Writer's Guild Going on Strike

ahalpert said:
All the hosts have FU money. All the more reason he doesn't need to scab. He's undermining the living standards of the rank and file in the industry

He knows what the right thing to do is or he never would have suspended his show to begin with
Click to expand...

I believe he takes a summer hiatus anyway. Now that summer it is over it is time to get back to work, folks.
The difference between Maher (note the correct spelling!) and other hosts is that he has FU money and an FU atttitude. He doesn't care what you or anyone else thinks. That is very much unlike the other hosts. Plus the other hosts have advertisers and suits who's asses have to be kissed. Plus he has a whloe standup career and prettty good podcast to fall back on if HBO pulls the rug out from under him. Kudos to Bill for doing what he thinks is right. You don't have to agree, but he doesn't care either way.
 
Last edited:
Doug Jensen said:
I believe he takes a summer hiatus anyway. Now that summer it is over it is time to get back to work, folks.
The difference between Maher (note the correct spelling!) and other hosts is that he has FU money and an FU atttitude. He doesn't care what you or anyone else thinks. That is very much unlike the other hosts. Plus the other hosts have advertisers and suits who's asses have to be kissed. Plus he has a whloe standup career and prettty good podcast to fall back on if HBO pulls the rug out from under him. Kudos to Bill for doing what he thinks is right. You don't have to agree, but he doesn't care either way.
Click to expand...

Right, he doesn't care what snyone else thinks... the problem is that this isn't like angering people by expressing an unpopular opinion (for example publicly criticizing the strike). It's more like parking in a handicapped spot when you don't have a handicap and not caring that people get mad at you about it. He's doing material harm to the underdog in this fight. As Stephen King said of Maher, "This is exactly how strikes are broken."

Maher stopped Real Time this year when the writer's strike started. Last year it went through the end of June and then picked up again at the end of July. So, he definitely took time off due to the strike. But true to form, he's not willing to inconvenience himself much for other people.
 
“I will honor the spirit of the strike by not doing a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces that I am so proud of on Real Time. And I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop,” he said. “But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.”

Well, he's modified the format and production of the show so writers are not needed. Seems fair to me. If he feels he can do a show without the help of certain people who choose not work, more power to him and everyone else on the payroll that don't want to have their livlihoods destroyed by a few people on the crew who think they deserve more money. Why are the writer's needs more important than the rest of the crew? Writers can strike if they want, but the show will go on without them. Not as a good a show, I'm sure, but a show nevertheless. Kudos to Bill for saying enough is enough.
 
Last edited:
Doug Jensen said:
“I will honor the spirit of the strike by not doing a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces that I am so proud of on Real Time. And I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop,” he said. “But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bull**** and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.”

Well, he's modified the format and production of the show so writers are not needed. Seems fair to me. If he feels he can do a show without the help of certain people who choose not work, more power to him and everyone else on the payroll that don't want to have their livlihoods destroyed by a few people on the crew who think they deserve more money. Why are the writer's needs more important than the rest of the crew? Writers can strike if they want, but the show will go on without them. Not as a good a show, I'm sure, but a show nevertheless. Kudos to Bill for saying enough is enough.
Click to expand...

That's cute. But the problem, as Maher knows full well, is that he's mitigating the economic impact on the studio. The best case scenario is it simply extends the strike and the AMPTP caves later. The worst case scenario is it helps the AMPTP outlast the strikers and it was all for nought.

It's like if he told his wife, "I'm having an affair. But I feel TERRIBLE about it. I still love you. And I don't perform as well for her as I do for you."

The writers are harming themselves as well by striking. That's why I tend to give strikers the benefit of the doubt. It's not a choice they will make lightly. I think that both the WGA and SAG strikes as well as the UAW strike reflect an eroding position for labor in their respective industries that needs to be rebalanced.

He could keep doing standup. That's not struck work. And there's no reason Maher couldn't do something like the other hosts did. He could do a podcast series of an off-the-cuff panel discussion and give the proceeds to his crew. But he's a dyed in the wool asshole so that would be a real surprise.
 
ahalpert said:
But the problem, as Maher knows full well, is that he's mitigating the economic impact on the studio. .
Click to expand...

Actually, I'll bet it is just the opposite. As you already pointed out, ratings for the show are miniscule. HBO's revenue comes from subscribers who get everything HBO offers, and I highly doubt anyone is going suddenly decide to sign up for HBO just to get a crippled version of Real Time. In other words, no extra income will come to HBO for resuming production. And since the show is current events based, they aren't building a library of shows that will have legs. So, I'd wager the production costs to produce the show each week will greatly exceed whatever extra income you think it will generate. Therefore it is actually a net loss for HBO.

ahalpert said:
It's like if he told his wife, "I'm having an affair. But I feel TERRIBLE about it. I still love you. And I don't perform as well for her as I do for you.".
Click to expand...

That's a ridiculous analogy, but if you really want to go down that road, here's my take: The guy didn't start it. The wife did. So, if a guy's wife says "You're not gonna get any more sex until I get a raise at the office." Then the I'd say the husband is free to do whatever he wants after waiting 5 months and with no end it sight. He didn't start the strike. He has no ability to give the wife a raise. He's free to do whatever he needs to do to mitigate the damage being done. And in the case of Maher, he's not even saying he'll take a mistress. He's saying he'll just move along without the wife or a mistress. But the wife won't stand for it.

