Scanner : writers strike

My Kind of Protest: Soccer Players Dropping Drawers

Colleen Kane — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:02:00 GMT

Although I hate sports, I got into the European football matches during their championship matches last summer while traveling abroad. It didn't hurt that a lot of the players were easy on the eyes and constantly showing a little well-toned leg.

In the case of the Spanish soccer team El Galactico Pegoso, they're not afraid to show a little more leg and Speedo-size underwear, either. As you'll see in this local news coverage of the incident, the team dropped trou as a protest* for not getting paid.

This lineup isn't quite as fetching as some from last summer, but you get the idea.

*This protest style would not have looked quite as good if it were used for last winter's writer's strike.

Soccer Pro in Most Boring Sextape Scandal Ever?

World's Greatest Mom Defends Daughter's Honor... Shotgun Style

Via OhLaLaMag

Katherine Heigl Drops Out of the Emmy Race?

Emily Farris — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:32:00 GMT

Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl — who won a best supporting actress Emmy last year for her role as Izzy Stevens on the show — has greatly decreased her chances of winning one this year by, uh, removing herself from the race completely. And it appears to be a big "fuck you" to the writers.

Apparently, Heigl just didn't think her role was good enough.

"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," Heigl told L.A. Times columnist Tom O' Neil. "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials," she added.

Now, we're not in the television industry so we don't really know how things work. But we are writers, and we do know that writers have pretty large egos. So we won't be surprised if Izzy finds herself back in that trailer park next season with a crack habit, bad acne and three-inch roots.

[LA Times: Emmy champ Katherine Heigl quits the race, blaming 'Grey's Anatomy' writers]

Does Katherine Heigl Think Judd Apatow is "Sexist?"

Is US Weekly Being Sexist?

Hot, Lesbian Doctor Action Coming to Tonight's "Grey's Anatomy?"

"Grey's Anatomy" Star's Incestuous Past Makes Us Glad We Watch "Scrubs"

Grey's Anatomy Star Justin Chambers in the Same Mental Ward as Brit

Video of the Day: "Moment of Truth" For Lauren Cleri, Humanity

Bryan Christian — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Holy Hannah! We are flabbergasted at the way Moment of Truth (Mondays on Fox!) contestant Lauren Cleri shivs her husband on national TV for $100,000 in the first minute of this clip. And it gets weirder from there. By the end, that dude from Antiques Roadshow is sermonizing like a Jerry Springer understudy and, even more strangely, you might actually have some sympathy for Mrs. (though we're guessing soon it'll be Ms.) Cleri.

Goddamn you, WGA! Your strike may be over, but the carnage you've wrought will never end!

UPDATE: Gawker's found her MySpace page and the New York Post got an interview with young Lauren. Apparently, she did it for the money. Ohhhhhhhh...

[via]

TV Gets Back to What It Does Best: Canceling Shows

Bryan Christian — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:06:00 GMT

Now that the Writer's Strike is over, it's time to figure out what shows are coming back and when. We got a couple of links to pages here and here with hints, and heard something on NPR yesterday, and while we haven't done a case-by-case comparison, we'll summarize what we know:

-- Lots of shows -- particularly sitcoms -- are going back into production now, and will be burning off already shot episodes or shooting a handful more to be shown through May or beyond. Big names include: 30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica, The Office, My Name is Earl, Lost, and a few other shows you probably first saw on iTunes.

-- Gossip Girl -- which all of us Scanner bloggers just realized means nothing to us but has a fairly dedicated following, we hear -- will return with new episodes aired through the summer, so just like we did with 90210 and The OC, expect us to "get way more into it than we thought" around June.

-- No 24 and no more Heroes, Life, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Moonlight, Private Practice or Chuck for the year; they will likely all be relaunched or continued next fall.

-- Cancelled or iffy: Bionic Woman, Cane, Life is Wild (which, like... huh?), Friday Night Lights, Prison Break, One Tree Hill, Reaper, Back to You, and ER, which we imagine NBC has been looking for an excuse like this to unload since Noah Wyle left.

-- Producer Bill Lawrence is negotiating for time to wrap up Scrubs. Bill: let it go.

