'Desperate Housewives' to halt production

"Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry says the ABC prime-time soap will shut down tomorrow to send a message. "We're the most high-profile writers in television. If we all band together, we're sending a not-so-subtle message to the powers that be that without us, there is no TV. Period."

He said he knows what it's like to be without work, since he once survived on $25,000 to $45,000 a year when he couldn't get a better-paying TV gig. He also cautioned the public not to believe everything they hear about writers' salaries. Sure, someone could make $100,000 a year -- but then be out of work for two years.

-- Lynn Smith

Comments

[Hard Knocks]

Oh, poor Marc Cherry, "surviving" on $25,000 to $45,000 a year! Do you know how many people in the industry have to "survive" on less than that in this town every year? We should all be so lucky. How insulting!

[Greg Grouwinkel]

Welcome to the real world!! The average salary is closer to 250k with self proclaimed "HIGH-PROFILE" writers making well above that. If you can't find a job, it's because you're not very talented at your profession. Let the public decide. A day wages for a days work!! If you think that you deserve more because there's an after market, you need to negotiate that when you start the job, just like the real world. Get off your high horse and get back to work!!

[Dawn]

Marc Cherry "SURVIVED" on $25,000 to $45,000 a year??!!

OMG, how did he ever manage? That is just so tragic!!

Please, when he has to get by on $5.75 an hour, or less, then I'll feel sorry for him. That is just disgusting to people who "get by" on so much less than $100,000 a year, and you don't see them walking a picket line. That's because they have more important things to think about, like feeding their families and paying their electric bill, and how they're going to afford to buy gas to drive to work. Don't tell me about how hard these writers have it because they're not getting a few pennies on the dollar in revenue and residuals. Come back to the REAL world, people! I can't wait to see people like Marc Cherry and Shonda Rimes come crashing back down to Earth. I'm sure the thud will be heard around the world.

[cymerin]

"If you think that you deserve more because there's an after market, you need to negotiate that when you start the job, just like the real world. "

that's what they ARE doing. their contract expired, so they need a new one. these things must be written into the contract in order for the writers to ask for them when they start a new job.

true, most of the writers aren't always scraping by, but what is wrong with them asking for a share of the profits that is proportionate to the work they do? no writers, no tv (other than amercan idol). as the brains and driving force behind these phenomenally successful shows, it is only fair that the profits be shared out a little more equally.

as for people in the biz that don't make very much, this strike sets a precedent. most of the other entertainment unions/guilds have contracts that expire with in a year, and all of them fully support the WGA. if the writers don't get their fair share, thegrunts at the bottom most certainly won't.

[T]

If you think that you deserve more because there's an after market, you need to negotiate that when you start the job

That's exactly what the writers are doing by going on strike. Duh.

people who "get by" on so much less than $100,000 a year, and you don't see them walking a picket line

Sure you do. Janitors, transit workers, all sorts of lower-paid people go on picket lines sometimes, when they think they can improve their pay and working conditions by doing so. There's nothing wrong with that, and there's nothing wrong with writers doing the same to try to wring a few bucks out of some very rich movie studio executives.

[Mike Shanley]

I don't think that's very fair.

Remember that the people that they are asking for a "few more cents" makes a hundred times more off of that same 'product'! All people deserve equality, as every joined effort (even something as small as television) requires that every member participating be there! The show is made by all workers equally, and we should be supporting ALL PEOPLE in ALL JOBS to be fighting for the same equality of PAYMENT for their WORK!

Don't you expect support when you fight a miserly boss for a fair share of the profits? Don't you?

[Tony]

While I support the writers in their strike, I also find the comment about "surviving" on $25,000 - $45,000 a year insulting. However, when I moved from the Portland, Oregon market to the Seattle market, the salary I was making in Portland, on which I lived very well, was not nearly enough to even sustain me in the Seattle market, which is tremendously overpriced. Los Angeles makes Seattle look like Mayberry in comparison. Supporting a family on $25,000 a year is difficult no matter where you go, but to live in the Hollywood/Burbank/Los Angeles area on that kind of money is pretty tricky. i'd wager that what works at $45,000 a year in Columbus, Ohio...in LA, not so much.

