Gawker
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jay leno
WGA Still Weighing Their Jay Leno Scab-Flogging Options
A number of notable talk show hosts made the controversial choice to cross picket lines and not grow out a strike beard during last year's WGA strike, Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres among them. More »
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By SethComment by SinisterBark: If Leno had not done an intro or whatever and the show suffered, would the Writers Guild have paid for... more » | Other threads
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labor disputes
Jay Leno Faces Surprise Suspension Threat
It's one thing for Jay Leno to be mocked endlessly by rival David Letterman for moving to an earlier timeslot. Far more insulting: Being branded a scab by his own union . More »
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By Ryan TateComment by KristaJulieva: "The union is upset that Leno wrote his own material in January 1008..." Was it really that long ago?... 2 Responses | Other threads
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snubs
WGA Noms 'Burn' Charlie Kaufman and Jenny Lumet
As shocked as we were by The Spirit being shut out of the Razzies, we're a little more surprised to see two of Hollywood's most high-profile writers snubbed in today's WGA nominations. More »
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Comment by Juancho: You have to put me in the "hate it" vs. the love-it camp for Synechdoche, NY. It felt like 2... 3 Responses | Other threads
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christopher nolan
WGA Hopes You Won't Remember Who Directed 'The Dark Knight'
When we received an awards consideration copy of The Dark Knight last week, there was clearly something missing — or, to be more accurate, censored with black felt-tip pen.
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Comment by Calraigh: What in the mother of fuck? Can somebody explain this to me, very simply, like i'm a 9 yr old because... 11 Responses | Other threads
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dexter
WGA Awards Recognize Every Half-Decent Show On TV With Its Own, Worthless Nomination
The Writers Guild unveiled its 2009 TV nominees this afternoon, revealing a radical shift in taste that rotated only one new drama and two new comedies into the year's Best Series nominations — all replacing old nominees that weren't on the air this year. Let's hear it for attrition!
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By STVComment by kyle4: Let's hope that nom for Dexter is for Season's one and two and not three. Three is nearing the shark... 1 Responses | Other threads
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tyler perry
Hottest Hollywood Scab Tyler Perry Gives In, Opens Studio to WGA
It took four fired writers, a Will Smith-defied picket line, an open letter from Tina Fey (among others), and an intervention by the NAACP, but we're happy to report that the impossible dream has finally landed at Tyler Perry Studios: The mogul is finally coming around to a deal with the WGA. More » -
wga
Unruly WGA Mob Protest 'Project Runway' Rodeo Drive Shoot
A Defamer operative going about his daily Rodeo Drive chores let us know about a standoff that went down this morning between the forces of good (underpaid and undervalued reality show writer-producers) and evil (Heidi Klum, and anything—sorry Tim Gunn fans!—Heidi Klum-adjacent). He writes: More »
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By SethComment by unclevanya: Next time I walk by Parsons on my way home from work, I'll be able to crook a slight smile... more » | Other threads
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wga
WGA Issues Fatwa Against Cheapskate Producers of 'Osbournes' Variety Show
On the heels of the Tyler Perry's House of Payne labor controversy—in which WGA heads Patric Verrone and Michael Winship filed an angry grievance with the National Labor Relations Board, demanding restitution for "an abused writing staff forced to churn out sitcom dialogue with a pistol pressed to their temples by the world's wealthiest, union-busting grandma-with-a-dick,"—comes yet another fiery piece of rhetoric from the militant duo. This time, they target Fox's planned Osbourne family variety show, for which producer FremantleMedia is hoping they can get their snappy repartee wholesale. An excerpt from their letter: More » -
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this is fi core
Fi-Core 28 Mere Pawns In Bitter WGA-AMPTP Blood Feud
Last week ended with a jaw-dropping memo from the desks of Patric Verrone and Michael Winship, in which the WGA presidents stated their desire to see the "puny few" who elected financial core during the writers strike to be "held at arm's length" by the rest of the membership, adding, perhaps a tad indiscreetly, "and should the vats of boiling tar and freshly plucked chicken feathers sitting outside our office be of some use to you, so be it." Now, the 28 black-listees have found an unlikely ally in this ugly fracas, with arch WGA nemesis the AMPTP having filed a complaint today with the Natl. Labor Relations Board, in which they claim the letter violated federal law. More » -
defamer
This Is Fi-Core: Presenting The WGA Blacklist
As Hollywood braces for the possibility of yet another work stoppage, this one by the actors' unions (as represented by their universally recognized symbol of a laughing hammer superimposed over a weeping sickle), the fallout from the last bitter labor war to hit our shores continues: In a "Letter from the Presidents" posted to the WGA's web site, Patric Verrone and Michael Winship point the end of a blood-soaked fountain pen at those members who chose to go "financial core," or fi-core as it's known in the hip-hop world, during the strike. (Recently employed by George Clooney in a tussle with the Guild over Leatherheads, it's as far as you can go towards cutting ties with the union while still being permitted to work on WGA projects.) More »
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By SethComment by InkStainedWretch: @Shumina: A bunch of the soap writers were scabs and only went fi-core when they got caught. People who... more » | Other threads
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defamer
George Clooney Withdraws From WGA Over 'Leatherheads' Snub
Remember yesterday when we posted about how incorrigibly charming George Clooney is? Well, according to Variety, the WGA might not agree. After an arbitration hearing where the Guild failed to give Clooney a writing credit for Leatherheads, he decided to become a Financial Core member. That means he can't vote, run for office, or attend meetings, yet he still has to pay dues. But as Hollywood's most rakish bachelor explains,"When your own union doesn't back what you've done, the only honorable thing to do is not participate."
