Johnny Depp Becomes The Strike's Latest Victim
·The strike indefinitely delays two more star-studded productions, with Johnny Depp's Shantaram and Nine, Chicago director Rob Marshall's next musical (with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz), having their planned early-2008 start dates postponed. [Variety]
· The WGA agrees not to picket Paramount on December 1st, answering Elizabeth Taylor's appeal not to interfere with her benefit performance of "Love Letters" with all their loud chanting and potentially legend-upstaging strike-dancing. [Variety]
· Meanwhile, CBS News employees have overwhelmingly authorized a strike of their own, allowing the WGA to fight a two-front war if it so chooses. [Variety]
· ABC rides the Dancing with the Stars semifinals to Monday night Nielsen victory, crushing the scripted series that will soon run out of fresh episodes and become unable to offer even token resistence to bad reality TV programming. [THR]
· Longtime Fox News anchor Shepherd Smith resigns with the network for a reported $7-8 million per conservative-pandering year. [Variety]