David Letterman Is My New Hero! All I can Say is WOW!

Big props to David Letterman!

The talk show legend announced to his staff yesterday that he is going to pay all of their salaries through the end of the year while the writers’ strike is still going on.

Dave took this bold and costly move because many networks have threatened to fire all the staffs of the talk shows, many of whom have been working for years and years on the show.

Time to at least start talking again, people!


http://perezhilton.com/?p=8792

Some of us still know how to treat workers well!!!

Go Dave!

David Letterman: Hoosier Daddy of the year!

as is Leno, who has been bringing food to picketing strikers at NBC.

Both of them have "been there".

:thumbsup:

That's a really terrific thing on his part.

:loveya:

more than money on the Planet and he's willing to share the bounty that he's earned.

Gosh, I'm missing their timely topical humor!

Tired Old Cynic

really do need them on to get the truth out there. Keith Olbermann is the only voice now.

I don't think I'll trust Perez Hilton as a source of credible info.

a greater responsibility to continue the salaries (if that's true)

David Letterman owns The Late Show With David Letterman, and CBS stopped paying his company last week.

(already lost the link, but it wasn't a news source -- but it wasn't Perez Hilton, either! I'll keep looking.)


EDIT - found this:
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Smallscreen News
WGA strike update: David Letterman pays staff out of his pocket

EPA/JUSTIN LANE

By Stone Martindale Nov 14, 2007, 22:35 GMT
Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood is reporting that David Letterman and his producers yesterday morning announced to his Late Show staff that they will be paid through the end of the year, even though the show is off the air during the writers strike.

"Dave's not doing this to get good press, which is why it hasn't been reported for almost two days," Nikki's source says.
"This is really significant because, as opposed to all of the other shows, this money comes out of Dave's own pocket." (Earlier this month, a news report claimed Jon Stewart had made a similar offer, but his rep denied it was true.)

Striking Late Show writers Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel, Bill Scheft, Steve Young, Matt Roberts, Tom Ruprecht, Jeremy Weiner, Lee Ellenberg, Joe Grossman and Bob Borden have begun a blog about the writers walkout

http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1373792.php/WGA_strike_update_David_Letterman_pays_staff_out_of_his_pocket

...waiting for a news outlet to comment...

In the weeks leading up to the strike, he said good things about the writers that surprised me. It wasn't what he said about the writers that surprised me, but how the owners would take his loyalty to them.

He ain't afraid of Les.

I always like Letterman. He is sooo much better than Leno.

The striking writers are apparently not letting their talents go to waste while walking the picket line...

Talking To Children About The Writers’ Strike
by Steve Young

The writers’ strike can be stressful and confusing for children as well as adults. Kids often have questions about the situation that need to be handled delicately. Here are a few sample questions and non-judgmental answers.

“Why are the writers and the big media companies fighting?”

“Sometimes two parts of the entertainment business love each other, but have trouble getting along. The details of the argument aren’t important. All you need to know is that the producers are trying to bludgeon the writers with bats, take their last few pennies, and leave them bleeding in the street.”

“Is the fight because of something I’ve done?”

“Yes, of course. All trouble is due to your bad behavior.”

“Will the writers and the producers ever get back together?”

“We hope so. The writers are ready to sit down and talk whenever the big companies are willing to have a real discussion about DVD income and digital revenue sharing. That’s just a fancy way of saying you know who to blame if this thing drags on.

“Do you still love me?”

“The Writers Guild will always love you very, very much. The media companies would sell you to the Gypsies in a second if they thought it would boost their share price.”

“Can you bring back “Walker, Texas Ranger”?”

“You’re trying my patience. Go to bed.”

:rofl:

did you see the one with the donkeys gazing at a skeletal backbone, standing in the corner of a room, asking, 'what is THAT?' or something very close.

I started a thread with that a few weeks ago

can't find that one, but:

The man is worth his weight in... something good.

Yes I did see the cartoon with the Dems looking at the spine and asking what it was - the only problem is that most of them don't want one. Yesterday Studs Terkel was the hour-long guest on DemocracyNow! and the interview included a very brief snippet of an interview that Terkel did with Bertrand Russell decades ago. It rather sums up the roadblock we are facing...


STUDS TERKEL: Why do people, the great majority of people the world over, feel as helpless as they do, they feel as impotent as they do? This seems to be in the air, I’m sure, all over the world, feeling that the individual, I, John Smith, John Doe, says, “I can’t do anything about it.”

BERTRAND RUSSELL: That’s just . They can. I mean, an individual, if he has the pluck and the independence of mind, can do a very great deal. Actually, here we sit, no organization, none whatever, and simply by expressing an opinion which is known to be unbiased, an individual can effect a very great deal. And this powerlessness of the individual is a form of cowardice; it’s a pretense, an alibi for doing nothing.


:hi:

:yourock:

and this is more proof. Letterman thinks George W. Bush is an idiot and he tore Rush Limbaugh a new one a few years ago when his pompousness appeared as a guest of the Letterman show. Dave was very polite to Limbaugh until the very end and the audience was booing and cat calling Limbaugh and then Letterman drove the stake into Limbaugh hard with a really great one line zinger that left Limbaugh speechless. More recently he has smacked down Bill O'Reilly hard a few times when he has appeared as a guest.

I like Letterman much better than Leno who gives Republicans a pass in his comedy more often than not.

:toast:

than Jay Leno whose show is owned by NBC.

The equation is more complicated but this is the bottom line. And we are talking millions here.

So, yes, he can afford this generous gesture.