Non-Writers Lose Jobs While Writers' Strike Continues and Conan O'Brien Pays a Pretty Penny

There has been a lot of major controversy about talk show hosts, and television shows in general, going back on the air since the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) writers' strike began the first week of November. While the writers have been on strike, many television shows who were only half-way through their seasons or talk shows that have monologues written for them shut down production completely. This means that no one, not even the hosts or stars are getting paid. So who's hurting worse, the writers, the hosts, or the producers of these shows and films that are no longer in production? Well, actually it's the non-writers.

Many laymen are still wondering what the strike is about and why negotiations are taking so long. On the writer's side, they are working for shows or selling screenplays that only pay them for the time they write on the show. They are not receiving dividends for new media releases like DVD's you can rent at your local video store. So they went on strike to make sure the shows could not go on without them until they got what they wanted. On the other side, the shows are not only losing money during the strike, but also losing workers, involuntarily, on both sides. The problem is that the networks cannot afford to pay those non-writers who work for the shows while the shows aren't on the air like producers, gaffers, stage managers, editors, etc. For instance, Conan O'Brien recently made the decision apart from the network to pay his non-writing staff out of pocket to the estimated tune of $200,000 for a week of work they could not do. And workers who do get laid off like those from The Office or the jay Leno Show, have to go out and look for work to keep their house payments current.

Unfortunately not all late-night stars or other show stars will be able to make that out of pocket sacrifice. Someone like Carson Daly who gets paid a far less amount than the near $15 million annual income that Conan O'Brien makes couldn't even think about it. At least Carson, who, as of last night, was the first late-night talk show host to go back on the air since the strike began, gave a better reason for going back on the air other than some people coming a long way to see the show like Ellen did. He says he went back because there was a deadline on when the how would have to lay off its entire staff. He had a choice of not breaking the picket line or letting 75 people get laid off fro the show. He chose the 75 people.
Other talk shows like Ellen have been chastised for still being on the air, as they cannot do any writing skits, monologues or anything else that would constitute writing on the show while the members of the WGA are on strike. Though Ellen says she loves her writers, she also said that the show was important for the people who watch it and the people who show up every day to see it. However, the people in the writer's guild have another spin on it, that Ellen is not supporting them. And some others speculate that Ellen went back on the air due to a strange stipulation in her contract, but there is no evidence to support that.

So what do the non-writers have to say about the strike? "They're fighting for something they believe in," one non-writer from Carson Daly said. "If our union told us to strike with them, I would. But they haven't told us to do that." This non-writer also expressed that in the last people who were non-writers lost their homes and cars while the strike went on and no one wants that to happen again. This employee also said that they supported the writers but they had bills to pay as well. The writer's strike still continues while TV shows ad networks figure out what they can put on the stead of new episodes like reality shows, game shows and re-runs. But as the re-runs run out and the reality shows keep missing, the negotiations will have to come to close because the audience may not be able to stand for it much longer. And I'm sure this was the angle the writer's were going for when they went on strike - the producers have to keep the audience happy or they will lose them quickly.