Golden Globes Become Another Casualty of WGA Strike
As The Daily Show and Colbert Report are just moments away from filming their first shows in quite some time, picket lines are standing strong outside of their studios. WGA spokeswoman Sherry Goldman tells us, "These pickets will be against the media conglomerates – NBC and Viacom - and not the specific hosts who we understand were forced to return to the air without their writers who remain on the picket lines." Just because the hosts have returned, however, doesn't mean they'll have any luck filling their guest seats.
The solidarity between actors and writers continues, and the next on-air event to be affected is the Golden Globes ceremony. With the awards show scheduled for this coming Sunday, SAG's president, Alan Rosenberg, said Friday that of the over 70 actors nominated for an award, none would attend. So today a decision was finally made to scrap the show all together, in favor of running a stripped down news telecast. News telecast - that's crafty, NBC! Oscars, you're next - and that might mean Charles Gibson telling us who the winner is, instead of banter by Bruce Vilanch!
How else is the strike affecting the industry? Sure, we all miss new episodes of The Office, but more importantly Crain's reports that "the shutdown has left thousands of the area's 78,000 production workers unemployed and many of the 4,000 film-related businesses, like prop houses and caterers, struggling to stay afloat amid their worst crisis in more than a decade." Stuart Match Suna of Silvercup Studios on LIC says that "No one is writing pilots now, and they aren't getting green-lit. If the strike goes on too long, it will have a major residual impact on New York."
