No Pause Button: TV Studios and Writers Play Catch-Up After Strike
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With writers expected to return to their posts on the television production assembly line first thing Wednesday morning, the enormous machinery that generates episodes of series will get a massive restart.
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Talk show host David Letterman has been pursuing a deal with Hollywood's striking writers that would allow his late-night television show to restart production, his company said on Saturday.
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LOS ANGELES  Â When the union representing Hollywood directors begins contract talks Saturday, striking TV and film writers will likely be calculating how a deal might affect them.
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For the first time since televisionâs late-night shows returned to the air last week, David Letterman was able to nose out Jay Leno in the ratings. It was just for one show, Monday night, and Mr. Lettermanâs lead was not sizable, but Mr. Leno had won the first three nights. Their competition resumed last Wednesday, when most of the late-night hosts came back after supporting the writersâ strike for two months. Mr. Leno is working without his writing staff, which is still on strike against his âTonight Showâ on NBC, while Mr. Letterman, above, was able to return with writers to his CBS show because of a separate deal his production company made with the Writers Guild of America. Mr. Letterman has also been able to book the normal roster of movie-star guests; on Monday night he had Tom Hanks, while Mr. Leno had the upstart Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. In the overnight ratings, measuring the countryâs 65 largest cities, Mr. Letterman had a 4 rating on Monday to Mr. Lenoâs 3.8. (Each point is worth 787,659 households.) But in their showsâ first half-hour, when Mr. Leno is performing a monologue over the opposition of the writersâ guild, he still beat Mr. Letterman, with a 4.5 rating to a 4.3. CBSâs thin victory margin continued on the 12:35 a.m. shows, where Craig Ferguson enjoyed a rare ratings victory over NBCâs Conan OâBrien, with a 1.9 rating to a 1.8 for Mr. OâBrien.
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Late-night TV comedian David Letterman has reached a deal with the union representing striking screenwriters that will let his show return to the air next week with his writing staff, the union said on Friday.
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LOS ANGELES  - Contract negotiations between Hollywood's directors and studios represent the industry's best shot at getting back to business as usual, even as the writers strike enters its 11th week Monday.
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See you on Monday? With a chance that the Hollywood writersâ strike could be settled soon, television producers have already started to say just that.
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With "American Idol" and Jay Leno back on the air in January, it may seem that all is right with television. But the industry is facing its worst labor crisis in two decades, a crippling writers strike that's reshaping the business of TV and threatening to permanently shift the viewing habits of millions of Americans.
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No more writers on picket lines. No more network TV bosses scrambling for replacement shows. But enough about them. What about us? Two simple questions prey on every viewer's mind: When will my favorite scripted programs be back with new episodes? And, WILL my favorite shows be back?
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Late-night TV host David Letterman reached a deal on Friday with the union for striking screenwriters that will let his show return to the air next week while bringing his writing staff back with him.
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Hollywood writers and the studios they work for are trying again to make a deal that will end the nearly three-month strike crippling the entertainment industry.
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Late-night TV comedian David  Letterman has reached a deal with the union representing  striking screenwriters that will let his show return to the air  next week with his writing staff, the union said on Friday.
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A day before Writers  Guild of America members vote on whether to end their  three-month strike, the broadcast networks on Monday began  firming up their production plans.
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LOS ANGELES  - The Hollywood writers  strike looks like a boon for the DVD and video game industries.
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NEW YORK  Â Life without writers could be a slog for Jay Leno Â and a no-frills affair for his viewers. But his fans may not care. Oddly enough, NBC's "Tonight Show" wasn't markedly different from a typical night before the writers strike began two months ago.
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Striking Hollywood writers could be  back at work as early as Monday for the first time in three  months if they embrace terms of a tentative contract deal that  union leaders are expected to present them this weekend.
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Talk show host David Letterman has  been pursuing a deal with Hollywood's striking writers that  would allow his late-night television show to restart  production, his company said on Saturday.