Bill Maher has also decided to start scabbing.
Pretty big June 2020 “the virus is over, time to move on with our lives” energy here.
To add insult to injury, she was dumped by her stalker!
Unlike the Drew Barrymore Show, which is some daytime glurge I’d never even heard of, Bill Maher coming back is a pretty big deal. Ethical issues aside, it’s feasible because most of the show is an unscripted interview and then an open panel discussion. The scripted parts are just the monologue at the beginning and the “New Rules” segment at the end, (although I suspect that it’s also writers who do a lot of the fact-finding research) and Bill has said that those scripted parts will be dropped from the show for the duration of the strike.
For context, this is his full statement:
Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing. It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns. Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily. We all were hopeful this would come to an end after Labor Day, but that day has come and gone, and there still seems to be nothing happening. I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much. I will honor the spirit of the strike by not doing a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces that I am so proud of on Real Time. And I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop. But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.
Serious question - unless he intends to walk out on stage in a state of Zen-like meditative clarity and just wing it for however long it takes to record an episode, then he’s going to have to plan out his remarks and questions he wants to ask, at least to some extent.
Does that count as “writing” by the union’s definition?
When Maher appeared on Ari Melber’s show last week, he questioned how Melber gets to host a show that relates and analyzes current events with the use of staff writers, while he (Maher) does not.
Melber’s answer, accurate as far I can tell, is that news writers are not included in the writers’ strike. I think Maher (whom I find infuriating, and insufferably smug, though I continue to watch him on podcast, mostly to disagree violently with his positions) is saying “Yeah, I can do that,” even to a lesser degree than Melber who relies on staff writers for some of his set pieces, lead-ins, editorial comments, all of which he (Melber) doesn’t generate personally. Maher is saying “If I want to wing my entire show, how is that different, or even as questionable as a news show is?”
My view on the matter is pretty simple and consistent with what I’ve been saying both in this thread and in the related GD thread about unions and strikes. Bill Maher employs writers, and those writers do most of the work in writing his opening monologue and the concluding “New Rules” segment. Since the writers are still on strike, Maher has opted to bring the show back without those two scripted segments. He conceivably could have written them himself, but has chosen just to omit them out of respect for the writers’ strike. I think that’s fair, and the right thing to do.
As for the interview segment, anyone going in to do an interview is obviously going to plan out their questions. This is not, however, a function of employing writers, it’s a function of having a working brain. The same applies to the panel discussions and the topics Maher may want to bring up.
I missed this previously in the back-and-forth, but: thank you for this detailed and informative post. I thought there was something off about describing the writing as over-and-done-with, but couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Your explanation was really helpful.
It’s also not accurate.
First of all, my evidence for stating that “Everyone involved in the production just wanted to get on with their work, on a production that was nearly complete” is the self-evident fact that they were, in fact, working, despite the ongoing strike. That is, until the three picketers showed up. At which point the entire crew sat on the sidewalk for six hours waiting for them to go away.
Secondly, regarding Michelle and Robert King, it’s important to understand their roles here. Yes, they’re writers, and respected members of the WGA. So why did they feel they could continue production after a strike was declared? Because, as I said, “this production at this point had absolutely nothing to do with writing. The writing had been completed a long time ago by a husband-and-wife team devoted to the series.”
You need to appreciate the fact that Michelle and Robert King are much more than just writers; they’re also the executive producers of the show, and they own the freaking production company. It’s in that capacity that they had ongoing on-site involvement.
As for how things actually work on a film set, it’s unusual for writers to be present:
Screenwriters typically do not get to be on set, as they aren’t needed during production. Directors may ask screenwriters on set to assist with dialog revisions, though this is rare.
…
As a screenwriter, your responsibility is the screenplay. You’re not needed during production, as you’re part of pre-production, and your job is over by the time the script is on set.Except for being needed for rewrites, and don’t hold your breath waiting for that, once you’ve given a director your shooting draft or “lock,” you’ve completed your end of this deal.
Do Screenwriters Get To Be on Set? - Letter Review
I’m confused about your point here, since @Banquet_Bear was describing how the role of writers/showrunners on a TV show differs from that of a film.
I somehow doubt they volunteered for the job as for charity. Nor do I think that they’re an autonomous collective. My suspicion, my deep suspicion, is that there was someone–like maybe a boss?–telling them what to do.
It’s kind of the opposite of “self evident” that they “wanted to get on with their work” as opposed to “wanting to support striking writers.”
The writing activities associated with a typical ongoing TV sitcom are not going to be the same as a one-and-done series like this that’s much more like a film, and furthermore was literally days away from wrapping up filming. Specifically, what do you suppose this alleged “writers’ room” was doing at this point in the production? Even in ordinary circumstances, the answer would be, at this point in the production process, nothing. But given that there was a WGA strike on, I think we can safely assume that the answer is, there was no writers’ room and there were no writers – they were all out on strike.
Again, the Kings were there in their capacity as executive producers and production owners, not as writers and WGA members.
So your speculation is that because the crew had a reporting structure and were accountable to a “boss”, that they were therefore working under some kind of duress?
Allow me to offer the much more plausible speculation that they were working because they wanted to get paid.
