The WGA may be the best advocate of IPTV as a Broadcast service... The point is these people, as well as many directors, and some SOME producers, see IPTV as the future of Television. Both ad supported for free and Download royalties.

Indeed they are one of the major groups lobbying for ISP Royalty Fees to allow all users to download whatever they want when ever they want and be 100% legal because a marginal fee is tacked on to ISP monthly service and that constitutes a revenue stream to be tapped as they would with broadcast networks.

Problem is the networks 1: don't believe in this concept as a revenue builder, and 2: Don't like giving up defective Rights Management controls in favor of a download what you want DRM free system. Believing that if they can eventually gain ultimate control of the Digital medium they will stand to make more money then from a traditional royalty system that they would see if IPTV was considered a basic broadcast with the FCC.

Point is WGA can see the future, and where the money is. The studios can not. And even if they can they want the largest chunk of the profits BEFORE the WGA gets the opportunity to set SOP in regards to Online Streaming with ads or download TV profits. They have tried to bypass them in the past and been caught. now they do it again, and Guess what, Despite all their posturing over the demise of Digital medium, Its still the largest potential profit machine then any other revenue stream they have available to them.

Dude...

Where do you think you are? Ars.Technica?

This is BetaNews. We jump on the storiesi(f we even read them at all) and make wild assumptions, accusations, and jump into meaningless and pointless (but very entertaining) arguments that are usually not in any way, shape, or form related to the original topic.

This is what we do and what we have done for years here. We like it. It's comfortable, familiar, and we get to feel momentarily superior to others we can out-BS (until someone else out-BSes us).

Get with the program... Sheesh. ;)

/that was sarcasm
//kinda...

"could mean a complete work stoppage in Hollywood"

Hey, finally some good news in the world!

o darn... no new eppisodes of the great show..... man i cant think of one

"Ouch", you really need to see a psychiatrist. Your obsession with that guy is getting to be unhealthy and it is compromising this forum.

...and here I missed it.

Was Fake-Tool here again? Banned again?

I fear I'm starting to lose my motivation to keep up with him.

Ah well... I suppose, if I ever miss it, I could just go watch retards at the zoo or something.

n addition, producers want a promotional clause that would let them stream videos without the need to pay any residuals, as well as allow a "window" of free reuse on the Internet,

LOL the producers want a "window" of free reuse on the Internet!

Personally if a show aired on broadcast TV FOR FREE, then it should be FREE to watch streaming or download to what ever device you have.

Pretty much every primetime TV show is just a re-hash of someone else's story. Seinfeld was pretty original as Larry David wrote the episodes with Jerry. I noticed a lot of those stories now carry over to Curb your Enthusiasm.

If anyone's noticed, most of the writing pretty much sucks these days, let em walk.

I agree, no big loss. Reminds me of when the ball players struck, and they got people who hadn't made the teams to play...it was more interesting till they shut down the season.

The good writers will have no trouble doing what they do best, but for indepedents. The rest of them can write ads for McDonalds. Or I know a President who could use some new writers...

The big studios deserve to shrink, based on what they put out.

And the networks should hire striking writers to be their programming executives. Maybe we'd see better TV.

Has anybody written anything memorable in the last 20 years out of the writers guild? No, seriously.

I remember the Stars Wars light saber guy and the dude singing the Czech song. Did they write those?

It all pretty much sucks.

*shrug*

Perhaps this is just what the doctor ordered.

Come on join the internet revolution!!! who needs the middleman(the studio) anymore... Just look at Jib-Jab all the others..

The MPAA will have to follow the RIAA future biz model.. If they don't follow it they will be crashed by it...

Google should come in a hire these people!! To write for Googles IPTV network!!

Fire 'em all. There hasn't been any decent original programming on the "Big" networks since *before* 1988, for pete's sake.

bring in some new blood form the "new media". Problem solved.

The old-school hacks have lost their ability to be creative. Time to pass the torch.

I disagree --- while there isn't very MUCH good stuff out there, I must admit that my wife and I found "Damages" to be a terrific show.

Of course we tivo'd it so we didn't have to see the commercials.

Must admit I haven't seen it.

*shrug*

I'll not endevour to either. I'll take your word for it if you'll allow me to amend my post as such;

Fire 'em all. There has been very, very little decent original programming on the "Big" networks since *before* 1988, for pete's sake.

Better? I wanted to add a few more "very"s, but...

how hard is it to just re-write old scripts??

Obviously not at all. Hollowood wouldn't exist without that ability. Cannibalism is a fundamental part of the movie biz, but the people striking are the ones who do that kind of work.

Fire the whole lot of them, these so called "writers" haven't written anything but crap for years. Because of this we might actually get something fresh to watch for a change:

http://www.syfyportal.com/news424341.html

So true.

Time for an oil change. (damn...car analogy...shoot me now)

Holy Crap, do you really think it's the writers who decide what gets on film? Wake up, please. It's a business, and the writers are workers. They do what the producers and directors say, and if the final product sucks, guess what: it wasn't the writer who shot and edited it.

Next you'll tell me reporters are the ones who decide what gets reported. ;-)

The writers are the ones that come up with the stories, jokes, etc. Go and watch Leno or Letterman and listen to the tired, unfunny monologues they do every night or those horrible top ten lists that haven't been funny in 20 years. You're saying the writers are not the ones to blame for this drivel? I don't see how anyone else could be to blame.

You're an idiot. Go back to school.

If you think the writers have so little freaking power, why is Hollywood shutting down?

Think!!!

