Photo Illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images; Courtesy of ABC (General Hospital)
Will the SAG-AFTRA Split Make for the Greatest TV Shows Ever?
Upcoming contract negotiations between actors and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers hit a snag on Saturday when it was announced that AFTRA (the union that represents soap-opera stars, voice-over announcers, and stunt people) has split from SAG (which reps everybody else) and will seek its own separate agreement with the AMPTP. The divorce comes after AFTRA purportedly accused SAG of trying to poach actors from CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful, a charge which SAG president Alan Rosenberg denied in a statement last night. Now, it’s expected that producers will make a quick, cheap deal with AFTRA (which covers only three TV shows and no movie work) and attempt to force SAG into a similar agreement before its contract expires at the end of June and a strike is called. But what if a strike is called?
Only the most exciting strike-affected television shows IN HISTORY! Can you imagine if SAG picketed and AFTRA didn’t? Networks might finally be forced to cobble shows together based around the exploits of soap-opera characters, Hollywood stunt people, and TV announcers (we’ve been praying for this for years). Susan Lucci and Anthony Geary fighting and overacting, explosions sending motorcyclists sailing through the air, and all action being narrated by Don Pardo or Michael Buffer, the ”Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” guy? Admit it — you would totally watch that.
AFTRA goes its own way [Variety]
The Split: New SAG & AFTRA Explanations [Deadline Hollywood Daily]
