After listening to Elliott sing with The Holiday Express this morning I can't help but hope that Paul Shaffer who leads the band on Letterman will hear Elliott sing.

At this point, I don't care if Elliott is a surprise guest who just hangs with Shaffer and his band. One performance similar to the one with THE this morning will send Elliott's sales soaring yet again.

Sk8888

p.s. During the writer's strike, why not just book a bunch of musical guests and dispense with the opening monologue?? J/K.

Joking aside, I'd thought the same thing....dispense w/ the jokes and stuff and just do interviews and music.

I would have thought the Today show would have had on the 3 artists who made the Christmas cds for them instead of having Pickler on yesterday. Why not have them all on the same show at least. You would think NBC would want to push the CDs.

ETA: nevermind.

Well, the beauty of being Indie is that you can take the day off - maybe he's choosing to be with family and friends in LA instead of being in NYC. Just an alternate point of view...

A little secret... most morning show Christmas Day broadcasts are taped in advance, usually a week or a few days before. I was in a choir a few years ago that appeared in the street level studio throughout the Christmas Day broadcast of Good Morning America. We taped the entire show, which also included performances by Pavarotti, Clay Aiken and Sheryl Crow (all of which were taped on separate occasions), the week before, including all the segment stories and interviews and banter between the hosts. As soon as that day's live broadcast ended, Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, etc. changed wardrobe and we started the taping. We were in the studio from after 9am to almost 2pm. The only 'live' part that day were the news and weather readings. You can tell if it's taped if the anchors are going to 'the news desk' and they don't name which anchor is going to read.

I don't know if the Today show operates that way, but if they do.... they could've and should've arranged something with Elliott. Or perhaps they did and he was already booked for other events.

You're probably right Rg - they could have included him - I would just like to believe that it's his choice and not theirs - but of course I'm probably wrong. Here's to 2008 - the year that Elliott gets the respect he deserves! :xmascheers:

Write the Today show,, I know I am a constant poster of this.. let's try to make a difference here.

copy and paste and write for Elliott appearance, He is WAY OVERDUE!

today@nbc.com

Anyone have a letterman link to write?? Letterman is coming back first week of January without writers. That is what I heard on the news.

I hadn't heard that Letterman was returning also.

What I'm really wondering is if the musicians are going to honor the strike or return to work?

I think a lot of people are reaching their breaking points. I noticed a listing a Craigslist while in LA where a woman was advertising babysitting services to supplement her income during the strike. It's starting to become a hardship on families, which of course is exactly what the networks have been waiting for.

Sk8888

omg...i thought the some thing...then i wondered if Elliott would cross picket lines...

Yeah, this is kind of a delicate issue. These late-night hosts seem to have a good relationship with their writers. I wonder what the writers think of them going back on the air without them?

If they kill the show , they will not have a job at all.. I just hope it gets resolved.. The companies paying for commercials want the public to tune in. The public could say, Hey this is a rerun I saw it. Let's watch something else. People could move to other shows and then pass on Letterman later. Then it would hurt the show and not recover .

Here's news from the AP: "Leaders of striking television writers plan to meet Friday with David Letterman's production company in an attempt to reach a separate deal that could make the "Late Show" the only late-night TV program on the air with a writing staff."


In regards to the comments about people turning to other shows as the strike proceeds, that issue was certainly one that both sides had and are considering. I'm sure that the big studio and production company interests are hoping that they can use this leverage to end the strike. It's also one of the reasons that the writers and pretty much all union workers and the supporting public, need to keep education efforts alive.

The primary issue at stake for the writer's - a percentage of profits made from DVD and internet sales - is a very reasonable one IMO, given the changing nature of the entertainment industry. I dearly hope that the viewing public can put their disappointment in missing their favorite shows in perspective to the greater picture being told of worker's rights. Cause in the end, these kind of issues end up effecting all of us in our own workplaces, sooner or later.

Thanks for the heads up Movin!

This could be big. If Letterman's production company is willing to pay its writers a piece of its DVD profits, then they would be breaking away from the networks by cutting their own separate deal.

That would surely put the pressure on the other production companies to follow suit.

NBC

:whip: :madashell: :pissesoff: :thumbsdown:

It would be great to see Elliott on Letterman's show. Heck, I would love to see him on any show. Even Tyra's. She has done some good interviews with musical guests. I would love to hear the answers to some of her off the wall "questions that have never been asked before" because they really are questions that stars are not asked in interviews.

Thanx for the Insider's view of how things operate! :wub:

Update on the Writer's Strike:

From a press release issued by the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) dated 12/28/07:

.."The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full writing staffs. This is a comprehensive agreement that addresses the issues important to writers, particularly New Media. Worldwide Pants has accepted the very same proposals that the Guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7.

Today’s agreement dramatically illustrates that the Writers Guild wants to put people back to work, and that when a company comes to the table prepared to negotiate seriously a fair and reasonable deal can be reached quickly."

And the latest news:

1/3/8: On the subject of possible additional agreements with other studios, specifically Lionsgate and TWC (The Weinstein Company): When a WGA spokesman was asked whether the Guild had discussed the matter, or was in talks with Lionsgate or TWC (or planned any), his response spoke volumes: "I can neither confirm nor deny." He then added a smiley face.

1/4/8: Nikki Finke and the New York Post are reporting that the WGA is close to finalizing a deal with Tom Cruise's and Paula Wagner's United Artists which would allow its members to work on projects for the studio. This would mark the first major movie studio to come to terms with the Guild.

And some great YouTube videos on the writer's strike:

A humorous summary of the writer's strike through classic TV and films: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvttQRZtBo

And a great clip from one of the Daily Show writers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

Here's a great clip from David Letterman on the topic of the strike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHqf_o5igmg