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Old 11-01-2007, 01:49 PM   #15
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
Quote:
Originally Posted by glatt
If they write their own stuff, are they members of the Guild too? Do they have to abide by the same rules?
It's an unclear area. On the one hand, yes, all of the late-night stars are considered "writers" for their shows, and do belong to the WGA. But there are exceptions to the strike rules: they would also likely be considered "showrunners," who are personally not allowed to strike. It would be up to their own consciences (and how lucky they feel about getting sued by and/or kicked out of the Union) how much "content creation" they could do while striking as a writer but not striking as a showrunner. The typical semi-improvised interviews almost certainly don't count, even though the questions are developed beforehand, but pretty much all other "headline" style bits would, and definitely any sketches.

An anonymous insider from NBC confirmed that Jay Leno and their other late-night shows would likely go into reruns. No word from CBS on Letterman. Stewart and Colbert do more of their own material than most, but Comedy Central has said they would likely go into reruns anyway, hinting that since the two of them are more recent stars with significant writing backgrounds, they would feel especially guilty about attempting to continue their shows.
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