It is not the host of any show's obligation to pay the staff. Get real. If everyone is willing to show up for work except the writers, and a show can be put together without those writers, then tthey have every right to do so. Nobody is taking the writer's job at the show and the writers are free to come back and join the team at any time they want. The writers think they can hold everyone hostage.

Isn't it ironic that the writers are celebrated for puting their selfish needs over and above everyone else's. But when the tables are turned and people say, "do what you want, but we're going go on without you", oh GOD!!! they're all a bunch of scabs. The writers can't have it both ways. If they aren't team players why should everyone else support them while their own income drops to zero?

BTW, if there was a national florist union and they decided to strike against weddings, but brides went ahead anyway with home grown flowers, would you continue shooting weddings? What would your wife and kiddies say after five months?
 
Last edited:
One more thought. The writers might be on strike, but I'll bet the smart ones are still writing plenty. All they need is a pencil and piece of paper to practice their trade. If you were a writer wouldn't you be taking advantage of this opportunity to work on a screenplay, a novel, a treatment, story ideas for your show when it comes back into production, a magazine article, or whatever. Tons of things a writer can be doing in private during the strike to keep busy and create content that can be pulled out of their ass at a later date and time. But what about the rest of the crew on a studio show like Real Time? Most of them do not have jobs that can be done independently. They're just suppsed to sit around wondering how they're going to pay their bills? And when the strike ends, they have made no advancement whatsover. All they lost was 5+ months of productivity and income.

Maher said he would resume production. But he couldn't actually put together a show if everyone else on the crew wasn't also ready to get back to work. That speaks volumes. You can second guess them all you want -- but YOU aren't them.

BTW, you quoted Stephen King ealier. I am a huge Stephen King fan and have read 90% of everything he's published. Did he happen to say if he had stopped writing in solidarity with the srikers? Has he paused his normal routine of writing every day until 1:00 in the afternoon? Seems odd he didn't come out and say he'd stopped writing. Shouldn't make any difference if he's in the WGA union or not. Support is support, right?
 
Last edited:
Actually, I just found this Stephen King tweet: "I'm on strike as a member of the WGA."
So do you think he's not writing anything at all? Yeah, right. Writers have plenty of other stuff to do with their time that isn't for screen. The good writers with ideas on the back burner are probably loving the free time the srike is giving them to focus on those pet projects or other endeavors.
 
Last edited:
Doug Jensen said:
...Maher said he would resume production. But he couldn't actually put together a show if everyone else on the crew wasn't also ready to get back to work. That speaks volumes.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering how Maher and Barrymore are able to produce shows. Are the writers the only staff in the unions? So the rest of the crew don't mind crossing the picket line?
 
I had more to say in response to Doug when time permits, but I just wanted to flag that apparently Maher has postponed his return, saying:

My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike. Now that both sides have agreed to go back to the negotiating table I’m going to delay the return of Real Time, for now, and hope they can finally get this done.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/billmaher/statu...turn-real-time-hbo-writers-strike-1235549606/

He's alive to me again :)
 
Damn!!!!! He's dead to me. I never would have expected this reversal. It shakes my faith in humanity. :-)

Abe, whatever else you were going to say, keep it. I'm done with this whole topic. But I did enjoy the debate.
 
Last edited:
MNF on ESPN was the only reason I was keeping alive the YouTubeTV subscription after the Texas vs Alabama game and US Open Tennis ended. I didn't care about the latter two except they were essential for out of town guests last week. Where I live in the Royal Gorge region of Colorado, there is no cable service. Satellite requires a contract, YouTubeTV, Sling and Fubo are about the same price as cable and satellite but no contract required, cancel anytime. After football, switch to Fubo because they are the only service to carry Altitude Network, the only way to get the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games. So yes, I have to do a bit of planning and moving among the services. YouTubeTV which I have currently is about $70 month. ABC I get free over the air so with MNF on ABC I can now drop the linear tv service bundle. High speed internet is also a bit hit or miss out here. There is no service to the curb available, so I get it over T-Mobile 5G home internet cell towers. It's unlimited and not throttled, but when busy the speeds slow down. When it speeds back up I can get 8K 60P over YouTube, so highly variable. Just the compromises I have to make for living in a beautiful and private part Colorado. (I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, AppleTV+ and Vudu/Fandango). There is plenty of other free content with ads on Pluto, Flex, Freevee, and others. So yes, with MNF that's 10 free weeks without paying for a bundle.
 
Last edited:
I'm a Long Islander and one of those people who voted to have Long Island be considered its own state like 10 years ago, lol - so can't relate to living in the city (although I did on two separate occasions in my life for about a year each time), but most people around this general area and tri-state have that so-called New York in them.
 
Broncos must play at least one MNF game (haven't checked) so that one, if so, should be on local TV...so 9? lol
 
$70/month for YouTube tv??

In other news, just wanted to share this feel good story:

Incredible story from @DRBoguslaw on the UAW seriously outsmarting the automakers:

CNBC reported, citing a "source familiar with the UAW strategy," a list of plants that they said the UAW planned to strike.

The Big Three moved a bunch of engines around and shut down various plants to anticipate it.

They were wrong on every count, and, at great expense, moved engines from plants that didn't strike to plants that did strike.

Total fail by the executives, which allowed the UAW to paralyze their operations while still sending most of their members to work, conserving the strike fund.

CNBC was cribbing from a trade publication, which probably got their information from some strike-breaking consultant -- who was clearly played for a fool by the UAW.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1704239981131092010?t=_TY56OsquPY_f2ykfstvcA&s=19
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top