The Starz Media Experience

Mr. Kirkland.

An afternoon at Starz Media showed me that the WGA strike continues to take its toll of artists. About half the staff has now been laid off from The Simpsons, and a higher percentage than that from King of the Hill.

Staff reductions going on at Starz and Fox Animation (Family Guy, American Dad) are roughly the same. By March, most everybody will be on hiatus (a kinder word-substitute for "layoff.")

How long the hiatus will last is, or course, the $20,000 question ...

I was told Simpsons episode #21 is just now going into production. It's the last one to be put into work, since episode #22 -- pre strike, the last half-hour of the season -- was only partially scripted and so won't go any further than the (half) written page.

One last point: Episode twenty-one is director Mark Kirkland's sixtieth episode. An amazing record by any standard.