Don't just react.

Consider this a written slap to the back of your head. Wake the hell up and start using your brain.

Writers are no different from actors, set and lighting designers, cinematographers, score composers, etc. While they are paid to be creative, in the end their job is to make the directors, producers, and studios happy. Just like any other job, they either do it or get replaced.

Blaming a writer for a bad movie is like blaming an architect for a building collapse. The plans may have been crap, but it was the job of a whole 'nother group of people to construct a safe structure. If they built an unsafe structure, that's their fault, not the designer.

Film and TV directors are the engineers who are supposed to check the design for flaws. They tell the writers what to change and also communicate directives from producers and studio heads (suits). Suits are the gatekeepers; nothing gets on screen without their say-so.

Leno sucks because of Leno.

You're in orbit. Come back to Earth.

"If you think the writers have so little freaking power, why is Hollywood shutting down?"

Oh my gosh, what an argument. I can tell you've worked long and hard on it. I might as well give up. ;-)

The writers GUILD has power, as evidenced by the shutdown. Individual writers have zero power in determining the final product you see on screen.

I assume you have a job, so I'll make another assumption that you understand that if you don't make your boss happy, you get replaced. What universe do you live in where lowly writers don't deal with this same reality? How about YOU explain the relationship between writers and their bosses in day to day operations. I'm on pins and needles to hear this.

Consider this a written fart in your general direction. You can call it stupid, but you still have to smell it. :-)

You're absolutely crazy. All of them form a necessary bond to make the show happen, but writers can't just be replaced unless it's some talk show or off the shelf small time series that's not pushing numbers.

The bigger shows that have a writing staff have main writers and co-writers that are a huge loss to the production if they leave. When there are 'creative differences', you'll find much of the time that it's the director or producer who gets knocked out when it's one of the bigger shows because the writing is the, 'formula' of the show whereas the director is generally the 'flavor'. So, sure you'll hear about writers being replaced lots in soap operas, comedy skits (mad tv, snl) and talk shows. But for primetime TV, they're there to stay.

*sigh*

*laughing*

Wake the hell up and start using your brain.

I see...can't use what isn't there.

My bad.

You cannot train a writer. You cannot replace a writer with some dude off the street like you can most assembly workers. It takes creativity and talent, both of which the greater population is lacking.

You can call it stupid, but you still have to smell it.

We can't actually smell you, this is the internet, not smell-o-vision. Thank {insert deity here}.

$sql->Query("SELECT * FROM jrizznit WHERE clue != 0");
0 rows returned

Too right....

This made my day! I geek comment - I LOVE IT! In Perl no less - WOO HOO!

"You cannot train a writer. You cannot replace a writer with some dude off the street like you can most assembly workers."

Genius, you can't even do that with most assembly workers. I never said anything about "some dude off the street." Do you know how many writers there are, even within the guild, desperate for work? Yes, writers get replaced all the time for the same reason every other worker in the universe gets replaced: Because the man in charge thinks he can get what he wants from someone else.

Do you really think a writer's position is like a federal appointment to the bench, where they dictate what the public watches? Have you ever been ANYWHERE but here on Betanews?

Go ahead and call me stupid again. It hurts so good.

So you're saying, except for successful primetime shows, I'm right. I'll take that.

Obviously, anyone with an integral spot on a successful show has more of a command over their own career path. Again, that dynamic is no different from ANY other job. If customers love your work, management has to listen to you.

I'm talking about the other 90%+ of the guild who don't have that position. They have to make the suits happy. Do you dispute that? Their only power comes from the guild itself, until they get on the right show on the ground floor.

That's a good one! :D

yountmj was close, but clueless doesn't even begin to describe it.

Shows fail because of changes made to who's writing it. It is not a secret, it is not a guarded tidbit only execs know. Most major shows have a team of writers that work well together and "make" the show. Time and time again, when that team is broken up, the show degrades.

The decision to replace writers on an existing show is one of the most show effecting decisions a director, studio or production crew can make, and they treat it with the amount of respect something that powerful deserves.

Hell, oft-times, replacing a character on the show has less of an effect than changing writers.

I don't know where you get YOUR information, but it ain't from the industry, that's for sure.

You're talking about "major" shows. I'm talking about the industry as a whole.

If all that existed were successful primetime juggernauts, then, yes, writers (all 4 of them) would be sitting pretty. But the fact is the guild is made up of thousands of writers who mostly work on the "other" shows, that's if they work at all, and they don't get to say s***.

Agreed.

The problem is that the little shows not being aired will have very little effect on the networks. It's the major ones that they will be worried about, the majopr ones that suck, the major ones that, for all any of us really seem to care, can do with a slew of new writers form this "new media" they are all whining about.

I agree with that. But the "new media" writers should be accompanied by "new media" management. :)

No problem with that either. None at all...

Since this whole thread started with a post of mine, let me direct you to the post I made immediately before it, which, I might add, stated exactly;

Fire 'em all. There hasn't been any decent original programming on the "Big" networks since *before* 1988, for pete's sake.

Notice the "Big" networks. I suppose I could have included that in the oil-change comment, but seriously... it was 2 comments up, I didn;t think it was necssary.

Of course I was tlaking about the major networks. It's their shows that are airing online that the Writers Guild is all up in arms about.

duh??

I forgive you.

No, no, no...

The proper response would have been:

My mistake, your fault. :p

Phu** Em! Out-source the work to India!

I think this has already happened in australia.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHzZU9vNVY

How will we tell the difference?

now people can catch up on missed shows...