Striking members of the Writers Guild of America, West rally in Hollywood, California on Wednesday. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)The Writers Guild of America strike ended at the 100-day mark after a vote by guild members. Here is how the strike commenced and concluded:
Members of the Writers Guild of America hold signs on the first day of the strike. (Armando Arorizo/Bloomberg News)Oct. 22: Guild members vote to authorize a strike
Oct. 31: Writers’ guild contract expires
Nov. 1: Writers meet, make plans to strike
Nov. 2: Guild announces a Nov. 5 strike start
Nov. 5: Picket lines form in New York and Los Angeles
Nov. 6: Producers alliance predicts a long strike
Nov. 6: Strikers stop writing, start blogging and video-taping
Tina Fey, the NBC star, walks the picket line in New York on Nov. 5. (Librado Romero/The New York Times)Nov. 7: Show-runners side with the guild
Nov. 7: Fox becomes the first network to revise its schedule
Nov. 8: Networks improvise; reality will fill the scripted voids
Nov. 9: Celebrities lend support on picket lines
Nov. 14: As late-night jokes go stale, viewers switch channels
In this image from YouTube, the writers of “The Daily Show” present a satire strike newscast in mid-November. (YouTube)Nov. 16: TV Guide cancels an online video awards show
Nov. 16: Producers play hardball in public
Nov. 19: Writers gain a P.R. advantage online
Nov. 21: Thousands attend Hollywood writers’ rally
Nov. 26: Writers, producers resume negotiations
Nov. 27: Carson Daly becomes first late-night host to return
Nov. 28: The strike: almost over, or just starting?
Dec. 3: NBC lays off “Tonight Show” workers; Jay Leno pays salaries
Pickets march beneath a billboard for the Fox TV series “Bones” outside the entrance to Twentieth Century-Fox Studios in Los Angeles on Nov. 5. (Reed Saxon/AP)Dec. 3: Popular series begin to run out of episodes
Dec. 8: Writers’ talks collapse amid acrimony
Dec. 10: Guild leader accuses studios of lying repeatedly
Dec. 11: TV critics cancel the January press tour
Dec. 12: Networks begin to re-think May upfronts
Dec. 12: Studios say strike is causing “serious economic damage”
Dec. 13: Directors guild plans separate talks with studios
Dec. 14: Guild files labor practices complaint against studios
Dec. 17: Production on TV series virtually ceases
Jay Leno, host of “The Tonight Show,” visited the picket lines several times in California. (AP)Dec. 17: Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien announce returns; later, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert do too
Dec. 19: Question marks hover over awards shows
Dec. 26: The strike takes a holiday hiatus
Dec. 27: Guild hires two political consultants
Dec. 28: David Letterman announces Jan. 2 return, with writers
Dec. 28: The studios attempt to produce a viral video
David Letterman returned to “The Late Show” on Jan. 2. (J.P. Filo/CBS)Jan. 2: Late-night hosts return; guild complains about Leno’s writing
Jan. 4: Advertisers thankful for return of late-night TV
Jan. 5: Some production companies sign interim agreements with guild
Jan. 6: NBC wrestles with Golden Globe dilemma; the awards are later repackaged as a press conference
Jan. 11: Media companies downplay effects of the strike
Jan. 11: Signs of discontent over strike tactics emerge
Jan. 12: Studios begin severing deals with writers, producers
The Golden Globes were deflated and transformed into a press conference. (J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times)Jan. 14: Viewers yawn at Golden Globes press conference
Jan. 17: Directors guild reaches contract deal with studios
Jan. 17: Studios offer “informal talks” to writers guild
Jan. 21: Writers hold mass picket at Paramount
Jan. 22: Guild takes reality, animation proposals off the table
Jan. 23: Reacting to strike, NBC says it will reduce pilot orders
Jan. 25: The SAG awards, with writers, go off as planned
Jan. 29: NBC’s Jeff Zucker cites strike as “opportunity for change”
Writers Guild of America East president Michael Winship explained the terms of the tentative deal at a meeting on Feb. 9. (Patrick Andrade for The New York Times)Jan. 31: Closed-door talks are jolted by the actions of some guild leaders
Feb. 2: Informal talks eliminate most roadblocks to a new contract; deal seems near
Feb. 4: Hollywood hopes for a settlement soon
Feb. 9: Writers announce a “tentative deal”
Feb. 9: Cautious optimism permeates guild meetings
Feb. 12: Writers vote to end the strike
Related links:
Strike Fallout: A Complete Guide to How Your Favorite Shows Are Affected
TV Decoder: Strike coverage
Times Topics: Writers Guild of America
Slideshow: Writers on Strike
2008
12:36 am
If Studios and DGA would not have come to agreement this day would never would have happen.
— Posted by Joe
2008
9:09 am
I am glad they are back. I was worried reality show would take over. Still, in many ways it looks to be a pyric victory, Pilots are canceled in mass. Lesser shows are gone before they can develop a following. There will be less work and less money out than ever before.
I hope the really good stuff on HBO, Showtime, AMC and some of SciFi, is not affected.
— Posted by Mark
2008
12:58 am
There was a writers’ strike?! Hm, guess I hadn’t noticed.
— Posted by JJ
2008
1:27 am
The companies’ case was weak from the get-go, belied by their huge profits, and their credibility even weaker because of decades of shameless accounting chicanery. The writers were finally fed up with it, and for once had the advantage of savvy union leadership on both coasts. The companies unwisely pushed the scribes to the tipping point: we either had to prevail or see the possibilities of more than a few of us achieving viable careers as a full-time writer go the way of videotapes. The writers won by studying and understanding the other side’s business environment, offering reasonable and feasible formulae, and telling the truth. The companies failed their shareholders until they did the same. Insatiable greed, let alone contempt for your most valuable suppliers, is not a viable business plan.
— Posted by Mark Miller
2008
10:29 am
Welcome writers, into the Strange New World of lower salaries, less work, and personal blame. In the process of the 100 day strike, you writers (and some SGA’ers) have somehow taken on the stature of ugly, greedy, and now responsible for the bad plots and bad jokes. We never knew!
— Posted by frank
2008
11:37 am
I am glad they strike was settled before it had a major impact on daytime drama. I do not watch a great deal of primetime—only two regularly NCIS and House, but I am a Guiding Light junkie! I hope that the writers can get back on track and write strong and enteraining scripts.
— Posted by Tracey
2008
1:11 pm
On the contrary Joe. If the DGA had had some backbone they would have a better deal than they got.
The Producers caved because the WGA gave back on animation and reality shows and got a much better deal than the DGA did by kowtowing.
And Frank…wishful thinking. They’re salaries are fine and they got most of what they were after. (No one ever expects to get it all in these things, where have you been?) There are about 5 of you that think the Writers are greedy.
How is it you read the papers and still come up with that kind of thinking?
— Posted by John