1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a show 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: that surfs the channels of history every day of the week. 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're talking about 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: what's still the longest Writers Guild strike of all time, 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: including the ways it changed what people watched and how 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: they watched it. The day was March seventh, nineteen eighty eight, 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: the Writers Guild of America began one of the longest 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: union strikes in Hollywood history. It lasted all the way 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 1: until August seventh, spanning a total of one hundred and 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: fifty three days. Dozens of movies and TV shows were 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: affected during the strike, including high profile projects like Star Trek, 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: The Next Generation and Tim Burton's Batman. The production delays 14 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: reportedly cost the industry about five hundred million dollars, and 15 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: of course, many of the strikers suffered financially as well. 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: Union members eventually reached a compromise with the Alliance of 17 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: Motion Picture and Television Producers the AMPTP. But during the 18 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: twenty two weeks when the strike was on, America's cultural 19 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: landscape changed, and some unexpected and long lasting ways. Rumblings 20 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: of a writer's strike began in late nineteen eighty seven, 21 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: when TV producers tried to switch writers to a sliding 22 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: payment scale for certain kinds of shows. Up until that point, 23 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: writers were paid a fixed amount anytime their work was 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: rebroadcast after its original airing. The fees from those reruns, 25 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: known as residuals, were, and still are, a crucial part 26 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: of a writer's income. That's why it was such a 27 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: sticking point for union members when the producers tried to 28 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: change change the terms of those payments. The argument was 29 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: that syndication prices had declined, and as a result, the 30 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: studios weren't making as much money off their reruns as 31 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: they once had. Producers felt it was only fair that 32 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: writers share part of that burden and take the financial 33 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: hit as well. They insisted that from that point on, 34 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: any residuals from domestic syndicated reruns of one hour TV 35 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: shows would be paid on a sliding scale. The more 36 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: money the studio earned from syndication, the higher the payment. 37 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: Writers bristled at the new restriction, but it wasn't the 38 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 1: sole cause of the strike. Members of the WGA also 39 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: wanted more creative control of their scripts, as well as 40 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: higher residuals for reruns broadcast overseas. Negotiations stalled after several months, 41 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: and at twelve oh one Pacific time on March first, 42 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, the then current contract between the AMPTP 43 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: and the WGA expired. One week later, at nine am 44 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: on March seventh, roughly nine thousand movie and television writers 45 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: officially went on strike. While a union strike is never 46 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: ideal for Hollywood, the timing could have been a lot 47 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: worse from the TV studios perspective. That's because the strike 48 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: was called in early spring, just as TV production was 49 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: winding down for the summer. TV viewership always takes a 50 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: hit in the summer months, so networks use that time 51 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: of year to prepare their next batch of shows for 52 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: the fall. In the meantime, they typically air a lot 53 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: of reruns to save money. So while the nineteen eighty 54 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: eight strike did cause networks to lean more heavily on reruns, 55 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: for most viewers, it just seemed like business as usual, 56 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: at least for the first few months. Because while the 57 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: initial timing of the strike had softened its blow, the 58 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: longer it dragged on, the more studios and viewers began 59 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: to feel its effects. The start of the fall TV 60 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: season was a big deal. In those days, premiers were 61 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: heavily marketed and often drew in tens of millions of viewers, 62 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: But without writers to draft scripts over the summer, there 63 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: was nothing to premiere come September. The whole schedule wound 64 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: up being delayed by about six weeks, and some of 65 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,559 Speaker 1: the more writing intensive shows like mcgiver and other hour 66 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: long dramas didn't have new episodes ready until close to 67 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: the end of the year. The fallout from those delays 68 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: was fairly significant. Primetime ratings for NBC, ABC and CBS 69 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: fell four point six percent that fall compared to the 70 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: previous year. Some of those viewers found something else to 71 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: do besides watching TV, but many of them just found 72 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: something else to watch. According to Nielsen, cable TV viewership 73 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,239 Speaker 1: rose twenty five and a half percent in the fall 74 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: of eighty eight. At the time, there wasn't much original 75 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: scripted programming on cable. It was largely reruns of classic 76 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: shows and syndicated movies, so most channels weren't too effected 77 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: by the writer's strike. In any case, a good number 78 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: of viewers found enough worth watching that they switched to 79 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: cable and never fully went back to the broadcast networks. 