The union representing striking U.S. screenwriters has filed a complaint with the U.S. federal government alleging unfair labour practices by studios.
The Writers Guild of America says the studios have violated federal law by breaking off negotiations.
Writer Sherwood Schwartz, 91, who created The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, was joined by his children and a grandson, all writers, on picket lines outside Paramount Studios on Tuesday.
(Ric Francis/Associated Press)
The union is demanding the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers return to the bargaining table, it said in a statement Thursday announcing the complaint.
Talks between the WGA and the producers group broke down last Friday, Dec. 7, after the studios insisted the union remove six key demands before they would return to the bargaining table.
Among the proposals the studios objected to was the authority to unionize writers on reality shows and animation projects.
The producers group then stepped up the pressure on the striking film and TV writers by including a running tally on its website of the amount of money screenwriters have lost since the strike began.
The WGA is already under pressure from its own members. They've been out of work since Nov. 5 and now are looking at a Christmas season without income.
There is less incentive for the studios to bargain in December, as network series are replaced by Christmas chestnuts.
Rumours say late-night shows could be back
In another blow to writers, hosts of late-night shows could soon be crossing picket lines as their ratings plunge with networks airing reruns.
Late-night hosts have stayed off the job since the strike began out of deference to their writers.
Late night host Conan O'Brien, shown in 2005. Variety reports late night hosts are under pressure to resume their shows.
(Associated Press)
NBC's Conan O'Brien and CBS's David Letterman have paid the salaries of their production teams out of their own resources, and NBC's Jay Leno is believed to have paid part of the salaries of his team.
But Variety reports there is talk that the big four hosts — Letterman, Leno, CBS's Craig Ferguson and O'Brien — could return to the air in January.
If even one returns, there would be intense pressure on the others to follow so as not to lose late-night audiences.
There has been no official comment from either the networks or the hosts on when or whether late-night shows will resume.
The shows would be most likely to resume taking guests but would air without opening monologues.
In the last writers strike, in the 1980s, late-night host Johnny Carson returned to the air after about two months.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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