[Writer]

The median household income last year in the US was 48,000. It seems a lot of people are surviving on this.

[Susan Graham]

I think everyone is missing the point. Whatever salary the writers are making is only for the period of time they are actually writing on a show. If for some reason a show is cancelled so does their income. The residual income, that 4%, is what they want increased so that when they are not working they have something to live on. And not all writers are making that much money.

[DaisyRose]

A lot of people survive on $25,000-$45,000 a year - what an elitist! Probably needs all that extra money to buy Carbon Credits after jetting around. Hee! He should just stick to writing his little shows and not give any interviews as he doesn't come off too well.

[Kelsey]

"If you can't find a job, it's because you're not very talented at your profession."

Wrong. When it comes to the entertainment industry, much of whether or not you're employed is sheer luck. Talent counts - a HELL of a lot - but whether you're a singer, an actor, an instrumentalist, a director, or a writer... you need that lucky break for that talent to get noticed. Stop making generalizations. This perspective works for some jobs, but not those in the entertainment industry.

[Britta]

I have to agree with Tony; $25k-45k a year doesn't get you very far in Los Angeles. Rent alone for a crappy studio will run you more than $1000 a month in many areas.

[MIcah]

A few points:
Writers are not janitors. They are skilled professionals whose job you probably could not do even passably well. Remuneration for talent is always higher than for hard work, because it is rarer.
Cost of living in the Los Angeles area is sky-high. If the nationwide median is over what most writers in L.A. are making, then they are functionally far less well off than the median.
The residuals they are seeking a share of are currently going to the studios. Rather than going to the creative forces behind the shows you love, they are going to the very wealthy studio executives whose contribution to American television is the reality show and the cancelling of Firefly. FOX executives are welcome to fall down and drown in a pool of their own vomit.

[Randy]

"If for some reason a show is cancelled so does their income. The residual income, that 4%, is what they want increased so that when they are not working they have something to live on."

That's a shame. If they want to make a living doing this, being out of work between jobs is the nature of the beast. Get used to it or get out of Dodge.

They should have negotiated salary at the beginning of the gig and stick to it.

I have no sympathy for someone who has to "survive" on $25k to $45k per year. Boo hoo

Now, get back to work.

[Elais]

A pox on those complaining about the writers. How about the fat cat network suits who are rolling in dough, but won't part with pennies for the writers?

The writers sure as hell better get their FAIR share of the pie, but the suits want the writers to have as little as possible.

25K might be good in South Dakota, but it barely livable in LA.

Quite griping about the writers and start demanding that the fat cat network suits get off their butts and treat the writers like the artists they are, not slave labor.

[Dev Jones]

What I find interesting is that the people commenting here that the writers should put up and shut up are then urging them to return to work, clearly concerned that these writers whose trade they apparently consider worthless might strike long enough to affect their beloved TV shows.

If you think they are overpaid dandies then why do you care if they strike. You should be saying "Let me strike and starve, they deserve no better" but instead I keep hearing "Tell them to quit whining and get back to work".

Also try remembering the same Networks that stand to lose in all this are the ones who own most of the news outlets of every media that are reporting on this, so they will be biased against the writers, otherwise it's their jobs that will be on the line.

[laura]

If you create something and your boss sells it and makes a few million and demands you to keep 4 cents for every dollar he earns, are you going to happily agree?

To all those who think writing isn't work, then why do so many people hate to do it?

Without writers, there are no stories on TV or in theaters for actors to act in.

Under 45,000 in LA is breadcrumbs.

Find out why they are striking before saying they should get back to work.