80 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: By late July, the strike showed no signs of being resolved, 81 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: but in private, both sides were sweating. Many writers were 82 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: beginning to feel the financial sting of having gone without 83 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: work for five months, and on the producer's side, the 84 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: fall TV season was just around the corner and the 85 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: number of empty slots in their schedules was beginning to 86 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: worry them. With so much on the line, both parties 87 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: eventually agreed to hire a mediator, well known entertainment lawyer 88 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: Ken Ziffrin. Over the next couple weeks, Ziffrin took meetings 89 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: with everyone involved to try and settle the dispute. He 90 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: met with guild representatives, with studio execs, and with Nick Counter, 91 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: the producer's chief negotiator. Little by little, Ziffrin convinced both 92 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: sides to soften a few of their positions. Then in 93 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: early August he met with them at the headquarters of 94 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: the AMPTP in Sherman Oaks, California. It took about sixteen 95 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: hours of further negotiation, but in the end a compromise 96 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: was reached, and after one hundred and fifty three days 97 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: the strike was over. The new contract expanded the creative 98 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: rights of writers and gave them more of a say 99 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: in choosing directors and actors for certain projects. It also 100 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: secured them higher residuals from foreign broadcasts. In return, producers 101 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,799 Speaker 1: got to keep using a sliding payment scale for domestic 102 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: residuals from one hour series. Neither side was fully satisfied, 103 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: but it was enough to get Hollywood back up and 104 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: running again. That said, it wasn't as easy as flipping 105 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: a switch. While new scripts were being written, network still 106 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: needed something besides reruns to plug the gaps in their schedules. 107 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: They came up with all kinds of alternative programming to 108 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: meet that need. ABC, for example, reworked a bunch of 109 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: scripts from the original Mission Impossible series from the nineteen 110 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: sixties and then filmed the new version on the cheap 111 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: in Australia. The network also aired several glitzy, star studded specials, 112 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: including Supermodel Search and the special Olympics Christmas Party hosted 113 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: by Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Meanwhile, NBC and CBS 114 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: leaned heavily on mystery documentaries and news magazine shows, including 115 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: the likes of Unsolved Mysteries and forty eight Hours. CBS 116 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: was so desperate for new offerings that it even revived 117 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a popular variety show that 118 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: had been canceled twenty years earlier. The Smothers Brothers revival 119 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: proved short lived, as did many other stop gap shows 120 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: and specials commissioned by the major networks. However, one lasting 121 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: effect of the strike was the proliferation of so called 122 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: reality TV. The most famous example is the unscripted show Cops, 123 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: a documentary style program that chronicles the lives of police 124 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: officers as they respond to various calls around the country. 125 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: The Fox Network picked up the low cost show from 126 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: a local station and added it to its Saturday night 127 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: lineup in early nineteen eighty nine. It became a major 128 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: hit for the fledgling network and inspired a number of 129 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: copycat shows throughout the nineteen nineties. As of twenty twenty three, 130 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: Cops has aired well over a thousand episodes and is 131 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: still in production today, making it the longest running reality 132 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: series in TV history at the time of recording. There's 133 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: once again talk of an impending writers strike and once again. 134 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: How to handle residuals is at the heart of the conflict. 135 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: There's no way to know for certain if a new 136 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: strike is coming, or if it does, how long it 137 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: might last, or how it might alter the course of 138 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: popular entertainment. The strike of nineteen eighty eight accelerated the 139 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: switch to cable TV and led to a rise in 140 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: unscripted programming. Today, the film and television landscape is already 141 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: pretty splintered, with more options than ever for what to 142 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: watch and where to watch it. But if there was 143 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: an industry wide strike, and if it were to go 144 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: on long enough, we might see another round of unexpected shakeups. 145 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: So for all you Smothers Brothers fans out there, keep 146 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: your fingers crossed. I'm gay, Bluesier, and hopefully you now 147 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 148 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's episode, consider keeping up with us 149 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show. You 150 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: can also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, 151 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: or you can send your feedback directly by writing to 152 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 153 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening 154 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 155 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: in history class.