Writers end strike.
LOS ANGELES - Striking Hollywood writers are going back to work. Labels: movies, television
The Writers Guild of America said its members voted Tuesday to end their devastating, three-month strike that brought the entertainment industry to a standstill.
Writers will go back to work Wednesday after voting in Beverly Hills and New York.
"At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry," said Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., who was among the media executives who helped broker a deal after talks between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade group, collapsed in acrimony.
One winner in the vote was the Academy Awards that can now be staged on Feb. 24 without the threat of pickets or a boycott by actors that would have dulled the glamour of Hollywood's signature celebration.
The strike's end would allow many hit series to return this spring for what's left of the current season, airing anywhere from four to seven new episodes. Shows with marginal audience numbers may not return until fall or could be canceled.
"It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff," said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of CBS' drama "Criminal Minds." He hopes to get a couple of scripts in the pipeline right away, with about seven episodes airing by the end of May.
The combined New York-Beverly Hills count was overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike: 3,492 voted yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job.
2 comments
Finally! Okay, some of Conan's sketches were kinda stupid when writers did their work, but still it's good to have them around again.
By 
, at
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:41:00 AM
Score! I'm so hyped for this. ^_^
By , at
Saturday, February 16, 2008 2:43:00 AM
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