Media Round-up: The WGA Strike and THE OFFICE

An interesting article on Variety.com today talking about how the WGA strike will affect those writer-actor "hyphens" on THE OFFICE.

From the article:

Once a WGA walkout begins, B.J. Novak -- a writer and a star of NBC's hit comedy "The Office" -- will face a very tough choice.

As a card-carrying member of the Writers Guild, he'll clearly be on strike. But he's also a thesp and a member of the Screen Actors Guild. NBC's studio arm has made it clear that it expects Novak the actor to show up to work today, strike or no strike.

Because it has several scribes who also serve as thesps (also including Mindy Kaling and Paul Lieberstein), "The Office" is one of the most visible examples of shows where conflicting interests will be at work once a strike begins. But all over town, a number of WGA members will be facing similarly tough calls.

For more of the article, go HERE.

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TVweek.com has a summary of how the strike is specifically affecting THE OFFICE.  Because the show is so heavily based on both writers/producers, even Greg Daniels is refusing to cross the picket line.  Joining him in protest are non-WGA members Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski (in fact, according to the article, NONE of the show's actors has so far crossed the picket line). Technically, these actors could be fined by the studios for breach of contract, but studios are wary of offending the "talent." Not to mention that the ACTORS' contract is set to expire in 2008, and they'll also be looking for the same support from peers come June.

Production has essentially shut down on the show, and there is only one unproduced script left on the shelf.  How many produced episodes remain? Not sure, although the article clearly states that because of the solidarity, THE OFFICE may "run out" of episodes earlier than many other shows.