Fashion Police Writers Still On Strike - Joan Rivers Doesn't Care
For almost three months, the writers of Fashion Police on E! have been on strike. As they highlight in this latest video, all they are asking for is to be treated like writers and allowed to join the Writer's Guild which would provide insurance and retirement benefits. Oh, and they also feel like they have been cheated out of $1.5M. Joan Rivers is one of the stars of the show but has not supported the strike at all. Maybe because her daughter is the boss. Joan should do the right thing. One word from her and everything gets settled.
Dun dun DUNNNN!!!
ReplyDeleteCall me naive but I didn't think this show had writers.
ReplyDeleteI find it disgusting she would be so selfish to deny them this. But not surprised
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the show hasn't missed a beat without them. It's still full of stale one-liners.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Joan! Listen to Enties--the embodiment of all that is just, true, and fair!
ReplyDeleteJoan and Melissa, pay your writers. They earn shit-let them have their insurance and retirement. You get and have plenty-take care of your people.
ReplyDeleteI bet this is more Melissa than Joan, Joan can see no wrong in her. Melissa is supposed to be a
ReplyDeletenightmare, and still stands with her. Disappointing.
Joan knows how to ad-lib Melissa should be the straight girl anyway. Why do writers have to write your opinions for you?
ReplyDeleteDo the writers have the panel laugh uproariously at every lame one-liner Joan says or do they genuinely do that on their own?
ReplyDeleteYeah, Melissa is supposed to be Joan's blind spot. She does no wrong in her moms eyes.
ReplyDeleteJoan Rivers should know better. Pay your writers.
ReplyDeleteOh no. I love Joan Rivers and I love writers. Hope they work this out. I am a fan of Fashion Police post-award shows. I don't really watch on a day-to-day basis.
ReplyDeleteIs it really up to Joan, or is it up to E! to work it out. Maybe Joan could put pressure on E! if she cares?
pay the employees, but unions suck, through and through.
ReplyDeleteI agree that they deserve fair compensation but I'm so over all of the public shaming we see nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI heard Enty's writers are 7-year-old Chinese orphan slaves.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't like the working conditions go find another job, but it sounds like their work wasn't anything to "write" home about anyway if they have been on strike for 3 months and no one noticed. Sounds like they are getting what they have earned.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think that the show has been less entertaining and much more gutter talk. Instead of witty, just lots more bleeped swearing. And the last month's shows really were more best-of compilationsn than new episodes. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Now I know. No new writing. Just recycled jokes from Joan's file drawers and recycled guest spots from past episodes.
ReplyDeleteThey obviously don't need the writers (YMMV subjectively but have the show ratings changed at all?). The writers can't frame it like they're doing something for which they should be (further) compensated so they're attacking her personally. And that's just pitiful. Also pitiful: the statement that Joan should "do the right thing." Obviously, this site thinks "the right thing" would be to cave to nonsensical demands for additional compensation in exchange for ... nothing of value. In reality, the reality where other people's money is not your very own feel-good piggy bank, the "right thing" would be to fire the writers.
ReplyDelete@dude and @amartel, ita. i don't watch it but i didnt even realize they had writers to begin with. it must suck when your whining and attention seeking goes ignored because your job is superfluous. and then to target and attack the main host to further guilt them?? geez....
ReplyDelete@amartel I'm not sure what type of job or career you have, and I find what you're saying very dismissive. TV writers work very hard and long hours, wether you like the material or not. By not allowing these people to join the Writers Guild they are excluded out of future rerun earnings, health benefits and the right to equal pay as the rest of their counterparts. Joan, who is a member of the Guild and is/was a writer herself she knows how important being a member is to their future in that industry.
ReplyDeletethe point is not whether they are good writers of not... if they are bad writers they should be fired.
ReplyDeleteBut while this is not happening, if they are writing for your show, you should treat them like writers, i.e. recognise their rights.
it's a shame
I boycotted the show awhile ago but it was due to George's horribly, creepily botoxed face. He used to be handsome.
ReplyDeleteThis sucks. I really like Joan Rivers. I hope she comes around and gives those writers what they deserve
ReplyDeleteit's a testament to their writing ability that you DIDN'T know that the show had writers. They did a job of making 4 talking heads look funnier than they probably are. As a TV writer I am FURIOUS about this story.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's seriously scummy! Those benefits are very important. They work hard in the background, making her look good, and this petty behavior is how she rewards them? Joan of all people knows how it is to have to struggle against the Hollywood machine. Shame on her.
ReplyDeleteHollywood Dime, I hear what you are saying, but I personally don't believe that an employer or for this matter a show should be forced to do this. If they don't want join the guild/union, don't and either you won't be able to find good talent, or you will find people to work for you that accept that you aren't part of the guild (union). These writers have the option of looking for work on a show that is part of the guild. I know people will say that it's not that easy to find work, etc... but then you keep the job you have even though it is not what you want until you do find one that does provide the benefits. These benefits have to be funded from somewhere. If Joan or Melissa won't, that is their choice. That just means that they may not value the service the writers are providing and are ok with the idea of high turn-over, inexperienced writers.
ReplyDelete@MAC what you're saying is an over simplification. A writer can't just join the guild, you must have paid writing jobs to join. Basic cable networks like E! keep these people as "freelance" writers to avoid paying them the standard rate as a writer. If E! can pay Ryan Seacrest, Chelsea and Joan their fees, the people who make their jobs easiest deserve that same respect. If all the writers went on strike (again) production on all show would stop immediately. The last writers strike is why there are so many reality shows.
