Letterman Gets His Writers
Score a big one - make that a HUUUUGE one - for David Letterman who returns Wednesday from a very long and probably not particularly gratifying vacation: The Writers Guild will allow him to bring his writers with him.
What does this mean? Well, for one, this - he doesn't have to spend 44 minutes each show conducting long interviews. With the new WGA deal in hand, he'll be able to do a monologue (still denied to Leno et al) and a show that should be reasonably smart, clever and good as always.
Here's what Dave (in a statement) had to say about his late year triumph: “I am grateful to the WGA for granting us this agreement. We’re happy to be going back to work, and particularly pleased to be doing it with our writers. This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction.”
And Dave right-hand man, Rob Burnett, prez of WWPants: “This is a positive result, both for the WGA and for our shows, and we are appreciative that the leaders of the Guild dealt with us reasonably and in good faith.”
Here, meanwhile, is the just-released statement from the WGA:
“The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full writing staffs. This is a comprehensive agreement that addresses the issues important to writers, particularly New Media. Worldwide Pants has accepted the very same proposals that the Guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7.
"Today’s agreement dramatically illustrates that the Writers Guild wants to put people back to work, and that when a company comes to the table prepared to negotiate seriously a fair and reasonable deal can be reached quickly.
"It’s time for NBC-Universal to step up to the plate and negotiate a company-wide deal that will put Jay Leno, who has supported our cause from the beginning, back on the air with his writers.”
Yes, all of this is just swell, but what exactly WERE the terms? And will this deal embrace other productions of WWP, like sitcoms? After all, one imagines that Internet residuals from late night replay probably won't add up to much. (But then, who knows? Maybe they will in the future, when everyone watches their "Late Show" the following day.)
Anyway, Dave's a happy guy, and once we get answers to the above questions, will relay them to you.
(Oh, goodie...I JUST got an answer to one of the questions. That would be: Just how long will this deal last and will it serve as a template for everyone else, or something to that effect? The WGA responds thusly: "This is an interim agreement, but it does have a favored nations provision so it would become whatever the broader deal is when we reach that agreement with the MBA [minimum basic agreement.] But, the agreement with Worldwide Pants should be considered the template for the deal we're looking to reach with other companies. And, it shows that our proposals are reasonable - that a company like Letterman's sees the logic and fairness of it. Hopefully, other companies will as well- and eventually so will the AMPTP.")
Wouldn't it be wonderful if Dave - our hero - helped end the Writers strike? Just a wistful and perhaps foolish end-of-year wish....