The late Del Close was one of the giants of improvisational comedy and a kind of theater (and thinking) that are all too rare in the world today. Recently, he was one of four inductees into the Hall of Fame for alumni of Manhattan High School. This article makes a few factual errors but is worth a peek. There's a reference in there, by the way, to another inductee named Inger Stensland. Ms. Stensland later became quite well known under her professional name of Inger Stevens.
And what you really might enjoy watching — and I'm afraid the audio isn't very good at it, nor is the picture — is the video on this page of Bill Murray, speaking at the induction ceremony...which, to give it the seriousness it so richly deserves, took place at half-time of a basketball game. Thanks to Kim "Howard" Johnson for the links.
The big news on the strike front this weekend seems to be that the WGA will be signing one of those interim agreements with United Artists, an independent movie producer which has been re-formed with the clout of Tom Cruise as its primary asset. That will put a few writers back to work but the larger significance is that it's another gain in the p.r. battle. It shows the Guild is ready to make a deal and that an important producer has no trouble accepting the terms that the AMPTP finds so unthinkable. That was the big plus of the Letterman deal.
Many phone calls are probably occurring even as you read this, with AMPTP bigwigs applying pressure on other independents not to follow suit. They will undoubtedly succeed in many cases, and it's stunning that they didn't stop Cruise's company. As Larry Gelbart once said, "An independent producer is someone who's dependent on everyone." You can fund your own movies in this town, especially if you're Tom Cruise and investors will line up to thrust cash upon you. Getting those films distributed properly is another matter, and that's when you often must rely on the kindness not of strangers but of majors. If I had a well-financed independent film company, I'd probably be getting a call or two from the top guys at the Big Studios saying, "You're not going to sign that WGA contract, right?" And I'd probably be replying with some less obvious version of "Well, what are you going to do for me if I don't?" Or maybe, nervously, "What are you going to do to me if I do?"
But others will follow...how many, we don't know. Pressure is building against the AMPTP in other ways, as well. The Golden Globe Awards have never been so important in this industry as they are when it looks like they're not going to happen. To the studios, the show represents a means of promoting product and they don't like the idea of that being denied to them. More significantly, they don't like the idea of the unions banding together and being effectual, and the Golden Globes are being scuttled by a joint action of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild.
One of the many reasons I don't think the Writers Strike will last six more months is that allowing that would effectively merge our strike with SAG's contract negotiation, not only now but in future years if both contracts wind up being renewed at the same time. Here's the worst possible nightmare for whoever will be in Nick Counter's place three years from now: It's July of 2011 and the contracts for the Writers Guild, the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild are all expiring simultaneously. If ever all of labor in Hollywood could link arms and shut the business down until there are major increases, that would be the time. Even now, with SAG's deal expiring seven months after ours, the proximity is a problem for the studios, especially since the actors' demands so closely mirror the ones we have and which the AMPTP is refusing to discuss. From the producer point-of-view, driving WGA and SAG even closer together is whatever the opposite is of a "divide and conquer" strategy. ("Unite and surrender?")
The fiasco of the Golden Globe Awards — nominees and presenters refusing to appear — is reminding the producers that they may own the building but if they don't have us, all they have is a worthless building. The AMPTP has done a lot of things that in hindsight do not seem to have been in their own best interests...but here they're looking at the pilot for a combined WGA-SAG strike. You've gotta think they won't let this one go to series.
In late night news: Leno and the WGA are sparring over what Jay can and cannot do on the air. I caught a little of his monologue on Friday night and it sure sounded written...and not entirely by him. I like Jay as a performer and I've long had a high opinion of him as a decent, ethical guy. But the rules say he can't employ writers and they may say — I'm still a bit fuzzy on this — that he can't even write for himself. I'll be most disappointed if when all is said and done, the conclusion is that Leno broke the rules.
One kinda-clever thing he has done: This week, he and Jimmy Kimmel will exchange guest appearances...two guys in the same, writerless, semi-guestless boat bailing out one another. That's a smart/generous move on Jay's part since it'll do more for Kimmel than vice-versa. It's also kinda surprising since Mr. Kimmel has made no secret of his intense dislike of Mr. Leno. War creates the oddest of alliances.
Lastly: I'm going to be back on the picket line next week at some point. I think we are picketing CBS Television City after all, but we're ending each day's hiking at 1 PM. I'm guessing that's our way of picketing the soap operas and other shows that tape in the morning but not picketing Craig Ferguson, who tapes much later in the day.
This is a short TV commercial for the 1994 Broadway revival/revisal of Damn Yankees, which I saw and liked a lot, and which I guess didn't do as much business as its backers had hoped, even after they brought in Jerry Lewis to play Applegate. (This commercial is from before then. That's Victor Garber you'll see playing that role in the ad.)
I saw the pre-Lewis version twice and then was there for Jerry's opening night...plus, I have since seen two non-Broadway productions that incorporated many of the changes made for the '94 mounting. Part of me wishes they'd leave old shows in their original state and part of me has to admit that, in this case and a few others, they probably improved things at least for a modern audience. I did not catch the recent L.A. version directed by Jason Alexander which took things further, using a mostly-black cast and turning the Washington Senators into the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Which reminds me. Not all that long ago, there was an announcement that a new filmed version of Damn Yankees was soon to go before the cameras with Billy Crystal portraying The Devil. You may recall me suggesting that Christopher Walken would have been a more interesting choice. Well, whatever happened to that? Anyone?
January 7, 2008