Totally Bummed by Our Sawyer Nickname

Emily Farris — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:14:00 GMT

We've recently become addicted to LOST. We caught the end of last season and learned a few days ago that we can watch every single episode from every single season in HD on ABC.com. We're trying to watch the first three seasons before Thursday night, when a new episode airs, but it's been keeping us up until 3:30 or so every night and we're not even halfway through the first season. We forget how prolific television was before the writers' strike.

Anyway, we got super excited about Sawyer's Nickname Generator at ABC.com, because how cute is Freckles? Well, we're not so happy with our nickname. Not at all. In fact, we're almost heartbroken. Could he not come up with anything better for us?

Generate your Sawyer nickname here. We hope it's better than ours.

Maggie Gyllenhaal Waits for No AMPTP, And Her Hair Does Look Great

Emily Farris — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:11:00 GMT

One thing we can say for the writers' strike, it's making for some good YouTube content. So, how do we get the writers paid and keep them writing stuff like this?

Our Long National Nightmare of Talk Show Reruns Is Now Over

Bryan Christian — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:09:00 GMT

As you no doubt are aware, you no longer have to go out and find willing sexual partners to keep yourself occupied late nights, Monday thru Friday: the network talk shows are back. We couldn't bring ourselves to watch Leno, since even on a good day, his Tonight Show material is only half-jokes, with the other half dedicated to non-joke observations engineered to garner applause rather than make people laugh, and that makes us crazy. (Also: Mike Huckabee creeps us out.) Anyway, it doesn't sound like we missed much since the big news coming from his show was that he probably broke WGA strike rules by pre-writing a monologue.

We did, however, catch most of Letterman and Conan (and, predictably, none of Craig Ferguson), and had considered liveblogging them as we had done the Victoria's Secret fashion show, but it was late and we were hard at work on other things, and besides we can't commit to watching anything all the way through if Robin Williams is involved. Suffice it to say that if a liveblog of this stuff is what you're after, you can have it. IOHO, while the shows seemed only slightly more shaggy-dog than normal (writers or no), the most interesting thing about them was that the hosts showed up thoroughly scruffy. Keep it up, gentlemen, we think ya look great (and we give facial hair an inordinate amount of thought)!

Daily Show and Colbert return next week, perhaps in time to do cleanup on today's Iowa caucus but certainly in time to provide non-scripted, off-the-cuff commentary on the New Hampshire primary. We think there's a decent chance that, if anything innovative happens in late-night before this strike ends, that's where you're gonna find it. But maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Awards Show + Tabloid Show = People's Choice Awards?

Bryan Christian — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:56:00 GMT

From an AP report:

"We realize there are pressing issues facing the entertainment industry, including the WGA strike, and out of respect for everyone involved this provided an opportunity to pilot a new format this year," awards spokeswoman Jeannie Tharrington told The Associated Press.
The show will include pre-recorded acceptance speeches by winners as well as their responses to questions sent in by fans, according to a People's Choice statement.
The "new approach will give fans a more personal glimpse into the lives of their favorite actors and musicians," awards President Fred Nelson said in a statement.

We can't decide if we're unnerved by what might be the Extra-izing of the People's Choice, or thrilled at the prospect of the Writers Strike potentially killing off what in our mind has always been a really useless awards show. What do you guys think?

2009 and 2010 May Bring Even More Hobbit Love

Bryan Christian — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:27:00 GMT

Last we'd heard on the prospects of a Hobbit adaptation coming to the big screen, Peter Jackson had basically gotten himself kicked off the project by raising a fuss over his cut from those three other Tolkien movies he did a while back. But no, today comes word that all is well-and-good-ish between Jackson and New Line, and that Jackson will go ahead and exec-produce a two part, four hour version of the Lord of the Rings prequel. Jackson will be taking in 50% of the profits, which sounds bonkers to us, but maybe New Line couldn't find the upside to doing a Jackson-less version, lest the fanboys rebel in droves, and just threw money at him.

