River ,'The Message'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
There was a bit in the press the other day about the average writer earning $200k a year or some such.
I know this number came from AMPTP but I'm still not sure how they're calculating. According to the WGA, the average writer make $55k. I think the numbers get skewed because, at any given time, half the WGA membership is unemployed.
Maybe they're using different averages? (Like, say mean vs. median.)
And/or total membership's money made vs. what employees are getting paid.
I could see it being the average for working writers. So, if you didn't earn anything as a writer in X year, your $0 isn't counted toward the average.
The average income for all WGA members would be different, I expect.
Whedonesque took up a collection to send pizzas to the strike line at Universal. Adorkable!
Jane Espenson thanked the folks at Whedonesque for the pizzas here (and she did get the anchovy pizza): [link]
I think I remember that it was 2nd season of ST:TNG that was cut short because of the '88 strike, and it resulted in the horrid episode that everyone called Riker's Brain, in reference to the parallell badness of 3rd season ST:TOS episode Spock's Brain. Mostly a clip show, as I remember...
I remember during the last strike The Tonight Show did reruns for a while, and then Johnny said bother and they pretty much just winged it, with more improv and guests and fewer skits. And the soaps had loooootttsss of filler.
And now I totally feel like my grandma. I should be in a rocking chair, knitting, with a crack in my voice, "I remember when..."
Whenever I see a post about how the writers are greedy and shitty people,
You're just going to the wrong places, Allyson. I'm sure that's out there, but all I've seen is how wonderful the writers are and how can support them, and I'm on the interweb too muchplenty.
Handy-dandy chart from the LA Times on how different shows are affected by the strike: [link]
Except of course they left out every show I'm currently watching on network: Chuck, Bones, House, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Reaper.
Oh well, it's football sesason, so I have that.
I could see it being the average for working writers. So, if you didn't earn anything as a writer in X year, your $0 isn't counted toward the average.
That's probably where the number comes from.
In bizarre yet positive news, I lost 1.8 pounds today. No seriously. 1.8 pounds. Picketing.
Hey that's great.
My box office cashier just pointed out that with TV going into re-runs we'll probably see more people coming out to the movies.
Way to look on the bright side!