Ellen Cancels NYC Show Plans

AP:

Ellen DeGeneres has pulled the plug on plans to tape her show next week in New York, where Writers Guild East members had vowed to protest her decision to stay on the air during their strike.

Michael Winship, president of the East Coast branch of the Writers Guild, said the organization was "delighted" with DeGeneres' decision to stay on the West Coast.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[InofTouch]

mob rule :thumbsup:

[sanguine]

Ellen lost me with the boring dance routine.

Her audience is housewives. Put Ellen on at night and she'll fail. Too silly.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Another bone headed move by DeGeneres. I used to like her a lot. Strictly speaking from the standpoint of PR, this is horrendous, her crossing the picket line. 2nd, when the writers do return, there will be huge resentment and anger directed at her. 3rd, she may be breaking the law.

She's fucked up on this one...

[jbstonesfan]

I lost all respect for her...total hypocrite.

[ChiGuy]

So based on the letter discussed in the article, first the Writer's Guild praises Degeneres, then the east coast faction goes after her.
What she got was a series of mixed messages and is now being made out to be the heavy in this bullshit.
It sounds to me like the union's separate sections need to all get on the same page.

Frankly, the whole union attitude of "You're either with us or against us", is nothing more than bullying, and is one of the reasons I have been on the fence about today's unions for a while. This bit of heavy-handedness doesn't help their cause one bit.
There ARE gray areas when other factors must be taken into consideration, and this was one of those situations.

For those about to, spare me the "unions built this country, blah, blah, blah..." crap. They had their good points when abuses were the norm, but I'm not so sure we need them these days, and I CERTAINLY don't believe that strikes are good, ANY time.

The only decent thing Ronald Reagan ever did was kick the collective asses of the air traffic controllers.

Perhaps on of you rabid pro-union posters could explain on thing for me;
Why aren't other unions involved with studios and networks honoring the picket lines?

[TJS]

Here's a question for the Writer's Guild members out there: Does Ellen's show use writers? I thought that this strike was about scriptwriters for dramatic shows? What kind of writing do WGA members do on a show like Ellen's? I thought that the writers were striking dramatic shows, and that other kinds of shows -- reality shows and talk shows -- were not the issue. These are not a rhetorical questions -- I'm really interested in accurate answers.

[deedrdo]

i liked the WGA comment about how she could cry for a week about an adopted dog but would only stand up for one day for the writers.

they make a good point.

[MissingAmerica]

I love Ellen, and she is a good person. I feel badly that she is trapped in this situation. She feels allegiance to the striking union but, on the other hand, must fulfill contractual obligations to the Network. How many of us would like to be in her shoes at this moment? I know I wouldn't!

[booker52]

Being a retired union worker I was shocked when I saw that Ellen had crossed the lines to do her show. Sure her excuse is to support the rest of her staff, but how about when they may get organized?? This does not look good for her. Glad NY said no to her.

[sydfynch]

who cares. she's a scab and should be run out of television.