And you know, actually helped people, who are getting angrier and angrier about talks breaking down, and in some cases, are just as angry at the WGA as they are at the AMPTP.

THAT would have accomplished something. THAT is something that can't be spun. And it can't be treated like a clownish stunt. And it would have gone a lot further to create solidarity between the unions, especially IASTE, who never got a vote, but are expected to shut up and toe the line.

I heard something to the effect that IATSE's position is that they would like both sides to resolve the issues at stake as soon as possible, as they would like for their people to get back to work. Pointedly not taking sides.

But yes, I think all that pencil money would have been better spent on supporting those taking the financial brunt of the strike.

Allyson, I don't disagree that money could -- and probably should -- have gone to BTL people. I don't give a fuck about the PR impact personally, but from an ethical aspect - yeah.

But, reality? It didn't. I'm not sure fans would have donated it to that degree, either. The showrunners-who-organised-it matching the sum with a donation was a good idea.

IA just wants their people working. Whichever side will get their people back to work is the one they will take. They gain nothing by the WGA getting a better deal. The only way the IA folks get money is by a show, any show, being in production. It doesn't matter if it is a reality show, or a scripted drama, or llama wrestling.

The showrunners-who-organised-it matching the sum with a donation was a good idea.

I'm afraid I wasn't paying enough attention: Did that idea ever get anywhere?

But to a certain extent, they do care.

NBC had to give out the first refunds to advertisers this week. Up until now, they had been compensating advertisers for not hitting ratings requirements by giving them additional airtime, but they ran out of available time. NBC had to fork over cold hard cash back to advertisers.

And the advertisers are making noises that they don't want to buy ads on networks that just have news shows and reality TV. Sure, that works for some ad slots, and if you had a rating juggernaut like American Idol everyone will buy ads during that. But five nights of "Who wants to marry a Millionaire" does bring in the audiences some advertisers want to sell to.

The advertisers want their ads during certain kinds of programs, and if they don't get those programs, well, the advertisers start looking for other ways to get their message out. Network TV can only lose so much more in ratings before the folks NBC start yelling up the corporate ladder about missed earnings. The networks are showcase pieces of corporate empires, which means how they are perceived to do has a disproportional effect on the stock price. Once the stock prices start being dinged bad enough, people higher up in the corporate empire start pushing back down on their production arms to do something.

But there is a long causal chain here, and everyone along the chain has an incentive to minimize the pressure they are feeling for internal reasons (Can't let the other VPs know that I will miss my budget target!) so they will try to pretend everything is okay as long as possible. Preferably it would be better if another one of the producers broke down first, because then it looks better for their "superior management." But once one cracks, the whole thing will crack, but that won't happen for a while.

These people have power. The whole point of the strike is to remind them that their power is not complete. To prevent that, to hide their feet of clay, they will fight and resist long past the point of reason.

So yeah, there will be blood. How much of it is on the floor, and whose it will be, remains to be seen.

The fact they're sending letters going on about pencils, mock exorcisms and a parody website to those companies is just hilarious.

I don't know if I think it's hilarious or not. The fact is that people are out of work. People who are not writers and didn't get to vote on whether or not they'd be out of work. Small businesses are already having trouble keeping their lights on. And I think that some of these actions make us look...not serious. Like we're playing at being on strike. I'm sure that, for many around town, seeing us stage a mock exorcism on the news -- because, of course, THAT made the freaking evening news -- feels a little like salt being rubbed in their wounds.

For example, I thought the AMPTP parody site was hilarious. Then, I got an OFFICIAL WGA email -- on the WGA email "letterhead" pointing me to the site. It suddenly didn't seem as funny.

I heard something to the effect that IATSE's position is that they would like both sides to resolve the issues at stake as soon as possible, as they would like for their people to get back to work. Pointedly not taking sides.

Not true. I think the IATSE membership has mixed emotions about the strike. Some support what we're doing. Others think we're greedy assholes. There's probably some people in the middle ground too. The head of IATSE is pissed as fuck and has been very public about expressing his displeasure. Possibly because we keep calling him "Tommy." But yeah, Tom Short is definitely not on the side of the WGA here.

Barring some Christmas Backchannel Miracle, I think the DGA will be sitting down to negotiate in the New Year, which might be a good thing. The rumor is that they might ask for even more than we have on the internet. If they make a good deal that the WGA membership can live with, everyone gets to save face and maybe we can all get back to work.

Assuming there's still work to get back to.

And I think that some of these actions make us look...not serious. Like we're playing at being on strike.

Yeah, some of the theme days have kinda given me that feeling.

Much as I support the writers, I agree with Kristen. I was really surprised when I heard that the AMPTP.com site was passed on in an official e-mail.

me too. I thought it was really funny, but I was surprised it came with official endorsement.

I think I wouldn't have minded if it had been tacked onto something else ("Here's where we're striking, and, by the way, this is pretty funny."), but apparently it got its very own e-mail.