If you create something and your boss gives it away free online, you'd find something wrong with that scenario. The writers took earning more than 4 cents per DVD off the negotiating table, hoping to focus only on disbribution of their work online for free and dubbed "promotion." The writer of a book gets around 12 percent of the cover price. Why should script writers be scorned for asking for 2.5 percent of revenue made online? That's 2.5 cents for every dollar earned. Research before condemning.

[Abdul M. Ismail]

Some people in developing nations have to live on less than $1 a day but somehow, I don't think Marc Cherry is drawing parallels between them and the developing world. One has consider that compared to what actors are paid to speak the lines that WGA people write for them, $25K to $40K is nothing. A lot of people rant and rave about how funny actors are but they're simply regurgetating lines churned out for them. Why do you think all the late night chat shows will stop airing - because Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Letterman etc. read scripts that make them funny and witty. I therefore agree with the WGA people with their strike because the Production companies are simply profiteering.

[Sarah]

Geez, how many of the commenters on this site are plants by the production companies?

In the entertainment industry, talent does not guarantee employment. (Unfortunately, lack of talent does not equal unemployment, either.) There are plenty of extremely talented writers who do not work constantly, whether it be because the show they are working on is canceled, or simply not picked up by the network, or because the general intelligence of the people in the country has so declined that viewers are happy with "The Bachelor" and "America's Got Talent."

The media has been spinning things just so, using phrases like, "the writers want to double their profits from DVD sales," instead of saying that their current profit is 0.3%. Even if that was doubled, it's less that 1% of total profits. Shouldn't the people who are significantly creatively responsible for our entertainment get a fair share?

Also, to the folks who are saying that 25K is a king's ransom...do some research before you cast aspersions. A studio apartment in LA is ~$1,200/month. NOT including utilities. NOT including transportation expenses (public transit is almost as expensive as driving in LA). NOT including food. NOT including health insurance (which has become a luxury expense for many people). After all that, 25K is a pittance.

Please support the WGA!

[Chris]

So he is shutting down Desperate Housewives because they are "the most high-profile writers in television" and because "without us, there is no TV. Period."? What an arrogant jerk! I could be mistaken, but I do not believe that Desperate Housewives is the most viewed TV show on at the moment...if it is then I'm sorry for my mistake. If it isn't, then I don't think he is part of the most high profile writers in TV.

Secondly, TV will go on without you...there are plenty of aspiring writers out there who would love an opportunity...and perhaps there is a way they could get one now...Maybe the next reality tv program to come out (to replace a show midseason since nothing will be on) will be looking for the next great writer!

Third- I realize it's expensive to live there, but there are people in NY, DC, LA, Chicago, and many other places that live off of those low salaries as well...and with no chance of getting more. Also, I once lived off of minimum wage (for 4 years) in a metro area where the lowest rent I could find was $700/mo w/o utilities, insurance, etc. Don't talk about how you know how to live on $25000-45000/yr until you live off of minimum wage....especially while trying to pay for college out of pocket because you make too much to qualify for student aid (the formula screws students who work full time and live on their own).

I support the WGA, but not arrogant punks like you.

[vicki]

well, that's the big problem here isn't it? everyones mad because the writers make more money than they do. but no one seems to remember that the studio execs make far more than the writers, so why are you pissed at them? Cherry made a mistake here. well two actually. the first is talking about salary because it's not relevent. they deserve to be paid for their work, period. how much they make now is beside the point and shouldn't even be an issue on the table. if you want to talk salary, let's compare cherry's salary to the nbc execs. second mistake is forgetting that there are in fact a lot of people who would love to make 25-45k a year and don't. so you can't throw out numbers like that and expect sympathy for your cause. what's wrong with admitting that youwant residuals because it's right, not because you'll be poor without them? that's the truth, let it speak for itself. he's not a great public speaker. i agree with that, but in principle he's still in the right about the issue that matters. poor guy. i bet if he weren't on stike he could have written something much better than that!