ReplyDeleteThis, right here. E! Is a horrible network with crappy shows and made for TV movies, but highly over paid "stars" as Hollywood Dime mentioned. They would benefit by having a more professional attitude about the real back bone of their craft. They rely heavily on the formulaic model, and unfortunately in our non-thinking society that serves a customer base. However, consider some of the best shows and movies ever. What is the common denominator? Fabulous creative writing genius. That is rewarded. E! Is being held together by a thread with all of their reality crap. It's beginning to unravel as we all complain about it incessantly. It would behoove them to innovate prior to their fall, which is coming in about two years or less.
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ReplyDeleteIt was different when Joan's husband Edgar (Melissa's dad) was alive back in the 80s. He always made sure the writers on her shows got paid, and in fact the last thing he did before he died was mail out checks. I know because my dad used to write for her back then.
ReplyDeleteJoan Rivers is a woman-hating piece of shit. Joanie, your co-hosts aren't laughing at your jokes - they're laughing at YOU.
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to see what she looks like without makeup, though.
are they are strike ...or did they quit and havent realized it yet?
ReplyDeleteHollywooddime - Full tilt batshit crazy entitlement mentality apparently prevents you from seeing the big obvious point that these writers are not adding value to the product so why should they be paid at all much less more than they're already being paid. Please address the point and leave aside irrelevant discussions of how hard writers in general work, how much they need benefits etc. These are general observations that could be true or not true of any professional in any industry.
ReplyDeleteAnd this doesn't even address the sleazy tactic that they adopt to get their way: personal insults and ultimatums. Wah, Joan is mean for not paying me to do something she doesn't need. Wah. And all the insecure moron sheep cheer for this. Joan is mean and petty [and woman-hating?? woman-hating? that came out of complete left field?].
ReplyDeleteReality show genre developed to cut out the writer, but they crept back in because "reality" had to be mediated and manipulated. And most people need a script, let's face it. Now maybe we'll be getting real reality. (Not necessarily a good thing.)
I may be a minority here, but I think Joan is freakin' hilarious. I don't watch FP a lot, but when I do (usually after the majors - Oscar, Emmy, etc.) she brings me to tears. There is a reason she has been in the business for decades and why E! pays her the big bucks.
ReplyDeleteI do not work in the entertainment industry but I have a lot of experience with unions. I know historically they have done great things for the American worker, but in recent years on a local level they seem to do less for the masses and more for the undeserving few. I also know there are two sides to every story and just because Joan isn't posting a video on YouTube it doesn't make her the bad guy. I do know that in the rest of America if workers posted a video like that about their bosses and jobs online they could kiss any chance of keeping those jobs goodbye.
Shes a republican, what do you expect?
ReplyDelete@ amatrel I don't know where you get that I', bat shit crazy and full of entitlement because I think people who are my peers as television writers, deserve respect. Your attack on my was unwarranted.
ReplyDeleteI get that you are bat shit crazy because you can't respond to a simple obvious argument. That's not an "unwarranted" attack or dismissive; that's just the truth.
ReplyDeleteYour thesis is that the writers "deserve" "respect" (more money) because they're good hard-working people, and now, supposedly, are your peers. That's not an argument; it's an appeal to emotion. Who knows if these writers are good hardworking people? They certainly default to bullshit smears pretty quickly for good hardworking people. Why are they entitled to money (or respect) if they're not adding value to the product? And why is it the unquestioned default to say shitty things about the person who is refusing to pay extra for people she clearly doesn't need? What if someone followed you around all day guilt tripping you into buying things you didn't need?
Joan herself has been a writer.
ReplyDeleteShe will never do anything to cross Melissa or make her look wrong.
Tyger Lilly - I agree with all of your points.
ReplyDelete"These writers have the option of looking for work on a show that is part of the guild."
ReplyDeleteErrrrr....Not so much. There is hardly a reality show on these days that is guild. And if Mark Burnett has his way, they'll be more drama series (like "The Bible") that are non-guild, too.
Hollywood Dime is right. The issue here isn't "perks." I know some folks writing on shows now who make $1500 a show. $1500 to write a whole damn hour long show. And not get credit as a writer. And that's before taxes. It's f'in criminal.
When shows can get away with that, then writing becomes the equivalent of janitorial work. With less benefits. And the producers own the show and get all the back end.
The thing is, you need talent to be a writer. These people are writing for the talking heads on the show. They're writing the outlines and the host copy and keeping things moving. Joan is a writer herself, so she's not going to be hiring total morons.
The irony is, Joan Rivers started out as a writer. She's been in the guild since forever. She's banked millions of dollars in WGA benefits - including retirement money, and she's had her health care needs covered by the WGA (and AFTRA/SAG) as well. When she was starting out, I bet she kissed the ground when she got into the WGA/AFTRA and could finally count on having her doctor's appointments covered.
Guild minimum for an hour non fiction cable show is somewhere around $13,000. And that's for a single writer - the amount goes down for writing teams. That's obviously not very rich. But there are contributions to pension and health insurance, and protection of credits that makes that union paycheck invaluable.
Thank you Hollywood Dime and thank you, Enty, THANK YOU
for standing up for the little writer.
No problem standing up for what's right. How can we help? Is there anything that we as "gossips" or fans do?
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