Hey, I agree with Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America East, as reported by David Carr in the Times today:
"These two shows are a big source of news for a whole generation that was not around for the 1988 strike," he said. "Losing Stewart and Colbert is something like losing Cronkite during the Vietnam War. And because they are accessed in any number of ways both on television and on the Web, 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report' are exactly what we are talking about at the bargaining table."
Can the Stewart and Colbert writers get some kind of exemption?
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But how indicative. What a sad and scary commentary.
If you were to ask the writers of Stewart and Colbert, they'd tell you frightening it is to hear how many viewers "Get Their News" from their shows. Forget about the ones who think they actually ARE NEWS PROGRAMS!
Ahhh Folks, these writers pore over hundreds of newspapers & webzines every day to find out what is really going on in the world so they can then
MAKE FUN OF IT ... WRITE JOKES ABOUT!
Anyone doing current topic comedy today knows you basically have to recite a news article in a joke's setup otherwise NO ONE WILL GET THE PUNCH LINE.
Colbert & Stewart's shows could have twice the jokes, be twice as funny
IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE THE TIME TO EXPLAIN THEM ALL FIRST.
"Good Evening. We read the news because you are too lazy, indifferent, or illiterate to do so."
I wonder where we'd be as a nation if before you were granted the right to vote, you had to pass some sort of test. Not a hard test say ... the one they give people before they're allowed to become naturalized citizens of this country.
"Can the Stewart and Colbert writers get some kind of exemption?"
Sorry, during wartime, only a future President and Vice President can "get some kind of exemption".
I hear Colbert's off the ballot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eTyf5BpwQ4
And the reason they did that was because they were complaining that they were losing revenue, that youtube was making ad revenue off of their clips, substantial ad revenue.
Well if it's so goddamned substantial that it's worth deleting all the fangirls' affectionate fanvids, it's substantial enough that the creators, the writers deserve to get their cut. And that's worth a wait, even if it is half a year. I just feel bad for all the writers who are having to go without any money at all during the strike.