On the way to work this morning I was listening to KISS FM. I happened to catch their little entertainment news bit and they were talking about how Ellen DeGeneres has “crossed the picket line” to do her shows. They played a little sound bite where Ellen basically said that she wasn’t doing her monologue and was sitting in the audience in support of the Writers Guild strike.
Sandra and Carter then went on and on about how terrible it was that she was crossing the picket line and how she should be supporting the Writers. By doing her show but saying she supported them she was really just saying she didn’t need them… Anyways, soon after that, there was a mention of Bill Clinton offering to help resolve the strike and Sandra thought that it wasn’t a bad idea as there are lots of people affected by the strike who don’t get paid if the shows aren’t made.
Hold the phone. Anyone else notice something flawed with what Sandra is saying? First she says Ellen is doing something terrible by doing her show without the Writers. The she says that the strike is bad because it affects other people (like the camera and equipment operators, etc) who need their pay cheques and the strike should be resolved as soon as possible.
Sandra, pick a side to support!
Ellen is doing a good thing by keeping her show running. Her people all get their pay cheques and all she has to do is sit back and say she supports the Writers. Yes, Ellen’s show will be a different format while the strike is on and eventually it will get a little dull and boring without the extra skill the Writers bring to the show. At least she is keeping her people paid and they aren’t getting affected by the issues that the Writers are striking over.
If Ellen is doing a bad thing by making new shows then what about all of the “Reality TV” shows that don’t really need writers? Are all of the people involved in “Reality TV” shows crossing the picket lines too? Are they all terrible people?