You know, the Lord of the Rings movies were on TNT this weekend, all in a row, and although we really like the second movie, we couldn't help but feel nervous as the third one started wrapping up. Not because of the high stakes, big battles, or whatever -- because we were trying to figure out when to turn it off to avoid all the hugging Hobbits at the end. Seriously, what was that? One minute you're fighting an epic throwdown with Orcs and Mastadons vs. Elves and Zombies, and the next thing you know, it's a half-hour Hobbit slumber party? Just get on the damn boat or whatever! Thankfully, as we remember The Hobbit, it's a pretty lean adventure story, and there aren't too many other citizens of the Shire in it besides Bilbo Baggins, so maybe we'll be spared so much Hobbit-on-Hobbit subtext this time?

Looks Like Movie Crime Doesn't Always Pay Off

Bryan Christian — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:00:00 GMT

Maybe you've heard about the two guys that escaped from prison last night in a way that's remarkably similar to a certain much-beloved movie?

ELIZABETH, New Jersey (AP) -- Two inmates escaped from a county jail, hiding the holes they made in the walls by putting up photos of bikini-clad women, officials said.
{...] Authorities launched a review of security measures, and barred inmates from pinning up pictures from magazines on their cell walls.

Well, don't go thinking that movie life works out all the time. Not only are we fairly certain that Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt were not, in fact, framed for the murder of their wives, but it turns out that on the other side of the world, a movie shoot in Africa went horribly, horribly wrong.

The director of an Angolan crime film says police have shot dead two of his actors after mistaking them for real armed robbers.
The duo were carrying unloaded firearms as they filmed a scene in a rough suburb of the capital Luanda, director Radical Ribeiro told AFP news agency.
[...] Mr Ribeiro told AFP that police arrived at the scene in a pick-up truck and "started shooting at everybody at close range".

You know there are Hollywood producers that heard that story and we're like ""Lucky bastards! They got a whole new shootout scene and didn't have to hire a scab screenwriter!"

Hey Geeks: "Mutant Enemy Day" Will Blow Your Mind, Gonads

Bryan Christian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:25:00 GMT

Maybe you heard that the Writers Strike seems to be going from bad to holy-crap-level worse? Not only are you, the viewers at home, about to be subjected to a bunch of really crummy reality shows, but negotiations between the writers and producers have been constantly breaking down, leading many to conclude that the situation is gonna get worse before it gets any better.

But we here at Scanner like to turn frowns upside down when we can, so behold, the one good thing that we can bring you about this strike so far: LAist's coverage of "Mutant Enemy Day" outside the Fox lot, wherein Joss Whedon and a number of the creators and cast members from his shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and the upcoming Dollhouse, were picketing, carrying signs, showing their support with donuts, and in a few cases being stone cold foxes. A partial list of attendees includes:

... Eliza Dushku (who will be collaborating with Whedon on the forthcoming Dollhouse), Nicholas Brendon, J. August Richards, Amy Acker, Juliet Landau, Tom Lenk, Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Ron Glass, Morena Baccarin, Summer Glau, Harry Groener, and Camden Toy.

... which by our math is roughly 50% total hottie, 50% beloved cult character actor, and about 110% awesome.

I Hate Myself for Loving You: Cavemen

April Peveteaux — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:01:00 GMT

Until today, nobody knew I watched Cavemen except my husband, and he makes me watch it when he’s out of town. Maybe my dirty secret has something to do with the fact that I love fuzzy dudes. Not quite as much as A Bear’s Life subscribers, but I do have a year-round campaign for my man to grow a beard. Still, I enjoy escaping into easy-joke land after all the other heaviness on TV this year. Perhaps it’s just my fetish talking, but I don’t understand all the hate.

Yes, a concept from a television commercial seems like a horrible idea, and there was all that neg talk about the pilot having to be re-worked over and over. And yes the show is on ‘hiatus’, which is probably just code for, ‘We’re not canceling it until we know how much this writers strike is going to screw us.’ But come on! Joel, Nick and Andy are adorably unaffected and I love this idea of an alternate reality where cavemen (and maybe even dinosaurs!) live among us but not in a frightening Land of the Lost kind of way. The jokes about ‘all cavemen looking alike’ and the guys working against the man at the local Scandinavian furniture store….All right fine, so it’s weak. But you’re going to be begging for it come January when all we’ve got are shows like this.