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defamer
Their Contract Now Official, WGA And AMPTP Reps Are Free To Engage In Shameless PDAs
We must say, when we envisioned a scenario in which AMPTP president and chief negotiator Nick Counter took WGAw president Patric Verrone into his strong yet tender embrace on the balcony of the famed Warner Bros. water tower, and kissed his striketime adversary truly, madly, deeply on the lips to the exuberant cheers of thousands of working writers and execs below, it was pure fantasy. More »
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By SethComment by dutchtreat: Woof. Warn a girl to gather her hair in a ponytail before heaving... more » | Other threads
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By MarkComment by hollywoodhottie2008: Bruce Vilanch is Hilarious! Bruce gets hit by a semi truck. www.BruceGetsHit.com more » | Other threads
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defamer
The Strike Is Over! On Wednesday! Let There Be Rejoicing! But Not Too Much!
With word arriving over the weekend that Saturday night's WGA Scribeapalooza II: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off event at the Shrine Auditorium sent TV showrunners back to work today and will return everyone else to their jobs on Wednesday pending the outcome of a strike-ending vote to be counted tomorrow night, Hollywood can safely upgrade its feelings of Cautious Optimism to full-blown This Waking Three-Month Nightmare Is Finally Over Euphoria. More »
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By MarkComment by hack-a-rific: btw, we haven't discussed the WGA Awards winners, have we? more » | Other threads
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defamer
Breaking! Writers And Producers Reach Tentative Agreement, Spelling Imminent End To Long National Nightmare
While most of you were either out tying one on or at home sleeping one off, WGA presidents Patric Verrone (West) and Michael Winship (East) were pounding Red Bulls and firing off a 3am email to their membership announcing that a tentative deal has been reached with the AMPTP. According to the email, the deal "protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery." Huzzah! All of the deal points can be found in handy PDF format here; the email sent to guild members follows after the jump. More »
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By Mark GrahamComment by CrankYank: @TheStarterWife: Certainly won't be paying for college on internet proceeds. more » | Other threads
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defamer
Desperate Academy Begs WGA For Oscar Answers
· Anxious that the Oscars are approaching and he still has no real idea of whether or the WGA—obviously a little preoccupied with their own issues—intends to grant a waiver for their awards ceremony, Academy president Sid Ganis begs the Guild for answers so that complicated logistical issues can be resolved. "We're running out time! [desperate punctuation ours]," wails Ganis, pleading for the sweet release of either a simple "yes" or "no." [Variety] More » -
defamer
Cautious OptimismWatch, Day 2: WGA Trying Not To Get Excited Until A Contract Is In Hand
On this second day of the New Era of Cautious Optimism ushered in by Friday's "informal" bargaining session between Writers Guild negotiators and studio CEOs—when WGA West president Patric Verrone's repeated striking of Disney's Bob Iger with a foam EncounterBat™ led to a critical, tearful breakthrough on the matter of streaming video payments— the LAT reports that the Guild's West Coast board has "reacted favorably to the outlines of a pending agreement" between the warring factions. Still, they refuse to uncork the Moët until everything they've fought for is actually in contract form and put to a vote that could—dare we say it? yes, we will dare—happen as early as this weekend: More »
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By MarkComment by The Authority: The baby of the evicted PA who couldn't pay rent and can't afford formula now didn't make final cut, I... more » | Other threads
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defamer
The Strike Is Over! Or Over In A Week! Or Everyone's Being Set Up For Another Crushing Letdown!
