The people responsible for the humour in Hollywood would like you to know that they are being ripped off by the studio bosses. This, TV fans, is where the real talent in Hollywood is.
The strike by the Writers' Guild of America is in its fifth day today, throwing Desperate Housewives, The Daily Show and The Office into crisis, to name a few.
Those pesky internet users (that'll be us) that are part of the problem; the very engaging writers of The Office tell us, from the picket line, that they haven't been paid for the 7m iTunes downloads of The Office. They blame NBC's "creative" lawyers, who define online episodes as "promotions" rather than webisodes in the contract. But as there's advertising on those shows, the writers want their share. And Eva Longoria agrees.
Evidence of the WGA's offensive is everywhere, and all of it, as you might expect, very well written and produced for your internet viewing pleasure. This mini-doc about the 20-year legacy of royalties is fascinating, and then we have a writer from Lost and the creator of Desperate Housewives picketing outside Disney. The Housewives guy was so poor he was borrowing money from his own mother. Have mercy on a old lady, Disney?
Something a bit different: this video by Aaron Koblin of flight patterns mapped and abstracted. It reminded me of starlings flying together at dusk, but then maybe I'm an old hippy.
And some proper Friday matter in this week's VVC: Proof, if we needed it, that men will try and get an eyeful if they possibly can; that others will resort to flying squirrel impressions if bored; and as Bad day in the office, well - we've all been there. I felt a bit like that after that Spice Girls video. I haven't seen so much pouting, posing and make-up since the Lady Boys of Bangkok.
Guardian Viral Video news chart for news: compiled by viralvideochart.com.
1 The Office is closed
Writers on the picket line.
2 Why we fight
A beginners guide to the WGA strikes.
3 JLo confirms pregnancy
Share the, erm, joy of a JLo fan. Hear it, particularly.
4 Wake up cat
Still hanging around - blame the the cat lovers.
5 Wingsuite mountain swoop
Insane, and quite mystifying flying men. This never happens in Bognor.
6 Kucinich: Takes House floor, moves for Cheney impeachment
Senator Dennis Kucinich tries to get Cheney impeached over WMD.
7 A vision of students today
Kansas State University students get creative with figures.
8 Flight patterns
Beautiful video tracing flight paths.
9 AT&T whistleblower speaks out against retroactive immunity
Is the US cable company monitoring absolutely everyone in the US?
10 Half life in 60 seconds
I really wish I understood this. I feel like it's in a different language.
11 Bad day at the office! (Hilarious)
Step away from the sledgehammer.
12 Spice GIrls: Headlines (Friendship never ends)
The new single.
13 Lost & Desperate
These are the geniuses behind your favourite glitzy TV shows.
14 Nessun Dorma
That mobile phone salesman is still hanging around. Still gets me though, if I'm honest.
15 Potrzymaj drabine (Hold the ladder)
Oh no.
16 Duane The Dog Chapman responds to racist comments
In researching this, I disappeared into some peculiar other world where a convicted armed robber turned bounty hunter is given a reality TV show, and then disgraced on national TV and using The N Word to describe his son's girlfriend. Just all very weird.
17 Mom's William Tell Overture
Make it stop.
18 Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live
The real life Obama makes a carefully scripted appearance on SNL.
19 Sea of skin
Elaborate US Vaseline ad.
20 Twin musical tesla coils playing Mario Bros
I have no idea how they did this, but it is very cool.
Source: Viral Video Chart. Compiled from data gathered at 22:00 on 8 November 2007. The Weekly Viral Video Chart is currently based on a count of the embedded videos and links on approximately two million blogs.
