Ellen Degeneres

[Mutagen]

She is, in fact, a WGA member. Did she benefit from her WGA membership? Did she collect health insurance or residuals thanks to this union? If so, I do consider her a scab.

I can appreciate the difficult position she's in, but Steve Carrell and CBS showrunners are risking lawsuits by standing with the writers. Ellen does not look good, especially considering she took more time off for that stupid dog than for her writers.

[plush]

I just read that NBC fired all the production crew of The Office in an attempt to make the writers come back. That's horrible. Can NBC even do that? Aren't they afraid they'll be hit with a lawsuit later on?

I think the writers should continue the strike and not be bullied by the big studios. I'm just appalled that NBC would do such thing.

Sorry for hijacking Ellen's thread but didn't know where else to post.

ETA: NBC fires production crew

Broadway on strike as well

[Ninja Bunny]

Are you serious? Holy shit!

Who runs NBC, the ghost of Ronald Reagan? That's just LOW.

If that's true, PLEASE let there be a massive lawsuit.

Note to Ellen: Trying to spin crossing the picket line as 'trying to protect my production crew' is NOT an excuse.

[Binky]

In one of the videos at unitedhollywood.com, the Office writers say that they are a supported by the crew and they (both the writers and the crew)know they (the crew) will be fired. It's probably not an attempt by NBC to make the writers come back so much as "Step 1" on the Studio's list of things to do that won't end the strike.

Ellen should not be working. She is weakening the strike.

[Ginger]

I'm pretty sure The Office is not the only show to have laid off their production crew, and if the strike continues on, production crews on ALL of the shut-down shows will be laid off eventually. It's not a bullying tactic; for every day production is shut down, the studio is paying salaries to crew members who are not working. It is a pure loss of money, and so of course they are going to lay off anyone they legally can (i.e., low level people who are not under contract) and re-hire when the strike is over.

There might be some studios who are waiting to lay people off in case the strike ends very quickly, but that's only going to last until about next week probably. NBC's ulterior motive in laying people off may have been to make the striking writers feel guilty and look selfish, but their primary motive was to start minimizing money loss as soon as possible.

[zivvie]

If it bothers people like us, imagine how the WGA/SAG/DGA people are going to feel.

This SAG member is right pissed off*. Ellen crossed a picket line. Baaad move.

*ot stuff: It reminds me of the SAG actors' strike in 2000. The strike lasted for more than five months, and though it was primarily for issues affecting actors who perform in commercials, even very well-known actors who make commercials supported the strike. Unlike scabs like Elizabeth Hurley, who kept shooting commercials for Estee Lauder and said she "didn't know there was a strike", which proves that she's an ignorant hosebag, and bonehead Tiger Woods, who continued to shoot commercials for GM because, as he said, "they've been so good to me". They were both fined $100,000. I hope Ellen gets the same, or similar, treatment. /ot

[Mutagen]

Doing some more reading, I've learned that one of the things the producers wanted was to slowly phase out the writers' residuals! Sorry if I'm really late on the clue bus with this, but holy crap! No wonder the WGA is pissed.

Moreover, if the writers accept this, they will have set a precedent. And that means when the contracts for SAG, the DGA and the Teamster unions who work on TV and film crews (the people Ellen theoretically wants to keep in business) come up for renegotiation, they will also get screwed out of their residuals.

The more I read about the situation the less respect I have for Ellen DeGeneres.

[cocobean]

Okay. So Ellen is claiming she wants to stay on air for the fans, right? But isn't she kind of shooting herself in the foot. I mean once the strike is over, are any actors going to want to do her show? It seems like she is burning a lot of bridges only one week into the strike.

[amara]

I honestly think Ellen panicked. She's had some huge ups and downs in this business and I think the very threat (though likely empty) of her show being canceled freaked her out. She may not have another comeback in her. The thing is, had she waited a couple of weeks, or hell, even a week, I think she'd be cut some slack. But one day? ONE DAY? That's insulting.

[Ladybug]

The whole point of a strike is to mess up the normal workflow to the point where the producers/bosses will capitulate to the strikers' demands or at least come to the table to negotiate. That's what irks me so much about Ellen's excuse that people planned their vacations and she didn't want to disappoint them. Well, maybe if they are disappointed, maybe if people's entertainment needs are not met and ratings start going down and advertisers start getting pissed, maybe the producers will actually see how indispensible the writers are and consider their demands.