Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Dennis Quaid is guest starring on tonight’s episode of America’s Next Top Model. In the new episode, runway expert J. Alexander prepares the models for their rockiest challenge yet. The winner of the challenge and two friends jet off to work a star-studded fashion show with some past seasons’ Top Models. Later, the girls have to rock a catwalk suspended over water, but one girl’s sickness lands her in the hospital. One model is eliminated. Special guests include Dennis Quaid, Bre Scullark from cycle 5, runway trainer J. Alexander, designers Altuna Moreno and guest judge Charlie Altuna.

Starpulse 

Why?

There are reasons why I need to bring my camera with me where ever I go in this city. So as I am driving in, I noticed all this traffic on Beverly Blvd and I was complexed to know why? As I get closer to the enterance of CBS I saw all these people in red shirts chanting, "What do we want?" "Contracts" over and over. And this lightbulb goes off in my head, today is the day that WGA was organizing a protest against CBS and The CW for not granting contracts to the writing staff of America’s Next Top Model. I have to say I was sincerely impressed with the turnout for the protest. They were actually blocking the enterance in to CBS on Beverly, in fact I would say there had to be over 250 people making their message heard to the heads of CBS. What I found ironic is the CW offices are located in Burbank and not on the CBS TV Center lot. But the WGA offices are located across the street from the CBS lot, so I guess it worked in that aspect. It will be interesting to see if their protest worked, but knowing how many people in this town would work on a reality show with or without a contract I doubt they will have much success. Sadly enough.
If you want to read the WGA’s letter to their members about the protest you can do so here. 

The Writers Guild of America West is planning a large demonstration Sept. 20, launch date for the seventh season of "America’s Next Top Model" as the centerpiece of the CW sked. The WGA notified members and supporters Monday that it’s planning a two-hour "unity rally" at Pan Pacific Park to support the striking writers at "Top Model" along with seeking "fair" compensation for Internet downloads and a new contract for CBS news writers. "Tell your boss you are going to a rally," a guild flyer said. "Your attendance at an action in sympathy with striking colleagues is legally protected by the National Labor Relations Act." The ongoing protests outside the "Top Model" production offices are the most active staged by the WGA since it launched its still-unsuccessful drive to organize reality show writers two years ago. It’s signed up more than 1,000 writers who want to be repped by the guild but has yet to sign a contract with a series producer. An email sent out by organizers Monday urged employed writers to take the time off to attend the rally. "If you’re worried about it for workaholic, the-show-must-go-on reasons . . . GET A GRIP!  And I say this will all respect and love – GET A GRIP," it said. " The show WILL go on. We’ll all make sure it does. That’s what we do.  This whole house of cards has been able to survive BECAUSE most of us have an amped-up work ethic that — by default or by design — has been used against us.  It’s about to come crashing down." Despite the strike, the CW has never wavered from its plans to launch the "Top Model" season next week. Weblet has asserted that the writers and the WGA should take the issue to the Natl. Labor Relations Board so that the federal agency can conduct an election — a time-consuming step that would take many months to complete.

Variety 

Sadly for the writers on strike, there will always be several writers who are willing to do the job without the WGA representation. So in other words the cause is in vain for the time being.

Twelve writer’s from America’s Next Top Model have apparently gone on strike due to the fact that the show’s producers denied them entrance into the Writers Guild of America, West.

In response, the writers walked away and started a (peaceful) protest outside the office, where they were joined by some WGA members and also SAG member, Alan Rosengerg.

Membership in the WGA certainly has its benefits–health insurance, pensions, payment standards, residuals and actual credit for being a writer. (The Top Model writers currently hold other titles, like “story producer,” it being a reality show and all, and don’t see any of the money that comes from the rampant repeats on VH1.)

America’s Next Top Model heads to the CW in the fall, which, along with a handful of new shows, will basically be airing a collection of favorites from UPN and the WB, including Top Model, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and 7th Heaven.

“We have no interest in jeopardizing our positive working relationship,” the strikers said in a joint statement. “But what we are asking for isn’t unreasonable. There is a double standard being applied as our peers in dramatic television work under the protections of a WGA contract. We should too.”

In the case of an unscripted series like Top Model, writers hammer out story outlines, edit footage into workable plots and, yes, even feed people lines sometimes. Much like writing a script, only without the good actors.

“If you shoot hundreds of hours of footage, if you didn’t edit it into something, you’d have something” nobody would want to watch, WGA spokesman Gabriel Scott said. “That’s all storytelling.”

 Top Model Gossip

The dozen writers on "America’s Next Top Model" may walk off the show as early as today. The scribes have threatened the job action after the fledgling network denied their request for representation by the Writers Guild of America West. The guild staged a protest Wednesday with about 25 demonstrators outside the production offices of Anisa Prods. and 10×10 Entertainment in Los Angeles and have planned another protest today. WGA spokesman Gabe Scott said all the "Model" scribes have signed authorization cards to be represented by the guild. In response, the CW and exec producer Ken Mok have told the WGA that it should ask the Natl. Labor Relations Board to conduct the election — a process that would probably take at least a year to complete. A CW spokesman had no comment Thursday about a possible strike but exec producer Ken Mok said in a statement, "We have advised the WGA that we feel the process established under the Natl. Labor Relations Act is the appropriate process to be followed if employees wish to be represented by a union. The process permits an impartial government agency, the Natl. Labor Relations Board, to conduct a secret ballot election so that all affected employees have an individual right to express their preference as to whether or not they want to elect a union." "We once again ask that the WGA follow the procedures provided by law," Mok added. "If, after doing so, the NLRB decides that the WGA is the exclusive representative of our employees, we would be happy to sit down and negotiate with them."

Varitey 

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