No Break in WGA Ranks, Bochco Says

As the TV and motion picture writers’ strike began its 17th week on Monday, the co-creator of NBC’s “L.A. Law” said he doesn’t think many of his writing colleagues will break ranks and resume work.

But Steven Bochco, who is a guild writer and executive producer of that series and who co-created NBC’s long-running, Emmy-winning “Hill Street Blues,” also expressed hope that the walkout would end by mid-July.

If that happens, he said, the 1988-89 television season could be salvaged, although “it will be a somewhat ragged season. . . .”

Bochco, whose “Law” series was among those put into temporary limbo by the strike, spoke in an interview on NBC’s “Today Show.”

Members of the 9,000-member Writers Guild of America last Wednesday rejected by a 3-to-1 margin of those voting the latest contract offer of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

A total of 3,722 voted on the offer. No new guild-management talks are scheduled, a guild spokesman here said Monday.

Bochco estimated that between 1,200 to 1,500 guild members earn a living from their writing. He gave a resounding “no” when asked if he thought many guild members would break ranks and go back to work.

“We have a strong guild,” he said. “We support our guild. There are dissenting voices within the guild, and I think that’s appropriate. But no, we won’t break ranks.”

Earlier, he said he was “very hopeful” that “some enlightened leadership” in both the guild and the alliance “will overcome the impasse.”

Key issues in the strike include residuals for foreign broadcasts of television shows and creative rights.

The walkout already has forced CBS to postpone the start of its new season until at least the end of October. ABC is in a similar situation. NBC, with its Olympics and World Series telecast in September and October, is least affected by the strike.

If the strike isn’t settled soon, Bochco said, the outlook is “not great” for viewers of network programs.

There will be some series from companies that have signed independent contracts with the guild, allowing them to start or resume production, he said. He cited Bill Cosby’s company, which makes the comedian’s hit “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World.”

(Other NBC series that have now signed such pacts include “ALF” and “Amen.”)

“But by and large,” Bochco said, “you’re going to be seeing miniseries, movies of the week made of existing (pre-strike) scripts and reruns.”

The networks may put on news programming and other kinds of fare as a holding action, he conceded.

However, Bochco warned, citing the absence of new episodes of his own “L.A. Law,” “there’ll be a big hole there (at NBC) on Thursday nights, as there will be on many other nights of the week.

“And down the line,” he said, referring to the spring when many weekly series air repeated episodes, “you won’t have those shows to rerun. It’s a big problem.”