Discuss the writers, producers and other crew here. Letter-to-the-writers type posts are allowed, but this thread is broader than that. It's also the place to discuss the writers' work on FNL as a whole, or directors, producers, etc. Enjoy!

I'm bumping this up for people who want to talk about how the strike will specifically affect FNL.

If you want to talk about the strike in more general terms (how it will affect the industry as a whole, whether or not other unions will join, etc) there's a TV Industry Watch thread in the TV Potluck area.

Taking this from the Ratings/Schedule thread, since this is where it should be:



That's a good question. I could see them doing that if they are expecting the worst.

I wonder if the writers have been working this weekend to try and get episode 16 done though.

And what are people like Jeff Reiner going to do? He's a writer, exec. producer, and director. Is he going to stop doing his job because he's obligated with the WGA???

Right. If they could get Episode 16 done, that really could take them through February Sweeps if they just showed repeats or other shows for a few of the intervening weeks.

The LA Times has a grid listing the state of shows and how they would be affected by the strike.

FNL is expected to complete 15 scripts out of 22.

There's a very odd extras call for Monday. (Normally they always claim they won't know the shoot details until Sunday evening, so there's no reason they'd suddenly make a deal about not having them on Friday.) I think they think there's at least a possibility that other unions will go out, and they won't be able to shoot. (Even if the writers are busting their butts this weekend to write one more episode, surely that wouldn't change shooting for Monday.)


I wonder if they could just not cut the scenes quite as short, and include the deleted scenes, and turn 15 into 16. I know sometimes there are story arcs that have to all go in the same episode, but now that they've broken the pattern of having the game at the end, it seems like they could just let some arcs flow over to the next week.

Right now, the WGA is telling them that they can perform "non-writing" duties, though they don't encourage it and would really prefer the hyphenates stay off set, period. WGA says they can't absolutely cut episodes for time, make changes in script directions, or make adjustments in dialogue, among other things. I think the cutting episodes edict is the one I've seen the most argument over. So Jeff Reiner could go to work, but he'd have to honor everything in the script.

ETA: I also found that extras call odd. If the teamsters decide not to cross picket lines, casting would be affected by that. So maybe they've had some indications that not everyone is going to show up on Monday (of course the writers won't).

I'm getting worried and pissed. I'm booked for Tuesday and wednesday. Does this strike mean those bookings won't happen? is there any hope that there won't be a strike at this point??

I doubt very seriously the writers are "busting their butts" to get episode 16 done this weekend. Why give the people you are trying to leverage another episode to shoot and air? it's self-defeating

And as for the teamsters, there is no union rule that says they cannot cross picket lines. rather it is an individual choice. but as my husband has told me repetatedly those teamsters are serious and they won't cross so any place that is picketed is effectively shut down. but i doubt writers will be picketing in austin so fnl production should be fine

I'm not sure the writers are busting their butts either. A friendly acquaintance of mine is also a hyphenate and s/he had to walk of their show the other day.

Does anyone know how many "hyphentates" are on FNL?

The not making adjustments in dialogue has me worried. FNL does that all the time. How are they going to get around that?

I don't think actors' ad libs/improvisations are considered rewrites.

Most of the other people involved in TV/movie production (SAG, the DGA, AFTRA and IATSE) are covered by other unions that have a no strike clause in their contracts, so actors and directors have to cross picket lines. The folks most likely to refuse to cross are production workers covered by Teamsters.

The Directors Guild members are in an especially difficult position here - their members have to report for work in their directoral capacity, even if they are also writers. Making things worse, their two guilds are issuing conflicting interpretations about what they may do. From Variety "As for the DGA, it has disputed the WGA's strike rules covering showrunners, asserting that the writer-directors must perform a variety of tasks -- such as cutting for time, bridging material and changes in stage direction -- that the WGA deemed off limits. The DGA's warned its hyphenate members that failure to perform those tasks will leave those members in breach."

I would think figuring out where to draw the line would be especially hard on a show like FNL that works so loosely from the scripts and lets the actors improvise their own lines and change how a scene works as they film. From reading earlier casting sides then watching the scene actually used in the show, pretty much every scene has some changes from the way it was originally written.

Is this really much of an issue? I thought most showrunners were and are writers but very few did any direction, except as a dilettante. That is, don't most showrunners belong to the WGA but not the DGA? For instance, looking on IMDB at all the people credited as exec producers on FNL, all have multiple writing credits on this show and others but only Peter Berg has any directing credits (and only one for an FNL episode).

Actors are allowed to improvise, but nobody is allowed to change dialogue in a pre-meditated fashion because that would be considered "writing".

