The Hollywood writers strike continues to have implications in Tinseltown and beyond. Besides filling broadcast television with dozens of reruns, the strike is also turning into a political struggle, pitting writers and other creative types against many of the biggest “power players” in the industry.
The latest example of this struggle is an announcement by the Screen Actors Guild that 72 nominees of the annual Golden Globe awards ceremony will not be attending. ENews is reporting that SAG President Alan Rosenberg has announced that representatives of each of the nominated actors have informed the Golden Globes that their clients will not be attending the award show.
“We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity,” said Rosenberg in a prepared statement Friday. The 65th annual Golden Globes is now in question, and whether the show goes airs or not, it is likely that the red carpet will be unusually bare this year.
The problem is that Hollywood actors don’t want to be seen crossing picket lines to appear on the awards show as either acceptors or presenters of awards. SAG is also encouraging its members not to appear on late-night television programs such as “The Late Show with David Letterman,” or “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”
So far, NBC is reporting that the Golden Globes awards show will air as scheduled on January 13. NBC is presumably taking that old adage, “the show must go on,” a bit too seriously, as it is likely that few if any name celebrities will take part in the awards.
As for the negotiations that might lead to an end of the writer’s strike, industry and union officials expressed optimism Thursday that some sort of interim deal could be reached that would allow writers to contribute limited features to several of the late-night shows. Unfortunately, the Writers Guild quickly refused any interim deal, closing the door on further negotiations until industry representatives are prepared to meet their demands.
Hopefully, Hollywood industry representatives will reach an arrangement with the striking writers soon. Reruns are already a big enough problem on American television, and since the writers strike has been in effect, the problem has worsened considerably.
Entertainment shows such as Late Night with Conan O’Brien have returned to the air, without the benefit of comedy writers. Both Jay Leno and David Letterman have also begun broadcasting new shows, though the format and the quality of the shows has certainly been affected by the lack of quality comedy writing.
In a show of solidarity with the striking writers, both David Letterman and Conan O’Brien have refused to shave until the strike is settled. This past week, viewers got their first glance of a grey-bearded David Letterman, and most agree it wasn’t a pretty sight! Let’s hope the strike is settled soon, for everyone’s sake.
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