The Innocent Bystanders of the Writer's Strike
by Brian Tallerico

The writer's strike is threatening to head into its second month and you may not think that it matters to anyone outside of tinseltown but there are countless victims in this debacle that aren't on either side of the negotiation. Each day the writer's strike goes on, more and more people will be affected by it, to the point that the ripple is starting to grow into a worldwide wave. How will the strike impact you directly or people you know? Who is most feeling the pain of the shutdown in Hollywood? Of course, the writers and other behind-the-scenes people who are not getting paid now and may never get paid again are the top of the list, but who are the bystanders, the people not causing the ripple but the ones affected by it nonetheless? Let us guide the way.

Talk Show Fans

The first casualty of the writer's strike were the talk shows, those programs so reliant on current, up-to-date writing to stay relevant. Jay Leno or David Letterman could probably string together a few jokes without writers, but most people don't understand how much of a team each of their late night personalities have behind them every night. It takes a dozen people to write an episode of Late Night, The Daily Show, or even The Tonight Show. With their writers on strike, most of the talk shows went into repeats immediately. Ellen DeGeneres stayed on the air and played bizarre games with her guests and other things that supposedly didn't require writers. It was a decision that may have backfired as many people saw her as a scab, someone who wasn't supporting her writers. David Letterman rose to the top, as he often does, and agreed to pay his writers through the end of the year (there were rumors Jon Stewart was going to follow suit on The Daily Show) but most talk shows are dark and their writers are out of work. And their fans are suffering. It was announced this week that Carson Daly would come back, but, and this is meant as no offense to Daly fans, he's a minor player in the talk show game and as long as the big players stay off the air, the longer the format will suffer. Imagine six months or a year without Leno or Letterman. Is it possible they wouldn't matter any more? Would they still have fans? Only time will tell but don't expect the kings of late night to wait that long. They know that to stay relevant they need to be on the air and now that Daly has come back, expect the others to follow soon. Who thought Carson Daly would ever be the first one to do anything? Hopefully, his return will bring everyone back and speed along a quick solution to the strike, not just breed more animosity versus hosts and writers.

Next Year's Oscar Bait

Brad Pitt wanted a rewrite on State of Play, his latest project with Edward Norton and one that he had been trying to get made for years. The problem is that a rewrite during a writer's strike is a physical impossibility, so Pitt walked and now the entire project, one that also stars Helen Mirren and Robin Wright Penn might fall apart. The crew behind the Tom Hanks project, Angels and Demons, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, knew that the project wasn't done on a writing scale and it's now been delayed. Oliver Stone has been trying to make Pinkville for years and that project fell apart last Friday because, you guessed it, the script wasn't complete. Pinkville was to star Bruce Willis, who argued with Stone and writer Mikko Alanne to cross the picket line and finish the script. It didn't happen and the three-month shoot that was to start December 10th has been canceled. The entire project may be in jeopardy now. Johnny Depp was to star in Mira Nair's Shantaram, shooting next February and based on a book that WB paid 2 million dollars for. That project is done at least until the strike is over. And the problem is that all of these projects may now forever be in jeopardy of never happening because the A-list actors involved may have other commitments for next Spring or Summer. If State of Play doesn't find a replacement soon (and Russell Crowe is rumored to do just that), it may never happen. Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis - all out of work. The rumored celebrity edition of Big Brother could really have some A-list talent with nothing to do.

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