Top 10 Reasons Why the Letterman/WGA Deal Is a Good Thing

10. Letterman has been a strong supporter. As he said in his last outing before the show went dark, "You think the show's not funny now, wait 'til the writers go on strike. I mean it really won't be funny."

9. The AMPTP says that we're too crazy, too ideological, too amateurish to make a deal. Oh yeah?

8. Stupid pet tricks? Somebody wrote that!

7. The Networks That Are Not CBS will be hard put to justify to their advertisers and stockholders why they're letting the competition have a real late-night show while they go forth with simulacra. (As The Canadian Press put it yesterday, "Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart all plan returns to late-night television over the next two weeks, but aside from their familiar faces, viewers may not recognize much.")

6. Because it's not plain vanilla, not just an interim deal: this is a deal we can use as a model, with cherries on top.

5. Cherries, in this case, meaning that the Letterman deal is the full MBA, complete with the New Media proposals we couldn't get the other side to move on at the Big Table. This shows our proposals are affordable. And, perhaps best of all, Worldwide Pants is taking on the liability of our contract provisions, including not only the payment terms, but also the backstop of the fair market valuation test under the MBA.

4. Like the waiver for the SAG awards, it lets people know that, when we are able to, we reward our friends.

3. Because in 1988, Letterman called management "money-grubbing scum." Out loud. In public.

2. Although this will be tough for Leno, Conan, and other fine late-night Guild writers, the wedge that it drives between networks is deeper, sharper than the wedge it drives between writers. While the companies understand ROI, only we understand solidarity.

1. While the AMPTP has been making great strides of late in terms of web graphics, Worldwide Pants still has the better logo.

Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.

Comments

[Libsrule]

I completely sympathize with the writers. I really do, but I want my Dave.

And Jon.

And Stephen.

And Craig, although I was under the impression he quit doing monologues written for him but rather went did total improvesation on his monologue. So exactly what writerd are working there?

[iamthere]

Don't know much about the industry, but before there is too much congratulation of Letterman's pro union position, my question is how often does someone buy reruns of talk shows? Are residuals of a late night show worth much? It may be that Letterman wins this one big (both in terms of $ and public relations), and the writers get little but a symbolic victory.

[dgsweet]

Letterman has the happy advantage of being employed by his own production company, whereas some of the others are employees of the networks, studios or corporations that own companies. I have no doubt that Leno, Stewart, Colbert, etc. sympathize with the writers, and I suspect Stewart and Colbert will be candid in expressing their sympathies on their shows. (After his performance in front of Bush at the National Press Club, Colbert impresses me as the real thing.) The pressure is particularly on Stewart and Colbert because they are first and foremost satirists, and satirists have to take their shots out of a moral grounding. If they aren't honest and outspoken on their shows, much of their credibility is eroded and so their value to their employers, too, will be severely damaged. The strike will end one of these days, but can management afford to cripple the longterm value of some of their biggest stars?

But then management has done a lot of dumb things so far, so who knows. Maybe they don't mind shooting for a pyrrhic victory.

[tcpgh]

Leno will never recover from this.

[webweaver]

Lyrics and Chords

[Capo 3]

I want my, I want my Daily Show
I want my, I want my Daily Show

/ Em7 - - A / /

Now look at them writers, that's the way you do it
You write the words on that Daily Show
That ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your points for free
Now that ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, them writers ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb

/ Em7 - - - / - - G A / :

{Refrain}
We"ve got to control all new profits
From the web, cell phones and iPods
We"ve got to strip these royalty payments
We"ve got to strip new residuals

/ C - G - / C - D - / Em7 - - - / A - B - C# - - - /

The film exec with the power and the laywer
Yeah, buddy, he"s got his share!
Sumner Redstone"s got his own jet airplane
Larry Divney"s he's a millionaire

{Refrain}

I shoulda learned to use the computer
I shoulda learned to write them lines
Look at that striker, she got it stickin' in the camera
Man we could have some
And he's up there, what's that, clicking noises
Bangin' on the computer like a chimpanzee
Oh, that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your points for free

{Refrain}

Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
You write the words on that Daily Show
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your points for free

Money for nothin' and points for free
I want my, I want my, I want my Daily Show
{Repeat, ad lib to fade}

[Dirtandiron]

Seems like it's good for everybody, the writers, Letterman, and us the public.

[Kungfublood]

I've been away in the frozen north did lettermen cut a deal? I really can't tell from this bit.
If he did I think he would become TV boy again and I would go out and buy a TV just so I can watch TV boy on my new TV.. but they no longer make TVs so....

[Mindburner]

Excellent points! I'll only poke fun at #8...



Wrote? This is the most random part of Dave's show. How much more writing than, "We get a bunch of people to bring their pets on to do stupid tricks, while Dave ad-libs" is there?

Most memorable moment of Stupid Pet Tricks? Dave getting bit in the face by a dog he was smoochin'. Written? Planned? Nope!

[Steamboater]

The writers have threatened to picket the Golden Globe Awards if televised, yet not the SAG Awards or the Oscars. What hypocrites. They deserved support prior to this but now--no way.

[President]

Hooray. Fresh "Will It Float"s!

[pennyfortheguy]

Letterman is revered because he understands the nuances. He'll be a lightning rod for the foreseeable future due to this latest permutation in the 'Strike Wars'.
Does anyone know for how long his CBS contract binds him, and under what circumstances? Under what circumstances could he independently deliver his message to his loyal constituency?
I miss him. And I find the fact that there'll be forever no references to any Christmas Week Shows circa 2007 to be deplorable!

[jonwiener]

Key is point 5 -- Letterman guarantees New Media residuals, even though the rights are held by CBS. If he can do this, so can the big companies.

[jacobsmeyer]

Hey, Merlin, you got some great ideas there! I have some friends over at Letterman, and I'm sure they'd love to hear your ideas for improving their show. Let me know how to contact you and I'll pass your suggestions along. PS: it's probably best not to post any more of your ideas on this public blog, because the Letterman people might see it and steal them instead of paying you big money for them!

[Merlin7]

Letterman should seize this opportunity to remake his entire show. His supposedly comic bits after his monologue are awful, just dreadful. Not even remotely funny, and you get the impression that he doesn't really care, that he's just employing those people because no one else will. The Hello Deli bits and the lame stunts also are stale and should be axed.

His monologues are the best part, along with his interactions with the guests. He should drop the "comic" bits and extend the time allocated to guests.