Links!

Lots of good stuff to share.

- Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times is a sharp and skeptical columnist. He took a few shots at writers before the strike began. But in his most recent column, he argues that the companies are dead wrong to use fear of a digital future as an excuse not to cut in content creators.

"If the studios really believe they can't share a sliver of profits with the people who create what they sell, they'll be the losers. If you don't believe in the future, you shouldn't be in show business."

As Patrick writes, entertainment is a business built on optimism. Writers believe in the future. CEOs only seem to when investors are listening. Which is it going to be, guys?

- A great Op-Ed by Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post.

"The picketers at Paramount and Disney may look to be a chorus line of wise-asses, but their struggle is a deadly serious test of whether any American workers retain the clout to strike a deal with the unchecked greed that is the modern American corporation."

- More discounts available to WGA members as listed on Variety's Scribe Vibe blog. Business owners: Don't forget our fellow workers in the other unions! We're all going to need a little help getting through this thing. If you'd like to offer discounts or assistance to a union member, please email kmyers [at] wga [dot] org. And THANK YOU.

- "Undercover Black Man" was watching the Game Show Network when he saw a series of promos riffing on the idea that watching GSN is better than watching scripted TV, which the strike has shut down.

"Oh, hells no... Are they mocking Hollywood’s on-strike writers? Is GSN saying: 'Who needs scriptwriters to tell you a story when you can sit back and enjoy some fuggin’ eight-year-old game-show repeats?' Not only is that a ridiculous insult, but I got news for you: The Writers Guild of America includes game-show writers."

- Some inspiring words from writer and picketer John Vorhaus on this blog:

"With the writers' strike entering its second week, I have become even more convinced that the writers are in it to win it, and that nothing, not even the fear of catastrophic financial meltdown, can shake our resolve."

- Kate emailed this account of Monday night's LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards.

Neil Patrick Harris hosted the evening. He came out onstage, started reading from some 3x5 index cards and halfway through the sentence, "Last night I was just thinking..." he stopped and looked really confused. He turned the card over. Checked his pockets. And then shouted into the wings his card was blank and he didn't know what to say next. Out walked a red shirted writer carrying a WGA strike sign and the whole place errupted into applause. Neil Patrick tried to carry on, calling on some dancers to vamp as he tried to come up with some material. I wish I had my camera at the ready. It was priceless. Keep your eyes peeled! Hopefully something will show up on YouTube or Flickr!
Fight on!
Kate

- Howard Rodman and Wagner James Au mix it up in The Well.

FAN ACTIVISM: Fans want their favorite shows back. And they want the companies to know it.
- Bring TV Back!
- "Criminal Minds" fans go on the warpath.

And now, to lighten the mood:
- David Letterman's writers are posting hilarious but heartfelt accounts from the picket lines.
- Neal Pollack's five-year-old son Elijah explains the strike on Offsprung.com.