Bring on The Reruns!

By Barbara Rudolph

The strikers hailed from Hollywood, not Pittsburgh, so they sported sunglasses and peach-colored sweaters instead of hard hats and work boots. But the walkout by the 9,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (W.G.A.), now in its eighth week, is threatening to become as disruptive and gritty as any other industrial deadlock. When representatives for the writers and producers sat down with a federal mediator last week to resume their talks, the meeting broke up after only 20 minutes. Said Herb Steinberg, spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers: "The union came in with nothing new. We wondered why they called a meeting." Countered Frank Pierson, writer of Cool Hand Luke and Dog Day Afternoon: "If we accept management's offer, it's the end of the guild as we know it."

The strike is testing the patience of TV viewers. With spring only a month old, summer reruns are already beginning for many prime-time shows as the supply of original programs runs out. The networks have dropped 22 scheduled episodes in all, including the season's last new episodes of L.A. Law and The Cosby Show. Moonlighting scrapped its special-effects finale, some ten minutes of which was to be broadcast in 3-D. That has left one of its sponsors, Coca- Cola, with 40 million unused pairs of 3-D eyeglasses it had planned to distribute.

Some feature films have been delayed because union members are forbidden even to discuss a rewrite of a script. Richard Fischoff, senior vice president of production for Tri-Star Pictures, says of the strike: "If it lasts through the summer, things will become totally paralyzed."

The central dispute between writers and producers is over syndication residuals for one-hour shows, the payments made to writers each time a network television show appears on an independent station. Writers now receive a flat fee of $16,000 for the first six syndicated reruns, but producers want to pay ! them according to a formula that takes into account total income from a show's sale. Writers say that method would significantly cut their average income, though producers deny this would happen.

Like true dramatists, the writers have sidestepped round-the-clock picketing in favor of more theatrical performances. Some 3,000 members picketed Walt Disney studios last month as a plane flew overhead trailing a banner that read STOP MICKEY MOUSING AROUND WITH OUR W.G.A. Last week they carried giant-size pencils and a banner in front of the Manhattan offices of Orion and Columbia Pictures. Line crossing is taboo. Says a writer: "This is a company town, and if word gets out that someone's a scab, they'd be barred from the guild for life."

As the strike grows longer, it poses a financial threat to local TV stations and networks. If it continues through the May "sweeps" period, when the fall advertising rates are determined, analysts estimate the three major networks could suffer a revenue falloff of as much as $100 million, particularly if they attract fewer viewers and are forced to offer advertisers compensatory commercial time.

For the networks, the worst nightmare is a delay in the fall season. Brandon Stoddard, president of ABC Entertainment, conceded last week that if the strike lasts into June, fall shows may be delayed until November. The networks can ill afford to give viewers more reason to switch to cable channels and videocassettes. Last week the Nielsen ratings showed that the networks' share of the viewing audience shrank 9% during the past season, to 43.3%.

With reporting by Elaine Dutka/Los Angeles and Wayne Svoboda/New York