In case you were too consumed with your Super Bowl preparations to scroll through the scores of "THE STRIKE IS OVER!!!" e-mails filling up your BlackBerry, various reports touting "progress" fueled by a breakthrough in Friday's informal deal-chat surfaced over the weekend, filling Hollywood with the kind of cautious optimism the beaten-down residents of a crippled company town haven't allowed themselves to feel since the AMPTP's Nick Counter stormed away from negotiations after claiming that someone on the WGA negotiating team had given him "the stink-eye" back in early December, ushering in weeks of unrelenting gloom. More »
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By MarkComment by gwendemarco: So, does the DVD royalty cover BluRay cuz I hear that's going to be huuugge. more » | Other threads
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trade roundup
'Moment Of Truth' To Gently Scandalize America 13 More Times
· After two high-rated (but Idol-boosted) episodes of The Moment of Truth, Fox picks up 13 more episodes of their lie-detecting semi-sensation. Evil mastermind Mike Darnell renews his promise to fix the show's pacing problems, and claims that even though these first two episodes have largely failed to shock, they've still been effective enough to induce a number of planned contestants to drop out. [THR] More »
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By MarkComment by Sweet Panda Love: Seeing as how there's a media black out on the informal WGA talks, I'm gonna guess Variety's "sources" are tea... more » | Other threads
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defamer
Lucky WGA Writer Tumbles Down Ukrainian Rabbit Hole, Discovers Scribe-Worshipping Wonderland
Recognizing that striking writers could really use a positive story to lift their flagging spirits after enduring so many disheartening months of marching in circles and dodging the occasional vehicular manslaughter attempt by lead-footed studio employees, this week's LAT Scriptland column relates the inspiring tale of improbably named WGA member Billy Frolick, who, by accepting "a mysterious offer" to script a Ukranian animation project, suddenly found himself transported to a kind of Bizarro Hollywood where scribes were not only not regarded with typical scorn, but treated as royalty. We join our narrative in progress, as Frolick alights in Kiev to meet his new collaborators: More » -
comebacks
Hollywood Scab Alex Perez Returns To Save The Oscars
It's been so long since last we heard from Hollywood superscab Alex Perez that we assumed his absence was due to a suffocating workload saving various productions from indefinite delays by quietly whipping deadline-rushed scripts into shootable form. Selflessly continuing to put the good of the industry ahead of his own professional well-being, Perez has finally returned, pitching his non-union services to desperate Academy producers. More »
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By MarkComment by l.ementary: I *heart* Alex Perez. The thing about his Oscar clips, though, is that his satire of the terrible banter is... more » | Other threads
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defamer
Hungry, Striking Writers Offered Chance To Punch Up Taco Bell Sauce Packet Jokes
Never afraid to be Hollywood-topical when they sense there's a chance to move some chalupas, the always-inventive Taco Bell marketing team has just issued a press release touting their latest promotion, an invitation to striking WGA members to submit the "words of wisdom" that adorn their hot sauce packets, generously offering a much needed outlet for the "untapped creativity" they're might otherwise misdirect towards projects like viral videos and boredom-inspired novels. More » -
defamer
Putting A Sleepy Sundance To Bed
· As a disappointing™ Sundance limps towards the finish line, buyers are proving immune to the charms of Big Name Stars like Robert DeNiro and Tom Hanks, whose films (What Just Happened and The Great Buck Howard) have "held all of the appeal of three-day-old fish." [Variety] More » -
defamer
WGA Takes Reality And Animation Off The Table, Won't Picket Grammys
How about some quick, late-afternoon strike news to break up the unpleasantness of today's dominant, thoroughly depressing story? OK then! In an e-mail blast to members, WGA West/East presidents Patric Verrone and Michael Winship say that they're happy to join in informal talks with the AMPTP, and that they've decided to pull their reality and animation proposals off the table to help get a deal done. Also, the Guild won't be picketing the Grammys, one awards show we really wouldn't have missed if it gave its life for the Cause: "In order to make absolutely clear our commitment to bringing a speedy conclusion to negotiations, we have decided to withdraw our proposals on reality and animation. Our organizing efforts to achieve Guild representation in these genres for writers will continue. You will hear more about this in the next two weeks." The full message follows after the jump: More »
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By MarkComment by gangrenejean: @Lula Mae Broadway: Uh, I work in animation. A lot of it is covered by another union now, IATSE, which... more » | Other threads
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defamer
Fiscal Insanity Returns To Sundance With Rumored $10 Million 'Hamlet 2' Deal
