Hopefully, the fallout will be to pressure NBC into making the same deal.
On the one hand, this is the first side deal cut by the WGA with a producer since the strike began on November 3rd as part of its new and articulated "divide and conquer" strategy. "Worldwide Pants has accepted the very same proposals that the Guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7," the WGA said in its annoumcement today.
But I'm told the WGA leadership was particularly worried how Leno's writers would react since it gives Letterman's show a real leg up on late night competition for guests like celebrities and politicians (i.e. Democratic presidential contenders who don't want to cross picket lines). "I don't think they wanted to upset Jay or those writers because they've all been incredibly supportive of the WGA during this strike," an insider explained to me. "But it's not Jay's writers' fault that Dave's lawyers made a deal for him to own his show and Jay's lawyers made a deal for him to be an NBC employee."
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