They were likely union members themselves (probably IATSE) but they were not on strike, and probably grateful for that.
Did they get paid?
Why would it even occur to you that a film crew working on a large-scale production, and probably backed by a union like IATSE, wouldn’t get paid? I presume they got paid for the work they did, and then stopped getting paid when the three picketers scuttled the production, and with it, their jobs.
For anyone interested, the return date for Real Time with Bill Maher is Friday, September 29. I presume from this that the decision was probably made not long before Maher announced it yesterday night, and it’s going to take them two weeks to line up guests and get all the crew back.
It’s going to be interesting to see what this new show is like. I’m going to miss the monologue and especially the New Rules segment, but this has the potential to make it into a more serious talk show with less frivolity, even though the frivolity was often pretty funny.
I unsubscribed to his youtube channel. I probably won’t resubscribe after the strike.
A fine bit of hyperbole there. Here’s the Merriam-Webster set of possible definitions of “scab” in a labour context:
(1) a worker who refuses to join a labor union
(2) a union member who refuses to strike or returns to work before a strike has ended
(3) a worker who accepts employment or replaces a union worker during a strike
(4) one who works for less than union wages or on nonunion terms
So which one applies here? Who is the “scab” when no writing is being done, and the scripted parts of the show have explicitly been eliminated? Is it the cameraman? The sound guy? The other crew members who can finally get back to earning a living again? Is it Maher himself? All of the above?
Or is it invested union supporters going into paroxysms of hysteria over the fact that a television show is returning, even though it’s in a manner that has absolutely nothing to do with them?
…LOL.
Who cares?
This isn’t evidence of what was going on in anybody’s minds. Which is kind of important when what you are allegedly providing evidence for was what “peoplle wanted to do.” They were there on the sidewalk, sure. Because they were working at the time. But you don’t know what any of those individuals wanted to do. Some probably did want to get to work. But the picket got in the way. Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.
LOL. Did you finally look up and see what how much of an involvement Michelle and Robert King had with the show?
Yes, they ran the production. I’ve already told you this. I know infinitely more about this situation than you do.Go back and read the thread from the start. I’ve already bought the receipts. And I’m not relying on google in order to be informed.
This is so laughingly wrong, I almost don’t know where to start.
But I’ll start with pointing out that Evil isn’t a film set, it’s a television set. And as Thudfow_Boink points out: I’ve already explained the differences between the two.
Secondly: who exactly are you citing? What are their film and television qualifications? Because the article itself is uncredited, and the two editors on the About Page both appear to be based in Australia and have zero experience with American television.
Thirdly, here is John Rogers, former showrunner of the original Leverage, who talks about the importance of having writers on set. Firstly, about dialogue and training:
Mark Sheppard responded:
John Rogers on training:
The money quote:
The assertion that it’s “unusual for writers to be present” on television sets is entirely incorrect. In fact, it’s one of the driving motivations for the strike because of very specific things that the studios started to do largely from the start of the pandemic. I talk about it at length earlier in the thread here:
I spent a significant amount of time researching and supporting that post. It covers all of the things that you aren’t quite getting here. Writers being on set used to be standard operating procedure. The studios used the pandemic to try to kick writers off set. The writers are fighting to turn all of this around.
You are wrong.
Are you asking this question because you don’t know the answer? Because I’ve answered this, in depth. If the showrunner isn’t there, then the writer will be there in their place.The writing process for a television show never stops. They are always re-writing, whether it be in pre-production, on set, or in the editing room.
I’ve provided citations on what the writers are up to while a show is in production. They are doing things like saving the production hundreds of thousands of dollars.
There have been about a zillion articles that talk about all of this. And the writers have been pouring their hearts out about this for months. You can literally pop on Twitter right now and ask any of the television writers directly if its normal to be on set. It only stopped being standard on every set since the start of the pandemic. But even then, some writers talk about how they defy the studios and go on set anyway, some of them on their own dime.
The bigger name showrunners, like the Kings, have a lot more clout and still run things the way they used too. Its the newer showrunners, often on their first show, who have been given no budget for staff writers, have to use a pool to “brainstorm ideas” before the pool gets fired, and the showrunner has to break the rest of the story out for themselves, that have been impacted. Its why many of these one-and-done Netflix 10-episode shows are so forgettable.
Here’s the ChatGPT summation of all the information it’s pulled from its incredibly vast repository of material about this subject, which fully supports the information in my original cite:
Scriptwriters are not typically on the sets of TV and film productions once the script has been finalized and shooting begins. The scriptwriting process usually involves multiple stages, including concept development, writing, revisions, and approval. Once the script is approved and shooting begins, the scriptwriter’s role is often finished, and the responsibility for bringing the script to life falls on the director, actors, and the production team.
However, there are exceptions to this. In some cases, the scriptwriter may be invited to visit the set, especially if they have a close working relationship with the director or production team. They may be consulted for input on specific scenes, dialogue, or character motivations. Additionally, some scriptwriters also work as producers or executive producers on a project, which could involve more involvement in the production process.
In general, though, once a script is in production, the primary creative control shifts to the director and the collaborative efforts of the cast and crew responsible for turning the script into a finished product.
P.S.- Be sure to add a “LOL” to any response you may care to make.
Seriously?