Now even if they have scripts through episode 16 written, it'll be a conceptual nightmare to actually shoot those things. They are literally not allowed to change anything in the script, not even locations or stage directions. For example, if the script specifies that a scene is supposed to take place outside an IHOP, but the producers are unable to get filming permits for the location, they can't change the location in the story. They would probably have to find another building and disguise it as an IHOP. It should be really interesting to see how all the shows find ways to dance around this scenario.

For the most part, though, FNL scripts don't have stage directions, do they? They film in a unique way.

WGA's announced picketing locations for today are just LA and NYC (not Friday Night Lights or Prison Break).

I'm wondering how it works with the non-entertainment unions. If they are shooting at a school, would the teacher's union refuse to come to work? Would the UPS guy refuse to deliver any packages? If they're staging at a city-owned facility, does AFSCME stay out? (I'm wondering if this is why FNL is suddenly cagey about their locations for the day.)

The Directors Guild says the Director can change stage directions. The writers may have prescribed something, but it is always ultimately up to the Director to decide what does and doesn't work. If he wants an actor entering stage left instead of stage right, that is the director's call, not the writers'. This is a point of conflict between the WGA and the DGA.

The LA Times has said the UPS guy not crossing the lines scenario has already happened today, so it seems that if other unions have clauses that allow them to do so, many other non-entertainment people can refuse.

EDIT: Jason Katims is one of the showrunners mentioned in this "pencils down" list from the WGA

The article you link does not say anything about actors walking off of sets. Did you get that from elsewhere?

The SAG has instructed its members that they are contractually bound to work under a no strike clause in the SAG contracts. They have encouraged actors to support the picketers in their own time, though, and I think that it what we see described in the Hollywood Reporter article.

Actully, yeah, I did. I accidentally posted the wrong lin. Here's the one I meant to post from AICN.

This article includes a laundry list of shows frozen in production as actors and producers are joining the picket lines. If SAG told actors to go to work, they aren't doing it. Many of them are saying they consider acting to be part of the creative/authorship process and that they aren't going to work during the strike.

Like I said, the FNL cast isn't specifically mentioned and I suppose it's possible they'll cross the picket lines but the sentiment of the acting community is against it.

But they aren't picketing in Austin, are they?

"Crossing the picket lines" can be metaphoric as well as literal. Anyone going to work in any industry that is on strike is technically crossing the picket lines. Of course it's much tougher when they have to literally wade through the strikers to get to work. But those on strike consider it "scab" behavior for anyone to go to work in the industry they are seeking to close down. Since many actors in LA are honoring the strike, that puts additional pressure on other actors to do so.

I fully sympathize with the writers' cause but I sure hope this whole mess gets cleared up soon.

I imagine there's some conflict for the major FNL actors. They may want to support their LA-based colleagues, either because they agree with their position or because it would be worthwhile in the future to have a favor to call in. But they may also want to support their Texas-based colleagues, who left more regular work (voiceovers, independent and industrial films, etc) for this TV show, and kinda need to pay the rent.


Man, if I were WGA I would sure dredge up a couple of picketers. Not just to be mean and try to shut FNL down, but for the opportunity to present my case to a new-media savvy audience. I think for most of America, this strike is just a bunch of whiny overpaid Hollywood babies keeping us from watching our shows. The Austin media market has an industrial mixture which includes a lot of people who are impacted by things like intellectual property rights and online distribution of their work (music, games, software, etc), and could well be more symphathetic to the writers' concerns.

Austin has a surprising number of WGA members living there. I was an assistant manager at a movie theater there in the late '90s, and we had a number of WGA folks show up there for official screenings of films that were up for WGA awards. I don't know where they would picket, but Guild members there could choose a location to congregate if they decided to.

However, do the FNL writers actually work in Austin? I'm pretty sure they work in LA, just like the writers of all those shows that shoot in Vancouver.

Yeah, I would imagine major conflict as well, for the very good reasons you list, plus the fact that with the show already hanging by a thread, this kind of stoppage is the last thing it needs. Tough, tough decision for the actors. Another reason I hope this all gets settled within the next few days.

I can tell you there is no picketing going on here in Austin. The majority of the crew that works on FNL is non-union and local. Texas is a right to work state and labor unions have very little influence here. The production office looks the same as it does everyday (I work right across the street). So it looks as though things are moving along normally from here.

I've just moved some schedule-related posts.

Discussion about the writers, the crew, and other aspects of the strike affecting the show can continue go in this thread.

Discussion about how the strike might affect the schedule and/or the ratings should go in Scheduling and Ratings.

Thanks.

It's not that working writers picket the place where they physically sit and work. It's that WGA members picket companies WGA is striking against. (Not all of them every day - some strategist works out which ones.)

