It is being widely reported that the first casualty of the new WGA strike will be the late night talk shows. The Tonight Show, etc. are headed for reruns. But Letterman, Leno, et al, better watch out. The last writers’ strike helped give rise to the “reality shows” that now proliferate on television, many of them far more interesting than most fictional dramas and comedies. “Reality Talk” may be next.
It’s got to be easier for someone to run a talk show without writers,. That’s what we do weekly on PJM Political. We just call up some people and talk. No written scripts in sight.
We could just as well have those same people walk into a television studio and start talking. But then, of course, we’d miss all those “great written jokes.” As one who has, in the past, written a line or two for some pretty famous comics, I’m loathe to admit it, but those comics weren’t that much better (if any) when they read my lines. They were just funny people. Of course, there’s no way Letterman and Leno are anywhere near as talented as Richard Pryor (by far the best that I ever worked with), but this could be the time for new talk talents to emerge. [I can’t believe you’re saying that. You’re a member of the Writers Guild.-ed. In for dime, in for a dollar.)
Writer free talk shows anybody? And while we’re at it, how about a replacement for Charlie Rose?
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11 Comments
1. Lem:Great.
Viva la mediocrity.
Nov 3, 2007 - 2:57 pm 2. Lem:BTW – Whatever the writers of Fox’s ‘House’ make is probably not enough.
Nov 3, 2007 - 3:00 pm 3. Barry Dauphin:While Leno isn’t Richard Pryor at his best, I think he is a top notch comedian and has maintained his ability to be funny and relevant for over 20 years. That’s not bad. He really is a pro, even though he can be annoying at times and leaves something to be desired as a host. Leno can actually write a lot of his own material. Letterman’s show has always been a concept show and he has not been the typical comedian. Letterman is not wearing well IMHO, and he needs to pack it up for retirement very soon. He is ceasing to be funny. Maybe they should keep the shows running and make them simply write their own stuff or let them do reality work with audiences (unless they are technically part of the strike themselves).
Charlie Rose, oy vey. When he stays out of the way, many of the interviews are pretty good. But he inserts himself in a lot, takes forever to find the words for his questions, cuts the guests off at times, and then asks these long winded questions. I have yelled at the screen for him to shut the hell up, but he doesn’t seem to listen to me for some reason.
Nov 3, 2007 - 5:06 pm 4. OregonGuy:If I were a producer, I’d be hitting the highway and listening to small market morning radio shows. A lot of those guys are really funny and run call-in shows with listeners that that really work.
If you’ve ever worked small market, you know these guys prep all on their own.
Writers? Who needs writers when you have talent?
Lol. I guess that’s why they need you!
Nov 3, 2007 - 10:45 pm 5. zefal:I use to watch Night Watch with Charlie Rose. I thought he was a good interviewer back then.
One time he interviewed a Chilean “civil rights” activist and at the end of the interview he congratualated the guy because he was about to recieve a humanitarian award from a head of state who also happened to be the guy’s good friend.
At first I thought Charlie was being sarcastic but quickly discarded that thought as not being Charlieesque. Then I thought he’s being serious but dismissed that as absurd.
Cut to his PBS show and after watching that a couple of times I realised he was seriously congratulating the guy for his humanitarian award back then.
The head of state who was giving this Chilean activist the humanitarian award was Eric Honecker the dictator of East Germany.
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Nov 4, 2007 - 2:56 am 7. David:Just out of curiosity are you still a member of WGA? If so should you strike against yourself? Just asking.
Nov 4, 2007 - 10:09 am 8. Roger:Yes, I am a member of the WGA.
Don’t know exactly what you mean by striking against myself since Pajamas Media is not a signatory company. BTW, the WGA only covers screen and television writing. The term Writers Guild is sort of a misnomer. They are trying to get into the Internet, so far as they are related. Not in terms of text, as far as I know.
Nov 4, 2007 - 3:53 pm 9. Shawn L.:If memory serves during another writer’s strike, Letterman’s show on NBC continued.
There wasn’t as much scripted comedy, but they filled the time with other things. Strange novelty acts were often put on the air for brief moments under the banner of “Hal Gurnee’s Network Time Killers,” introduced by Letterman’s director, Hal Gurnee.
The bit lives on today in the form of “Is this anything”.
Nov 4, 2007 - 8:35 pm 10. marc:It might be interesting to try and predict what the otherwise unforeseen consequences of this strike will be. What do you think, Roger?
[And, Lem, the writers for House make plenty . . . until it comes out on DVD . . . .]
Nov 4, 2007 - 11:46 pm 11. LarryD:WGA is actually a union, not a guild.
WGA makes no sense for someone who makes their living writing books, unless they were a house series writer (a la the writers of Doc Savage, The Shadow, et al).
Makes no sense for Roger writing his novels, or Rowling, etc.
Also make no sense for anyone who self-publishes (all bloggers, most web comic producers like Chris Muir, the Foglios, etc).
Nov 5, 2007 - 9:03 am