Carson Daly about to defy writers strike By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
2 hours, 19 minutes ago



NEW YORK - NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" is about to become the first late-night talk show to defy the writers strike and resume production.

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Daly, who is not a member of the Writers Guild, will begin taping new episodes of his Burbank-based show this week for airing next week, an NBC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

The half-hour "Last Call" airs at 1:35 a.m. EST weeknights, but whether Daly's first new episode would air next Monday or Tuesday was initially unclear. No guests were disclosed.

Writers Guild spokesman Gregg Mitchell declined to comment.

Daly is not the first talk-show host to go back into production. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a member of the union, has continued taping her daytime syndicated talk show after shutting down the first day of the strike. But "Last Call" becomes the first to break ranks among the late-night shows, which all had chosen to air repeats rather than tape new shows without their striking writers.

It was unclear what effect, if any, the return of "Last Call" would have on other late-night talk shows, which include NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Comedy Central's late-night news-and-commentary spoofs, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert, have also been in reruns.

There was no immediate word on when any of those shows might follow suit and return with new episodes.

On Monday, contract talks with the studios resumed for the first time since movie and TV writers went on strike Nov. 5. The Writers Guild is seeking more money for material distributed over the Internet and cell phones.



I think we should all make it a point to watch his show just to break the union strike.  I admit I don't know shit about his show or his political stance, but I like his F You! attitude.

Why do these writers need more money? (That's what they're on strike for, right? )

Quoted: I think we should all make it a point to watch his show just to break the union strike.  I admit I don't know shit about his show or his political stance, but I like his F You! attitude.

Even if he did an "All Assault Rifle Week" - and read the 2nd Amendment as his opening monologue every night - I'm still not sure it would be worth it...

Quoted: Why do these writers need more money? (That's what they're on strike for, right? )

They're on strike because they aren't getting royalties for DVD sales of old TV shows.

For example:

When SNL gets syndicated and re-runs are aired, the writers get a small percentage of the profit.

When those shows are produced on DVD, the writers don't get any of the profit. They're striking to try to make the studios pay them for their work when it is released and sold on DVD.

Got to keep in mind that most "Hollywood" writers are not rolling with Stephen Speilberg or James Cameron.  Most of them are middle class folks who being independant contractors have lots of costs including huge agents fees.  It's easy to think of writing as very "glam" but it's pretty unglam.  Get up, move over to the computer or commute to some cubicle and try and be funny or inspired or whatever for asshole bosses and take home about 40K a year after expenses.  Even most movie jobs are pretty much like being a construction worker except you work 16 hour days and eat from catering trucks whenever the director says it's OK to eat.  Yeah, most of TV sucks but we all have our favorite shows.  There are lots of high-profile gigs we hear about but without the writers we have "reality" TV.  Think of writers as the guys who making the bricks for your house but have a creative streak.

I wouldn't notice the difference in the operation of these late night shows anyway, since I never watch them to begin with. With all the choices on tv these days, are people still really watching shit like Jay Leno?

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Quoted: I wouldn't notice the difference in the operation of these late night shows anyway, since I never watch them to begin with. With all the choices on tv these days, are people still really watching shit like Jay Leno?

Absolutely.
As far as I'm concerned, Carson Daly's show is terrible. I think I've laughed more at Dane Cook (who is overrated IMO too).

Daly writes his own material?  It really, really shows

I'm with the writers on this one. They are getting screwed now and are going to be really screwed in the future if they don't strike now. At stake is the matter of residuals on internet delivered content. Right now the writers make nothing on anything delivered by the intertoobs. Thats not a huge amount now, but in the future it's bound to become the dominate medium. Residuals are the only assurance a writer has of being able to feed his family consistently in a business that is highly seasonal and flaky.

The writers deserve to paid when their work is used. They get paid when it's viewed on the TV, why not the internet?

That said, I was really looking forward to new episodes of The Office. I hope this gets resolved soon.

-Local

Hangi'n separately.

Why is this tool still on the air?

I did not realize until just now that he was still on the air.

I agree that they should get residuals for web content. However, I refuse to believe they were offered nothing at all - simply an amount they didn't like.

Hollywood is far too full of itself as it is. I won't go out of my way to support them.

There are a total of three shows on television I have any interest in. All three of them I got into after seeing them on TV and only this year sat down to watch them as they were broadcast. Before then, I cannot remember the last time I sat in front of a TV that wasn't being used for DVDs or video games.

If and when the shows come back on, I'll probably tune in. Until then, I go on with my life as it was until last year. Watching them on DVD is so much better anyway. No commercials, ability to pause, and no week-long wait until the next episode.