Spoiler Alert: "Heroes" Writers Must Have Struck, Like, 5 Seconds Early

Bryan Christian — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT

You know what? If you're a villain on a show inspired by characters in comics, and after a long stretch of super-impotence, you finally scheme your way into getting your powers back in the final scene of the season and the first thing you do to test them out is levitate an opened spinach can into your hand and the camera pulls in to hear what you have to say about it: IF YOU DON'T SAY "I AM WHAT I AM" AND LAUGH MANIACALLY, YOU ARE A FUCKING DUMBASS!!!

Not Another Writers' Strike Video

Emily Farris — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:30:00 GMT

No, we're totally lying. It is. We don't have a TV (not because we're one of those people who thinks they're too good for it -- we just know we'd never, ever, ever get any work done, ever, if we had one), so we have to admit, the writers' strike is not really affecting us. But we have friends who are writers, and we know that, in general, strikes affect large amounts of people (and animals), including Richard Belzer and his dog.

Previously, from Scanner Bryan, who apparently does own a TV: Writers Strike Inadvertently Provokes Return of Prime Time Spandex

James Franco Still Funny, Mila Kunis Still Smokin'

Bryan Christian — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:45:00 GMT

More Funny or Die for ya, this time with an amusing little "What If?" where actual actors are forced by the Writer's Strike to perform scenes from reality TV. The great thing here -- aside from Mila Kunis being phenomenally adorable, something that she never truly was for us on That 70's Show -- is that James Franco, who got his start on a sitcom but has kind of been doing lame dramas and Spider-Man since forever, works that goofy wig like he owns it. He's in the zone, yo. Do more comedy, Jimmy! Don't become Nicolas Cage!!!

What's the next reality TV show to get the same treatment? Our vote is for Man vs. Beast. Get the guy from Heroes and The Rock in a fur coat and you're set!

Indie Rockers Find the Scruffy, Shambling Man-Heart of "Sex and the City"

Bryan Christian — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Speaking for myself, I've never been a fan of Carrie and her crew. I bought the first season DVD when it came out just to see what was up and, meh, it just never came together for me. How do Scanner Sarah and Nicole feel about the show? Who can say.

What I can say is this: I think we can all get behind these frickin' awesome clips of indie band The Walkmen reading scenes from SATC scripts. (Those two gray speaker/play things just below the tour dates.) Are the readers drunk? Maybe. Certainly they don't give a damn. "Yep, me, James and his tiny penis: we're all one big happy family" will never sound the same again, we promise.

Guess this will have to satisfy our wacky TV performance craving for the week, since it's pretty goddamned unlikely that we're gonna be able to get into the no-longer-secret Writers Guild benefit live performances of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live at the NY UCB this weekend. The guest host for SNL will be Michael Cera, the thought of which we're guessing will make Sarah's entire spinal column explode. Me, I'm just hoping that the episodes of 30 Rock they do won't have Cerie in 'em. If I can't have her, no one will!

Antonio Pope: October 3 - November 14, 2007

Bryan Christian — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:01:00 GMT

Should we gloat about totally calling Isaiah Washington getting offed on last night's Bionic Woman? Probably not. If this Writers Strike goes on much longer, Bionic Woman is pretty high on many people's list of shows most likely to get canned as a result, which takes most of the fun out of it. Frankly, we've kind of lost interest in the show. It suffers badly from endless retooling, mixed-up tones, a clumsy sense of humor, etc.

Still. Let Washington's fate be a lesson to us all: Mess with the Velvet Mafia, you're eventually gonna get a unicorn head in your bed.

What's Up With Ellen?

Bryan Christian — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:14:00 GMT

First there's Iggygate, then she breaks the Writers Strike to do her show (anyone see the Wedgie Kids?), and now a planned jaunt to shoot in NYC has been scuttled.

Is she spending too much time on this variety show over on TBS? Better question: Ellen's doing a variety show on TBS?

Whatever. We just wanted to see if we could do a fake book cover gag in, like, 10 minutes. Looks like we need a little more practice.