Great article, and, I hope, good collateral for the WGA.

Chris inVirginia | December 11, 02:48 CET

Anyone know if this was in the print version as well? That's some pretty big "mainstream media" attention for the fan movement!

WillowSlay | December 11, 03:12 CET

Don't forget whedonesque also got a mention.

RavenU | December 11, 03:22 CET

Huh. I never expected to see all those words in the same sentence. And that's a good article! There's Fans4Writers, Espensonian fanglee, cookies, and Whedonesque peeps in there! WTF, New York Times?

Sunfire | December 11, 03:24 CET

What happens when an organization doesn't think to register the .com version of their .org domain name? In the case of the ongoing writers strike, something like this happens to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

(No idea who is behind this, but I'm surprised it's taken this lone.)

The One True b!X | December 11, 03:25 CET

Bix, that site is great. And I for one would gladly watch "Can You Choke This Horse?" Who says they don't make great shows anymore?

zz9 | December 11, 03:32 CET

Oh, bix, that's just priceless. Whoever wrote it has a great sense of humor and a definite and informed grasp of what's going on. I laughed out loud.

Especially at the bar at the very bottom of the page. :D

Willowy | December 11, 03:35 CET

That is brilliant. Especially the "About" page.

Sunfire | December 11, 03:37 CET

They buy snacks for writers who have a lot more money than they do.

Hmm. Not crazy about that line, which makes it look like fans are mugs being exploited. How in h3ll do they know how much money the fans or the writers have anyway?

Otherwise it's a good article - and good to see Joss and Jane so prominent.

Gill | December 11, 03:43 CET

And they picked up on "Quixotic", like I did. Was that in the press release of the firm they just fired, or the one they just hired?

dreamlogic | December 11, 03:46 CET

I'm dying, here. I love all of it, but especially their Strike FAQ.

You're saying I can continue to work while my brothers and sisters^[4] are walking the picket line?

No one can force you to do something that you do not want to do. Is someone forcing you to strike? It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. Just point to the picture of the bad man who forced you to strike. Is it this guy? Patric Verrone? No? How about this man, David Young? It's Young, isn't it. Okay. No no – don't cry. Shhhhhh. It's okay. We're going to get him. Everything is all right.

Dunno who wrote and produced all of this this - pretty knowledgeable folks - but the registrant/administrative contact looks like folks you don't want to mess with. ; > In any event, they are my friends forever and I love them.

QuoterGal | December 11, 04:20 CET

Bix--hilarious site! Love the footnoted FAQ.

ETA: You know, that's the danger of fighting against writers. They're so well-armed.

[ edited by jcs on 2007-12-11 01:36 ]

jcs | December 11, 04:29 CET

I didn't know how big the site was - there's more. Footnotes, hee! Is internet-based entertainment getting a whole lot better since the strike started, or is it just me?

dreamlogic | December 11, 04:36 CET

There was a piece on PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" tonight too - showed a snip of the ME line, but no specific Whedon mention, along with the demonstration by other non-writers who are being effected and want the strike talks to resume. The third-party commentator basically said the networks aren't feeling much pressure yet. That might change once the new reality programming they substitute for the scripted shows kicks in around January. If the ratings are poor, that might incent them to resume talks. But if they get a few more American Idol or DWTS ratings trains, then they may hold out longer.

rosewood | December 11, 04:50 CET

WillowSlay, this article was on the front page of Friday's (12/7/07) Wall Street Journal. It's the "a-hed" or "middle column" story, which is where they generally put their quirky human interest stories. According to readership surveys, it's one of the paper's best-read features.

Alison | December 11, 04:57 CET

As someone pointed out on f4w, the "just for fun" button on the "AMPTP" is not safe for work.

dreamlogic | December 11, 05:00 CET

Love the Dollars & Sense section of the website too.
""Writer" comes from the Latin ritem, meaning "unhygienic and doughy."" Good find b!X.

Lioness | December 11, 05:44 CET

""Writer" comes from the Latin ritem, meaning "unhygienic and doughy."" Good find b!X.

But that's incorrect! *dither* *flutter* "Writer" actually comes from the Old Norse "writherrrgrharg." Which means "we've got berserkers and we're not afraid to use them." The "bitch" is silent.

Sorry.

dreamlogic | December 11, 06:28 CET

You know, that's the danger of fighting against writers. They're so well-armed.

Absolutely! You can really see this in the WGA ads on YouTube.

deird | December 11, 07:01 CET

There were mock exorcisms??? Damn it, I miss all the fun stuff.

Love's Bitch | December 11, 13:48 CET

The exorcism looked stupid and unprofessional. I cringed when I saw the pics, thought it was a gimmicky stunt which would not make people take the WGA seriously.

Simon | December 11, 14:07 CET

Ok... um, I thought it was a joke... lol. Now I have to go find the pictures.

Love's Bitch | December 11, 15:47 CET

The Wall Street Journal! fans4writers and whedonesquers mentioned by name!! This is surely a sign of an impending apocalypse. But a good, fun apocalypse. This is one of the most conservative daily newspapers in the U.S. Yay team!!!

The "AMPT" site is hysterical, gotta go back and read more. Great work ... umm, whoever ;-)

Shey | December 11, 15:55 CET

Oh I thought the mock exorcism was pretty awesome, they had a collection of writers who have written some of the worst lamest weirdest horror on TV or movies, it is only natural they would all dress in black and try to cast the evil spirits out of the AMPTP. I thought it was funny, and of course the point was to get some publicity, because the strike is having a terrible time getting into the local papers and an impossible time getting covered by TV news.

embers | December 11, 19:44 CET

I think the exorcism stuff was a bad move, too. You don't win support by calling your opposition demonic. Not all publicity is good.

Sunfire | December 11, 20:10 CET

Oh I dunno, God seems to have done quite well out of it ;).

Saje | December 11, 20:14 CET

I thought the exorcism was all in good fun because it was at Warners (home of The Exorcist) and the point of it was, it was a gathering of writers of horror films/TV. So calling the AMPTP "demonic" was just part of the theme, not slanderous or anything but satirical. I mean, Katherine Heigl was photographed carrying a sign calling Nick Counter a "weiner" (sic), which I think was more offensive/childish. And, really, this AMPTP.COM website is highly libelous, but we are liking it because it's satirical. Point is, I think that humor has a place in this strike, and that the mock exorcism -- which got LOTS of local news coverage, by the way, unlike many of the other theme pickets -- was taken for what it was, something that was all in good fun, not bad publicity at all, IMO.

I think it's been great that there just have been so many theme pickets, like every week or so, they have a "Gay Gate" picket at Raleigh Studios where they film Ugly Betty (because that show is highly gay-friendly). And like the most awesomest theme picket of them all, ME Day. :)

swanland | December 12, 01:47 CET