Strike! WGA Set To Walk Out Monday

Mightier than the sword, indeed: The Writers Guild of America is going on strike -- and it looks like it will start Monday.

Mightier than the sword, indeed: The Writers Guild of America is going on strike — and it looks like it will start Monday. Variety reports that the decision was arrived at last night in a "lively meeting of 3,000 guild members" that greeted the WGA's negotiating committee's unanimous recommendation to strike with an "enthusiastic response from the SRO crowd at the Los Angeles Convention Center." Wow. Standing room only? This is a big deal (we know it is because Nikki Finke's headline screams out "URGENT!"). Finke reports that the meeting was packed beginning to end, and cites WGA Negotiating Committee "topper" John Bowman who said, "If there's a strike, it's because eight CEOs want one." Oh, snap. Finke also reports that actors are set to walk the WGA picket lines, and the NYT reports that the strike will affect over 200,000 workers in the movie and TV industry just in LA, not to mention "the thousands more who produce or sell entertainment elsewhere in the United States and abroad."

For those of you who have set your DVRs for 11:30 Saturday night, you might be wondering: How will the writer's strike affect SNL with Brian Williams? Never fear, Paul Gough is on it:

All of the skits scheduled for Saturday night's show are in and the rewrites were scheduled to be completed Thursday night. Williams will guest host the long-running late-night comedy show Saturday night.

Gough also reports that Williams went straight from Tuesday's debate to the all-night writer's meeting at 30 Rock, staying until 6 a.m, so it would really, really suck for him if the show were cancelled. But at least the news would be safe!

(NB: For those of you who watch this space, ETP is off the grid 'til early afternoon. So come back and see us then! We're not on strike!)

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