1988 Writers Guild of America strike
Encyclopedia
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

 taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East is a labor union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....

 (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West
Writers Guild of America, west
Writers Guild of America, West is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. The Guild was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, which include the Screen Writers Guild...

 (WGAW) against major United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television and film studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is a trade association based in Encino, California that represents over 350 American film production companies and studios in negotiations with entertainment industry trade unions in collective bargaining...

 (AMPTP). The strike, which ran from March 7 to August 7, 1988, affected production on movies and TV shows. At 155 days, it remains the longest strike in the Guild's history, surpassing the 1960 Writers Guild of America strike
1960 Writers Guild of America strike
The 1960 Writers Guild of America strike was the second longest writers strike in history. It lasted , and just one week less than the 1988 writers strike. The strike against the producers lasted from January 16, 1960 until June 10, 1960 . The strike against the networks began on March 19...

 by one week and the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike by seven weeks.

Summary

Formal negotiations between the writers guilds and producers began in January 1988. The main disagreements included:
  • residuals
    Residual (entertainment industry)
    A residual is a payment made to the creator of performance art for subsequent showings or screenings of the work. A typical use is in the payment of residuals for television reruns. The word is often used in the plural form.-Radio and television:The residual system started in U.S. network radio...

     for hour-long shows (producers, claiming syndicated reruns of these shows were performing poorly in syndication, wanted a softened, percentage-based formula; writers wanted a residual hike)
  • expanded creative rights (the writers wanted consultation on the choice of actors and directors for some projects)
  • cost cuts in other areas (a producers' demand)


The guilds' previous deal with producers expired on February 29, 1988. One day later, 96% of guild membership authorized a strike. On March 7, 1988, one day after rejecting a softened final offer from producers, 9,000 movie and television writers went on strike. Negotiations would take place during March and April under a federal mediator but would break off until resuming on May 23, again with a federal mediator.

After intensive bargaining, producers would make a "strike settlement offer" on June 16, 1988; the offer included an extended contract term (to 4 years) and expansion of creative rights, but still included the percentage-based residuals studios demanded and not a foreign residual increase writers demanded. The offer would be turned down by the Guilds' membership by a 3-1 margin.

During July 1988, the Guild devised an interim contract; membership would approve it, and more than 150 smaller producers would sign it. Major studios and outlets including Fox, Paramount, and the "Big Three" television networks
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...

 would refuse projects from the independents who signed the Guild's deal, leading to the Guild filing an antitrust suit accusing 18 studios and networks of mounting an illegal boycott. It was not all peace and love within the Guild, however, as 21 dissident Guild members who still favored the June 16 offer would file a charge with the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...

 to seek invalidation of Guild rules that would bar them from returning to work during a strike; some dissidents threatened to resign Guild membership and return to work if the strike was not settled by July 28.

On July 23, 1988, formal bargaining resumed, again under the auspices of federal mediators; by July 30, however, talks collapsed, with studios threatening to not bargain any further and to concentrate on producing work with non-union scripts. Behind-the-scenes "shuttle diplomacy" involving Guild negotiators, studio heads, and emissaries would begin on July 31 in an effort to revive talks. Guild officials and studio representatives would meet on August 2 to discuss the proposals, and on August 3 announced a tentative deal. While the new deal gave studios the sliding residual scale they sought for hour-long reruns, writers won a modest financial gain when hour-long shows are sold internationally; the writers also gained creative rights regarding original screenplays and TV movies. The Guild board approved the deal by a 26-6 vote; Guild membership would approve the deal as well (2,111 in favor, 412 against), and the strike formally ended on August 7, 1988.

Television

The writers' strike forced the major TV networks
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...

 to hold off the start of their Fall 1988 schedule later than usual; rather than the traditional late-September/early-October start, new and returning TV series' debuts were delayed until late October and into November (One NBC series In The Heat Of The Night
In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
In the Heat of the Night is a television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995...

 didn't start its second season, until early-December). In the interim, the networks had to rely on a hodgepodge of programming, including reruns, movies, entertainment and news specials, program-length political advertising, and unscripted original series (e.g. CBS' High Risk). Networks also benefited from sports programming, including NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, which relied on the Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

 in September and the World Series
1988 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaBecause of using ace Orel Hershiser in Game 7 of the NLCS, the Dodgers had to open with rookie Tim Belcher in Game 1. Meanwhile, Oakland sent a well-rested Dave Stewart to the mound. Both pitchers, however, would have...

 in October, and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, which in addition to its postseason baseball coverage moved up the start time for the early weeks of Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

from 9PM ET to 8PM ET (MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...

, which normally aired at 8PM, was not yet ready with new episodes).

While waiting for their fall seasons to begin, the networks still had access to scripted original series. Despite refusing earlier in the summer to accept new projects from independents who settled with the Guild, TV networks gained a benefit from the Guilds' decision to offer independent contracts to producers, with the offers beginning in late May 1988. The agreements would allow producers and writers of such shows as The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

, A Different World
A Different World
A Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC . It was a spin-off series from The Cosby Show originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in the state of Virginia...

, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

, and Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...

to resume work. Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

 actually resumed work on The Tonight Show before the agreement, returning with the Guild's blessing on May 11, 1988 (after Tonight was in reruns since the strike's start) without writers and with his own material; David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

 would follow suit, returning to Late Night on June 29.

The strike also led to a revival of Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible (1988 TV series)
Mission: Impossible is an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The show is a revival of the 1966 TV series of the same name...

; ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, in search of original content for Fall 1988, used reworked scripts from the original version of M:I and filmed them in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (where production costs at the time were lower than that in the Hollywood area), making the new M:I one of the first American commercial network programs to be filmed Down Under. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 took a similar approach with its new sitcom Dear John, using some reworked episodes that were from the original version
Dear John (UK TV series)
Dear John is a British sitcom, written by John Sullivan. Two series and a "special" were broadcast between 1986 and 1987.This sitcom's title referred to letters sent by girls to their boyfriends breaking off the relationship, known as "Dear John" letters. In the opening episode, John discovers his...

 that aired on Britain's BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

Soap operas continued to air during the strike; however, without experienced script writers many suffered in quality. At first most stories were dragged out for as long as possible, then plots lurched forward that did not leave shows in the best of shape. Saturday morning
Saturday Morning
-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....

 programming for the 1988-1989 season was mostly unaffected, as animation writers were not part of the strike; a notable exception was CBS' live-action series Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more...

, which only had two new episodes and a prime-time Christmas special that season. The animation exemption also led to several animated specials being aired, including a new Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

 miniseries (This Is America, Charlie Brown
This Is America, Charlie Brown
This is America, Charlie Brown was an eight-part animated TV mini-series, depicting events in American history with characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on CBS. These eight episodes, originally released singly on videocassette, were released in a...

) and an adaptation of a Garfield
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...

 book, Garfield: His 9 Lives
Garfield: His 9 Lives
Garfield: His 9 Lives is a 1984 book of illustrated short stories showing the "nine lives" of comic strip character Garfield...

.

The strike significantly shrunk average television audiences, and has had a lasting effect to this day.

The second season finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

entitled "Shades of Gray" was a clip show
Clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. ...

 as the bulk of this episode is composed of footage from previous TNG episodes; this is generally considered the worst episode produced in the franchise's 40+ year history.

The strike did not, as some later claimed, lead to the advent of reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 (which did not rise to its current level of popularity until over a decade later), mainly due to the fact that it began in the traditional summer "offseason" when little new scripted programming was being produced anyway. One notable exception was COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...

on the Fox television network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

, which was commissioned as the result of a strike and has remained on Fox's Saturday night lineup ever since.

The cancellations of Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...

and Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...

have been attributed in part to audience loss stemming from the shows' long hiatuses due to the writers' strike.

Films

The horror film Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie...

narrowly avoided the strike. Writer Alan B. McElroy
Alan B. McElroy
Alan B. McElroy is an American writer, film director and producer.McElroy was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Miami University with a degree in Psychology.He is the creator of Wrong Turn.- External links :...

 had only 11 days in which to come up with the film's story and subsequently write the script. McElroy did just this and managed to turn the script in just hours before the strike commenced.

The 1989
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...

 movie Earth Girls Are Easy
Earth Girls Are Easy
Earth Girls Are Easy is a 1988 American musical comedy film directed by Julien Temple. It stars Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Michael McKean, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans. The film is marketed with the tagline "An out-of-this-world, down-to-earth comedy adventure"...

was filmed during this strike; co-writer Charlie Coffey
Charlie Coffey
Charles E. "Charlie" Coffey was the head coach of the Virginia Tech football program from 1971 to 1973. During his three-season tenure, Coffey compiled a 12-20-1 record. After he arrived in Blacksburg, Coffey established a potent passing attack, which resulted in Hokies quarterback Don Strock...

 did not appear in the movie due to being on the picket lines.

According to the Ultimate James Bond DVD Collection, the movie Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...

, starring Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...

, lost one of its co-writers, Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels....

, so his partner Michael G. Wilson
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, OBE is the producer and screenwriter of many modern James Bond movies.-Background:Wilson was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dana and actor Lewis Wilson. His father was the first actor to play the DC Comics character Batman in live action, which he did in the...

 elected to finish the screenplay on his own.

Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm is an American screenwriter, perhaps best known for writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman and an unused screenplay for the sequel. As a result of his work, he was invited to write for the Batman comic. The result was Batman: Blind Justice, which introduced Bruce Wayne's mentor,...

 turned in his script for 1989's Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...

just days before the writer's strike began, and was unable to write further drafts due to his involvement. Director Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...

 and others liked the script, but thought "something" was missing. As such he brought in Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice is a 1988 American comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros...

co-writers Warren Skaaren
Warren Skaaren
Warren Skaaren was an American screenwriter and film producer. His notable writing includes: Batman , Beetlejuice , Beverly Hills Cop 2 and Fire with Fire . He was also credited as associate producer for Top Gun , for which he wrote a draft...

 and Charles McKeown
Charles McKeown
Charles McKeown is a British actor and writer, perhaps best known for his collaborations with Terry Gilliam. The two met while shooting Monty Python's Life of Brian, while McKeown was doing bit parts in the film.-Screenwriting career:...

 for rewrite work. Jonathan Gems did a few weeks worth of rewriting as well. All three were British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 as just about every single writer in America was on strike. Their draft introduced the Joker's role as the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents, a revelation Burton wanted from the beginning. Hamm, staying true to the source material, had refused to use the idea. One of the primary reasons as to why the filmmakers brought in McKeown was that they felt he could come up with more creative jokes for The Joker.

See also

  • International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
    International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
    The International Affiliation of Writers Guilds is an international trade union federation representing guilds of professional screenwriters and playwrights. Some affiliates also belong to national trade union federations....

     (IAWG)
  • WGA screenwriting credit system
    WGA screenwriting credit system
    In the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...

  • WGA script registration service
    WGA script registration service
    The WGA script registration service is a service run by both the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West to establish the date of creation of literary property, typically a motion picture screenplay, useful in the often-contentious US entertainment field.The service...

  • 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike
  • List of Hollywood strikes
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