Eighteen Hundred And Sixty-Two Dollars Is A Lot Better Than Forty Dollars.

A while back, I mentioned that "The New Odd Couple", the one with Matthew Perry, redid one of the scripts I wrote over forty years ago on the original
"Odd Couple".
Nobody informed me of this.
Nobody sent me a check.
They just upped and did it, thinking they would just get away with it.
After a short period of stewing about it, I decided to contact the Writers Guild, to see if there could be any form of redress.
It was my understanding that they couldn't just do this and not compensate me for it.
The Writers Guild immediately created an arbitration case on my behalf.
They seemed more outraged than I was.
This was certainly encouraging.
Forms were filled out, statements were taken.
"The Odd Couple", to their credit, acknowledged some responsibility.
I would be seeing some money.
I was asked if I wished to participate in a class action suit in this matter.
I saw no reason not to.
Like I said, the Guild seemed more outraged than I was.
Weeks went by, and I was informed by letter that I would receive shared Story Credit.
I'd hoped for more, but did not really expect more, being that there was extensive rewriting of my original story.
So I accepted my fate.
I still thought I would receive a reasonable amount of money.
More weeks went by and I received by mail, a residual check for forty dollars.
Of course, my reaction was "forty dollars? I went to all that trouble for forty dollars?"
There was no point in arguing with anybody. It was what it was.
At that point, I figured that all I had to root for was further reruns of that episode.
They always diminish.
So I figured I'd get something like thirty-six dollars, then thirty-two if there was another rerun...
You get the drift.
I completely put the notion of the class action suit out of my mind.
Then, lo and behold, I received another letter from the Guild, informing me that the class action suit was settled.
Included in the envelope was a check for Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Two Dollars.
And that settled the matter.
In most show business circles, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Two Dollars would be considered chump change.
But everything's relative.
Speaking of relative, if my mother was still alive, and I related this story to her, her precise quote would be
"Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Two Dollars is a lot better than Forty Dollars"
And she'd be right.
And there's still the potential for those checks for thirty-six, thirty-two, thirty, and on down.
So I'm fine with it all.

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My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.
So this is the only way you can find them.
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not e-books.
But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@comcast.net

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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