Kudos to Letterman for coming to a fair agreement with the WGA!

[Stephanie]

Dave has reached an interim agreement with the WGA and his writers are going back to work. The other late night talk shows are coming back next week sans writers. If anyone has watched Carson Daly's show lately you know how very, very badly Leno and Conan and the rest are going to suck without writers. While I think Letterman probably preferred not to suck, and might have been enticed by the thought of getting all the good guests (since ethical performers won't cross the picket line), I think that above all Dave believes in fairness, and doing the right thing, and that's why he made the agreement. As the owner of Worldwide Pants he was in a position to negotiate outside of the big conglomerates, another factor.

Congratulations to the WGA and David Letterman!

Here is the Letterman writers' strike blog - very funny > http://lateshowwritersonstrike.com/

http://wgaeast.org/index.php/articles/1228?wgra=1#wga1228

Writers Guild Reaches Agreement with Worldwide Pants
Friday, December 28

The Writers Guilds have reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full writing staffs. This is a comprehensive agreement that addresses the issues important to writers, particularly New Media. Worldwide Pants has accepted the very same proposals that the Guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7.

Today's agreement dramatically illustrates that the Writers Guilds want to put people back to work, and that when a company comes to the table prepared to negotiate seriously a fair and reasonable deal can be reached quickly.

[IndianaJones]

1. Letterman is to Leno as the Beatles are to the Backstreet Boys. nt.

[Stephanie]

2. Well yeah.

Imagine Leno without writers! It's going to be unbearable. Check out Carson Daly when you get a chance. Worse than a train wreck.

[Breeze54]

3. This is a good thing!

I'm glad! I like his show more than the others.

I watched Carson Daly last night for a little while but fell asleep.

Leno and Conan will be back on Jan. 2nd.

:kick: & Rec

[Stephanie]

4. Leno and Conan will be back and they will be scabs.

But Daly is the worst - he was the first to break the strike. He will never live it down.

[Lex]

5. Ohthankgod! I was missing ol' Dave.

He's a class act all the way.

NEW YORK — After eight weeks of reruns, David Letterman should be in a joking mood next Wednesday: Not only does he join his late-night brethren back on the air, but he'll have his writers backing him up.

So Dave was the last to announce his return. Big deal _ now the joke's on Jay, Conan and the other writer-less hosts.

An interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America will allow the full writing staffs for "Late Show with David Letterman" as well as "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" to return to work, even as the Hollywood writers strike continues to shutter much TV and movie production. It could prove to be a huge advantage for both these CBS late-night shows, which are produced by the Letterman-owned Worldwide Pants.

"I am grateful to the WGA for granting us this agreement," Letterman said in a statement Friday. "This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction."

More ---> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071228/hollywood-labor-letterman/

[Stephanie]

6. "We had no problems with the guild's demands," Burnett said.

Gotta love Dave & his team, now more than ever! :hi:

[Stephanie]

7. Statement from the Letterman writers' strike blog >

http://lateshowwritersonstrike.com/

Statement

"We are happy that the WGA and Worldwide Pants were able to reach an agreement. We will continue to support our fellow writers who are on strike."- Eric Stangel

"The writers can't wait to get back to writing for Dave, and you better believe we're going to bring attention to the strike as long as it lasts."- Justin Stangel

7:04 pm est

[annabanana]

8. Well this is good news! I only hope that

the rest of the producers see the wisdom of coming back to the table and being reasonable!

[Stephanie]

11. Don't hold your breath.

The rest of the producers are big corps - hardly interested in being fair to their creative workers.

[Akoto]

9. Great news. I only wish it had been sooner.

I had a tradition of watching Letterman on Christmas Eve every year. Was sad to not see the meatball toss and Darlene Love singing, like always. :(

[Stephanie]

10. Oh, the meatball!

Dang I forgot all about that. If you go to the writers blog they have the Darlene Love sheet music, tho! :) http://lateshowwritersonstrike.com/

[babylonsister]

12. Not the same, but here you go:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=78802

[Stephanie]

13. that's sweet

too bad we missed it this year, very sad.