The WGA East and Ellen DeGeneres appear to be dancing to a different beat.
Earlier this week, numerous media reports said DeGeneres boycotted her Monday show in support of scribes. As Scribe Vibe's Michael Schneider reported Tuesday, Telepictures denied that Ellen had done any such thing. Studio claimed her absence was due to a pre-planned hiatus.
In any case, DeGeneres has been back at work, and that pissed off the WGA East. It issued a statement earlier today blasting the dance-happy host. Best line:
We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful.
Now, Warner Bros.-owned Telepictures is biting back. It's issued a retort. No zingers, but the studio's defense basically boils down to, "Hey, we're not the only gabbers who've kept gabbing!" To wit:
Ellen is a daytime talk show carried on a syndicated basis across individual television stations, no different than, and in direct competition with, Oprah, Rachael Ray, (Dr.) Phil, Live with Regis and Kelly, Martha, Tyra, Jerry, Maury, and Montel, all of which are in first run daytime syndication and are continuing in production.
The WGA's statement and Telepictures' retort are after the jump.
(UPDATE: As is a letter in PDF format from AFTRA, supporting Telepictures' position. Apologies for not typing it in, but it's been a long week.)
--Josef Adalian
From the WGA East:
Ellen DeGeneres went back on the air this week after honoring only one day of the writers strike. In anticipation of her plans to tape shows in New York City on November 19th and 20th, the Writers Guild of America, East is extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike. Ellen's peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise.
Ellen has also been performing comedy on her show. Even if Ellen is writing those segments herself, since those segments would normally be written by the writers on strike, she's performing "struck work". Ellen is violating the strike rules that were clearly explained to all of the comedy/variety shows.
We certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York on November 19th and 20th. We will also make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location.
We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful.
Every show and film set has a production staff and crew that is beloved by their writers. Ellen's staff is no more important than the rest of the industry. When shows refuse to stand with us they create huge revenue streams for the companies and that prolongs the strike for the thousands of staff and crew members who are noble enough to honor our picket lines. We find this situation hurtful to those people and extremely unfortunate.
The writers did not cause this strike. The companies' greed caused this strike and it could end tomorrow if they were finally willing to negotiate a fair deal. We ask Ellen to cease doing shows immediately. She should stand by all writers and help us bring this strike to a quick conclusion. We owe that to the thousands of people who are caught in the middle.
If you agree that Ellen should stand with the writers on strike, please contact her and tell her so at: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/show/dearellen/. Or, contact the show's production office at (818) 260-5600.
From Telepictures:
Ellen has not done anything in violation of the Writer's Guild of America agreement, or the WGA's internal 'Strike Rules.'
Telepictures Productions, through its distributor Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, has contractual obligations to continue to deliver original programming to the 220 stations that carry the program.
We have asked Ellen to come back to work to fulfill her contractual Obligation, as host of the show, because without original programs the stations can move the show out of its time periods or ultimately hold the company in breach of contract. The company, in turn, expects Ellen not to breach her contract to host the show. We also wish to preserve the 135 jobs of the staff and the crew whose livelihoods depend on the show continuing. We regret the Writer's Guild has chosen to strike and we wish for a quick resolution.
It is unfair and incorrect to compare The Ellen DeGeneres Show to late night shows such as Leno, Letterman and Conan, all of which are late night network owned and controlled programming. Ellen is a daytime talk show carried on a syndicated basis across individual television stations, no different than, and in direct competition with, Oprah, Rachael Ray, Phil, Live with Regis and Kelly, Martha, Tyra, Jerry, Maury and Montel, all of which are in first run daytime syndication and are continuing in production.
From AFTRA:
I'm not in the entertainment industry. I am from a union family. All ten of us have benefitted from the strength of our individual unions.Most of us have had to make that most difficult of decisions. To strike or settle for what's on the table. Most of the time the easiest decision would be to just put one''s head down and sign the contract and live with the humiliation. No one wins in the long run. Sure management thinks they've won,but not really. The members feel exploited and unwilling to go the extra mile. Not because there is a lack of integrity amongst the workers rather it is the lack of respect,yes,self-respect. Striking is not for the faint of heart. Just try it -go out and support the WGA members and you'll see they ain't doing this for the fun of it.
It is in the best interest of management to go back to the table. To listen and really hear what the WGA is saying. An act of goodwill goes along way under these circumstances.
Management must remember that we are not in 1988!
Call in Ahnold if he can help.
Just one small point for management to remember it is called 'show business,emphasis on business.
Keep The faith WGA.
Posted by: Shan | November 12, 2007 at 05:44 AM
What I find funny is the WGA says they care so much about getting their people the money they deserve however in the end they are screwing every other below the line department. In reality more money and residuales should go to other departments to share in the pie, such as sound, lighting, grips.
Their are lots of areas in any production that deserves a larger piece of the pie but neither writers nor actors are included in this list.
The WGA is no diffrent then the Studios they just want more money for themselves.
Posted by: Tony | November 14, 2007 at 11:29 AM