Members of the Writers Guild of America look set to return to work after negotiators struck a tentative deal with the studios, bringing a likely end to a three-month strike. As a regular viewer of the fake news programs, both Colbert and Stewart have impressed me with their improvisational kung foo. Colbert has been particularly good. This interview with anti-immigration demagogue Lou Dobbs, conducted entirely in Spanish by alter-ego Esteban Colberto, had me in tears:
Still, both shows will only get better once the writers return. I’m no Hollywood lawyer, but the proposed deal ending the strike establishes an important precedent by giving writers a cut of the digital media pie. And while this strike’s effects were limited to the entertainment industry, it demonstrates that unions still matter in this country.
