Some sources say that Leno, Stewart, Colbert, etc. aren't allowed to write their own material during the writers strike.
Thing is, they can't stop them. And I'm not trying to imply that talk show hosts are going to flaunt union rules. Even if everyone wants to obey the union rules to the letter and the consequences are as severe as humanly possible, they are still going to write material for themselves, whether they want to or not.
Why? Imagine this: you're going to be on TV tonight. There's no getting out of it. And no one is going to provide you with the script. Just you, the cameras, and thousands (millions?) of viewers.
You're mentally writing material already, aren't you?
It's humanly impossible not to write for yourself under these circumstances.
This whole situation also has me wondering how talk shows work. Under normal circumstances, do the shows seek out the guests, or do the guests seek out the shows? Because getting a really good guest is a coup for a talk show, but being on a talk show is a coup for an unknown. So who's chasing whom?
4 comments:
"Under normal circumstances, do the shows seek out the guests, or do the guests seek out the shows?"
Shows contact guests. Publicity people and agents send out press releases saying "so and so is available for interviews," then anyone who wants them contacts the agent.
Enterprising talk show bookers also scan the web and newspapers looking for ideas of people to book.
On a separate note, do the hosts flaunt union rules or flout them? I'm not nitpicking, I get those two words mixed up, and you're linguistically precise, so is that right?
You're right, it is absolutely totally flout. I seem to have momentarily forgotten that there are two separate words, even though they're both in my active vocab.
Now I'm trying to think of a mnemonic for that. Hmmm....flauNt has a letter N, so it flaunts its extra letter? That would work until someone starts saying "flount"...
flauNt has a letter N, so it flaunts its extra letter?
Heh, that's cute.
Do you always remember your mnemonics? And for The Most Obvious Question Of The Day, do you need mnemonics to remember your mnenomics?
The good ones I remember, the bad ones I don't. I've gone through about six to remember the difference between Senf (mustard) and Sahne (cream), and I still had to look it up before I wrote that. Plus I would keep making up new words like Sanft that don't mean anything, and then asking for it in my coffee. So I started taking my coffee with milk (Milch) instead which made life much easier, but didn't help me learn those words.
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