NBC was all but ready to cancel The Apprentice in 2007, but the Writers Guild strike of the same year gave NBC boss Jeff Zucker pause for thought. Cancelling a cheap, script-free reality show in advance of a multi-million dollar strike? It must have felt like a no-brainer to recommission it – but little did Zucker know that, in doing so, he was creating a monster…
The premise of the show was simple. It needed nothing in the way of technology, expertise or budget, yet the results would revolutionise television and create a brand new genre of programming. Had it not been for the Writers’ Guild Strike of 1988 though – and the dogged persistence of one man – the show that sparked that revolution might never have made it to air.
When things are running smoothly you may not feel that Hollywood has much of an effect on your life. But when it’s put on hold, terrible things can happen. Thirty years after the 1988 writers’ strike began – and ten years after the 2007 one ended – we unpick the peculiar and profound effect that the Writers Guild of America has inadvertently had on media, pop culture and international politics.
Our lawyer suggested that we provide some editorial context here to make it clear that this is “the unauthorised rushes of a dead criminal”.
So there you go…
We were rather hoping that motherhood would give us a year or two off from the interminable circus of Cheryl Cole’s love life, but no. Here we are again. Like clockwork. Another will-they-won’t-they split story on the cards. So what’s her deal this time? It depends who you ask…
Now that they can’t hack phones or dress up as Arab businessmen to get the inside scoop on celebrities, unscrupulous tabloid reporters have fewer options left open to them. So when they’re not nicking their ‘exclusives’ off Twitter, how are they sourcing their big, blockbuster stories these days?
Stormy Daniels appeared on Jimmy Kimmel this week, shortly after President Trump’s State Of The Union address, to field questions about whether or not she shagged him during Shark Week. You’d have thought that the $130,000 non-disclosure agreement she supposedly signed would have made an interview like that a little tricky – but apparently not. How is she doing it? We have some theories.
Bruno Mars has definitely found his groove. After a series of successful, yet sonically schizophrenic, singles the pint-sized popster has settled into a sound that he clearly really likes. From Treasure, to Uptown Funk, to 24K Magic – and now Finesse – he’s clearly making the funk work for him. But are we wrong to think that it all sounds a bit familiar?
The story of Paul from S Club 7 selling his Brit Awards on eBay – and getting a cool quarter million for his troubles – has really caught the imagination of the public. But he’s not the first celeb to try to hawk stuff on eBay to make ends meet. Hell, he’s not even the first member of S Club 7 to do it. There’s a thriving marketplace for celebrity tat – often run by the celebs themselves.
Michael Wolff’s explosive new book on the Trump White House, Fire And Fury, has been making headlines for its rip-roaring details. But as we learned from that David Cameron pigfucking memoir a few years ago, these things are usually sprinkled with a few tabloid tricks to make things sound extra juicy.