems pretty much certain that LOST will be broken up and the more days pass the less likely it is '24' will be on before September.

Governator tries to end strike

The BBC (among others) is reporting that Arnold is working behind the scenes to put an end to the strike. This on top of rumors and reports of everyone from John Edwards to Bill Clinton offering to help and pretty much every politician in the game is getting their hands dirty in this.

"Below the Line" employees hurt first

A story on M&C pretty much lays out what the strike means from those who work in "below the line" work: an immediate loss of jobs. Those who work the jobs that are listed in the little box of the credits while you're seeing a promo are losing jobs as shows across Hollywood and elsewhere are shutting down. With no end in sight for the strike and the extreme cost of living in LA, there's going to be a lot of car payments missed if this strike continues. And remember for some of these people a car payment is a house payment, too. While the writers are getting a rough deal on this, these folks will probably get hit even worse.

Ellen under fire

Ellen DeGeneres is coming under fire for crossing picket lines, according to a report on several news stations and this story on WSYR. Ellen crossed picket lines to produce a new episode of her show, which many writers felt as an insult. While Letterman, Leno, O'Brien, Stewart and Colbert all declined to return to the air, DeGeneres is the first major cross of the line as far as comedian talk show hosts go. In the end, Ellen's move seems rather meaningless. If she continues to go with it should could pull the "only game in town" routine, but she may alienate more people that she gains by this move. Time will tell.

Some writers may be out of work after strike

The networks may be using the strike to end deals with producers they feel to be "non-productive", according to Hollywood Today. The very well written story explores the possibility that the producers may have planned this from the start and, while not completely convincing, it is interesting and worth reading.