One Writer's Strike

Steve Bodow, head writer for The Daily Show with John Stewart and card-carrying WGA member, writes about the ongoing writers strike today for the NY Daily News and describes why he "went from punch lines to the picket line."

Bodow writes:

We've stopped working because our contract with the big studios ended last week, and though we've been negotiating in good faith with them, we're having a pretty fundamental disagreement about how we should make our livings in the years ahead.

Now, we writer types are notoriously bad with numbers. Our skills lie more in the deft crafting of well-turned phrases - "neat-o word-packet makery," we call it.

But even we can tell that, for the right to rebroadcast our work online, "zilch" is a crummy offer.

Bodow goes on to reveal some useful life lessons from the picket line (some highlights: donuts are not a food group, and Hollywood execs can be greedy).

"We create something people value," Bodow writes. "It is our livelihood. We take it seriously. It's being threatened. And we're going to fight until we get what we need. Normally I'd end with a joke, but sorry - I'm on strike."

For more info about the WGA strike, visit Variety's new strike-centric Scribe Vibe blog.

-- Daniel Lehman