I wouldn't expect to see literal picketing in Texas, just people not showing up for work. Texas may be an anti-labor state but that won't affect the WGA or SAG members.

Isn't KC's wife a writer? I thought I read somewhere that she was one, but maybe she isn't any more.

I would imagine this will be the case with any of the unionized crew on the set, not just the actors. Often when unions go on strike, other unions involved go on strike in solidarity. A few years ago, the musicians union on Broadway went on strike and the producers planned for shows to go on without them using canned orchestras, but in the end, the actors union refused to work in support of the musicians and they were no Broadway musicals for almost a week. It's possible a similar situation will happen again later this year due to stagehands threatening to strike (I don't even want to think about the possibility of no TV OR theatre!).

When a union strikes, it's pretty much bad news all around. We may have enough scripts to get to episode 15, but the show having a large number of local and non-union workers isn't going to stop the union workers from not showing up if they so desire, slowing or halting production.

If the SAG actors have a no-strike clause in their contract, they have to abide by it. The actors are required to honor their contracts.

The SAG members picketing are likely doing so when they are not working - the no-strike clause doesn't keep them from joining pickets in their free time, and I understand they have been encouraged to do so. I haven't seen any reports that actors are actually refusing work, just that they have been seen on picket lines.

ETA: for bigger names, this is probably less of an issue, because even if they do refuse to work it's not likely they will get their contracts cancelled, so they could probably do it as a practical matter, if not a contractual one.

The producer of FNL has joined the strike.

Speaking of actors walking off the set, Julia Louise Dreyfus did it.


The producers, at least, are doing more than just supporting the strike after hours, they are actually refusing to run the shows. A number of these shows have shut down production which makes it a moot point whether the actors themselves are technically "striking."

It depends. The majority of the picketing is happening at corporate headquarters for studios, but some has occurred at shooting locations for shows, like a house where they were shooting Desperate Housewives, and Silver Cup Studios in New York where 30 Rock and Gossip Girl have their soundstages and production offices.

Well seeing as Katims is our head writer, it's no surprise he's picketing with the rest of the writing staff.

Can somebody please tell me how this show, in particular, can work off, with strict adherence, scripts that are produced so far in advance? I understand the DGA and WGA disagree about changing a stage direction. But I don't see how the actors can just improv their way through another five or six eps. At a minimum, character changes that may be revealed through the process of acting/filming will be lost. If this were true last year, we would not have Jesse and Brad in near the number of scenes (or at all) we enjoy now.

Anyway, am I alone in thinking that Katims and the other powers just may realize they are too hamstrung and they aren't making the show they need to make and will shut down?

I have never been a part of a series production and would love to learn from those who have. Just what are the chances that a show like this can manage beyond two or three eps without rewrite ability?

Can I post an editing observation here? It seems like the right place.

One thing that bugs me, that seems like an easy fix, is choosing which scene to open the show with. Although the editors do an amazing job overall, for some reason, they pick terrible opening scenes. The scenes by themselves aren't terrible, just their placement.

If I'm someone who has never seen the show and I'm watching Deal or No Deal, and then a scene set in Mexico, with Spanish music blaring and a girl getting out of a cab, I'm going to think maybe I accidentally switched the tv to Telemundo, and change the channel.

This week, they chose a bland scene with Tim, Lyla and Jason in the truck driving home. Not a bad scene, but kind of boring. If I weren't a fan, it wouldn't entice me to watch the show, that's for sure.

Instead, they should have flip-flopped those scenes with the Taylor family scenes that immediately followed them. Last week's was funny and sexy and even if I were a non-viewer, I'd probably at least pause to see what was going to happen. I'd wonder: Was that guy ever going to get back in bed with his wife? Or, wow, as a mom, I can so relate!

This week, we get the incredibly realistic morning scene at the Taylor's, and then there's the paycheck. For me, that's another thing that, if I were a new viewer, it might catch my interest. I'd just want to know how it was handled. I think we can all relate to a mistake in our pay.

Moved again! To the TV Industry Watch thread. :)

If the strike talk pertains specifically to FNL, then it can go here.

General discussion about networks using web content to circumvent writers' rights should go in TV Industry Watch.

I'm not sure if this decision is even in Katims and TPTB's hands at this point. Does the network decide to shut down production, or do the producers?

I'd hope that the quality of the post-strike episodes doesn't suffer, though. While I think it'd prove to the networks how needed the writers are, I don't want NBC to point to quality issues during those episodes as a reason why FNL shouldn't be on the air.

Interesting article from the New York Times about Executive Producer Brian Grazer - Hollywood Producer of Varied Interests, Many Hits, but Little Fame By Allison Hope Weiner.

Did anyone in the LA area join the picket line last Friday with the FNL writers? Any info?