· NBC's Jeff Zucker has been strongly hinting that his network's upfront presentation to advertisers may be scaled back this year, if not eliminated entirely; in lieu of the customary "dog and pony show," Zucker may instead ask lieutenant Ben Silverman to show a 30-second clip of American Gladiators injuries to a ballroom full of media buyers, then circle the room with a burlap sack into which they can place the portion of their ad budgets they'd like to spend on the Peacock's new primetime schedule. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Hollywood Reacts To The DGA Deal
· The DGA, as you undoubtedly heard just moments after puffs of white smoke were belched skyward from the chimney of AMPTP headquarters, reached a deal with the studios yesterday. While anxious WGA members are picking over the proposed contract to see if any writer-screwing provisions have been hidden in the fine print, a strike-weary industry reacts: "One thing that is very clear is that with all the bad blood between the WGA and studios, the writers can strike until the end of time and they will not do better than the directors did. It is time to stop this," said a "veteran agent" obviously eager to start earning commissions again. Check out the full story to read quotes carefully chosen to make the WGA look totally unreasonable if they don't fall hopelessly in love with the terms offered the directors! [Variety] More » -
defamer
Breaking! Directors Reach Deal! (UPDATE)
It's here! It's finally here! According to Var, the Directors Guild has reached the much-rumored deal with the AMPTP that's had Hollywood aching with uneasy anticipation since the formal start of negotiations over the weekend. No details are in yet; stay tuned to see if the terms offer hope that a similar agreement can be struck with the WGA, or whether the proposed contract is so disappointing that it will just drive a fresh wedge between striking writers and the studios, plunging the town even deeper into gut-wrenching despair. More »
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By MarkComment by thrillwill: @Imnotatnbc: And in crappy Internet video too! more » | Other threads
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defamer
A Nervous Hollywood Asks: Where The Hell Is This DGA Deal Everyone Says Is On Its Way?
· Warner Brothers allows its options on the Justice League cast to lapse, putting the project on "indefinite hold," though the studio has assured its roster of mostly no-names that it still would eventually like to see what they all look like in their cute superhero costumes. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Could Strike Clouds Be Parting With Whispers Of A DGA Deal?
A rumor posted on unitedhollywood.com, and substantiated by an article in Variety, suggests the DGA is on the verge of having reached a deal with the AMPTP, if not having done so already. What this means for the WGA isn't entirely clear: United Hollywood cautions that "everyone stay calm," and give WGA negotiators an opportunity to "analyze the terms of that deal and see if they're acceptable to us as a guild or not," but picketing writers have already begun to express optimism that it will provide an acceptable template for their own. Certainly, it should hearten anyone to know that the same union that reps such highly opinionated and demanding artists as Michael Bay was able to reach a swift and workable solution, without the Transformers director even once leaning over the bargaining table to suggest to Nick Counter through a megaphone that his offer was, "BEEEEEEEP...a FUCKING JOKE, OLD MAN." More » -
defamer
Breaking! WGA Awards Winners Spoiled By Press Release! Possibly!
In an attempt to drain all the suspense from WGA Awards party you've been planning since last March (one that, given the gala-cancellation news of yesterday afternoon, would inevitably be an even more pathetic affair than Sunday's upcoming Reading Of The Golden Globes Winners By Your Favorite Access Hollywood Personalities Extravaganza Presented By NBC), the LAT's Gold Derby blog interprets the non-alphabetical ordering of nominees in the Guild's press release as a spoiler indicating the winners, citing a "goof" that may or may not have happened last year. Those interested in keeping the possible identities of this year's winners a mystery should refrain from clicking on either of the preceding links or the image above; those who'd like to think they're getting a sneak peak at the results—be the first one on the picket line to ruin the surprise for your fellow strikers, then gripe about how over-hyped you feel that particular script was!—should feel free to indulge their baser, WGA-Awards-Christmas-spoiling instincts. More »
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By MarkComment by BabylonSister: @LBJeffries: Thank the movie gods someone else is finally seeing through this scam. The Savages was brutally depressing; I can't... more » | Other threads
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awards
In a move that's sure to disappoint thousands of Written By subscribers, the WGA West has announced that it's calling off its own awards banquet, a non-televised affair once scheduled to take place at the Bonaventure Hotel on February 9th. Weirdly, however, it seems that the left-coasted outpost of the Guild didn't inform the WGA East of their plans before they put out a press release, a turn of events so disorienting that a THR editor, obviously exhausted by the non-stop barrage of awards-cancellation developments of the past few days, pushed through this amusingly scatological headline in response to the news. [THR]
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By MarkComment by BabylonSister: @thrillwill: Who's cutting the checks? Axium, of course. @LIttle Mintz Sunshine: Clearly, you've studied at the feet of the master of... more » | Other threads
