DeGeneres won’t tape in N.Y.

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres scrapped plans to tape her syndicated talk show here next week after the Writers Guild of America, East vowed to protest her decision to return to work during the writers strike.

Laura Mandel, a spokeswoman for Telepictures Productions, which produces “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” declined to say whether the change of plans was related to the guild’s threat.

“We’re taping shows during a fluid situation. We made the best decision for our show,” she said.

DeGeneres usually tapes the show in Los Angeles. Had she come to New York she probably would have encountered forceful criticism from the guild, which last week lambasted her decision to cross the picket line after sitting out a day in solidarity with her striking writers.

The WGA East suggested that she could be in violation of guild rules by writing material during the strike, but her representatives said that hosts were allowed to perform their own material.

The union also took a swipe at DeGeneres’ emotional on-the-air outburst last month after an animal rescue organization reclaimed Iggy, a dog she adopted and later gave away.

“We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn’t even stand by writers for more than one day,” said the guild.

That triggered an angry response from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which accused its fellow union of launching an “ad hominem attack” on its member.

The condemnation of the affable comic has emerged as an odd flash point in the battle between the writers and studios.

DeGeneres has drawn the guild’s ire because unlike her fellow daytime talk show hosts, she is a member of both AFTRA and the WGA, which has moved aggressively to keep high-profile members from breaking ranks, as some did in the 1988 walkout.

WGA leaders say that DeGeneres should follow the lead of fellow comedian and talk show host Jay Leno and honor picket lines.

Her representatives rejected that comparison, noting that the network late-night shows do not face the same risk as syndicated programs if they go dark. If DeGeneres did not continue generating new episodes, stations carrying her show could bump it to a different time slot or complain that the program was breaking its contract.

After sitting out a day in solidarity with her writers, the comedian -- whose show is carried by 220 stations around the country -- was told by Telepictures she had to return to work. DeGeneres voiced support for her writers upon returning to the air.

“Personally, it’s heartbreaking. I love my writers; we’re a family,” she told reporters last week.

Daytime talk and syndicated shows have been largely unaffected by the strike because many of the best-known programs -- including “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Live With Regis and Kelly” and “Rachael Ray” -- do not employ guild writers. “Dr. Phil” is perhaps the only other syndicated talk show with guild writers, but it has continued production uninterrupted.

matea.gold@latimes.com