Colbert and Stewart Writers Take It To D.C.

The LA Times carried the story this morning of the "debate" staged by striking WGA writers, held for the benefit of politicians in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. The writers came to educate and inform D.C., in the way that only these guys can.

A small excerpt:

On one side, in shirts, was the striking Writers Guild of America, played by "Daily Show" writers Rob Kutner, Tim Carvell and Jason Ross. On the other side, in suits, was the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, played by "The Colbert Report" writers Michael Brumm, Peter Grosz and Tom Purcell.

Crashing out of the starting gates, the shirts argued it would cost the suits less than 1% of their total revenue to give the writers everything they wanted. For Paramount Pictures, that comes to $4.6 million, or "half the amount it takes to get Reese Witherspoon into a movie."

"I ask you," one writer noted, "which is more important to a movie -- a script, or half of Reese Witherspoon?"

The studio suits thought for a second.

"Which half?"

Now it was the studios' turn to make their case: "I had no idea what substance that was that my trainer was injecting into my buttocks," one suit boomed, getting an elbow from his colleague who mumbled, "Wrong hearing."

"Point of order!" a starving writer blurted. "I was told there would be a free buffet lunch?"

We're hoping to be able to post the filmed version soon.

The Daily Show and the Colbert Report make their points with humor; underneath the laughter is always a very serious point, whether it's national affairs, the Iraq war, or even something like the strike. Using humor doesn't mean any of this isn't deadly serious; but sometimes, it's the best way to get people to listen.