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defamer
Weinstein Company, WGA About To Announce Deal Allowing Harvey Weinstein To Abuse Guild Writers Again
According to the AP, The Weinstein Company says it's about to reach the same kind of interim deal with the WGA that United Artists signed back on Monday, with the papers necessary to get back to work with union writers possibly signed by the end of the day. (Let the Official Side Deal PressReleaseWatch begin! Exciting, we know.) Once the contract is finalized, Weinstein can expect a scriptalanche like one that is reportedly burying Tom Cruise; TWC employees will undoubtedly be rejoicing that their boss will have a fresh supply of three-hole-punched projectiles to launch at their heads at the slightest provocation, as they're probably a little tired of dodging the same stale batch of screenplays he's had to use since the start of the strike. More »
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By MarkComment by BabylonSister: Why are the douchiest companies signing up first (Worldwide Pants excepted from the douchiestness)? more » | Other threads
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trade roundup
Reese Witherspoon Dumped, Quickly Scooped Up On The Rebound
· With plenty of time on their hands these days to evaluate their relationships, studios have start dropping (and/or not renewing) first-look deals with partners with whom they've fallen out of love. Not even America's Sweetheart Reese Witherspoon (and her Type A shingle) has been immune from this recent caprice, though New Line was more than happy to climb into bed with her after a recent dumping. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Show Your Fighting Cocks Pride At The Benjamin Silverman High Winter Prom
Moving quickly to fill what must have been a staggering demand for appropriate attire for the recently announced Benjamin Silverman High Winter Prom, Strike Swag has just unveiled the official B.S. High Fighting Cocks t-shirt, an item that's sure to be the first choice of any nerdy WGA attendee who doesn't have a pumpkin tuxedo in the closet that he can break out for the dance. (Those who plan on showing their Fighting Cocks pride will be happy to know their purchase benefits the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund.) More » -
defamer
United Artists Mogul Tom Cruise Reportedly Buried Under Mountain Of Thousands Of Scripts
One studio in Hollywood, at least, may not think that this strike situation is really all that bad. A Defamer operative tells us there's a rumor floating around that since it struck its side-deal with the Writers Guild earlier this week, Tom Cruise's United Artists has been deluged with "2,500" scripts as idling agents frantically abandoned their Scrabulous games and retaliatory werewolf attacks to get their clients' projects in front of pretty much the only people who can get anything done at the moment. Is that figure merely the fantasy of some tracking board poster who decided to arbitrarily assign a numerical value to "a shitload"? Probably! More »
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By MarkComment by Whiteboyfunfark: He's a very short man, Tom Cruise is. How many scripts WOULD it take to bury him? Not many I'd... more » | Other threads
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short ends
Murder Unscripted
· In an unusually star-studded strike video (Eric Bogosian! Dean Winters! B.D. Motherfucking Wong!), we're introduced to Murder Unscripted, a completely writerless police procedural. Enjoy. More » -
more notes from hollywood high
Writers Offer To Give NBC's Ben Silverman The Prom Of His Dreams
Rather than take offense at NBC prom king Ben Silverman's sneering attack on the jealous, unattractive Writers Club nerds who forced the cancellation of the Enchantment Under the Hollywood Sea Dance he'd been looking forward to since last semester, some WGA members instead have generously decided to give the senior class co-chairman the party he so badly wanted to keep alive. Next Thursday, United Hollywood and Hot in Hollywood will throw him the Benjamin Silverman High Winter Prom outside NBC's Burbank studios, hoping that their guest of honor and date Nick Counter will at least drop by to share one spotlight waltz in front of their picketing, tuxedoed schoolmates. More » -
defamer
NBC 's Ben Silverman has heard your cries for more American Gladiators, TV fans starved for anything that's not a CSI rerun, and is now reportedly mulling how many more episodes of his just-launched hit series to order. (His initial instinct is restraint: "We don't want to order 60 of them.") Also, he's cooking up something so super-secret for the new show's finale lead-in to his upcoming Knight Rider movie that, "If I [told you], Wolf and Hulk would show up at your door." Our best guess: a live WGA Nerds Vs. Gladiators deathmatch between scribes kidnapped from the picket line and his well-muscled minions, during which the prom-ruining meanies he so disdains will be pummeled in front of millions of viewers for his amusement. [TV Week] -
trade roundup
We May Be Just Moments Away From The Official Cancellation Of The Golden Globes
· What's up with the Golden Globes? The industry's collector sphincter is still uncomfortably contracted as it awaits official word from the HFPA and NBC about whether or not they'll try to put on some version of Hollywood's Drunkest Night without striking writers and sympathetically no-showing actors, though whispers are already indicating that the whole thing will be flushed. [Variety, THR] More »
defamer
Hollywood, 7:56 PM
Mon Jul 6
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