Writers Aren't Laughing When the Joke's on Them

Apparently it's too early to make writers'-strike jokes, if you're the head of one of the media conglomerates on the other side of those negotiations -- even if the jokes were written for you by one of the writers.

NBC is so pleased with a promo for the April 3 return of "My Name Is Earl" that features NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker making a few of the above-mentioned cracks while recapping the comedy's fall season, it's already got the promo up on NBC.com.

And yesterday it was making its way around the blogosphere -- but not in a good way:

"Has NBC Uni's Jeff Zucker Lost His Mind?" Nikki Finke asked rhetorically on her Deadline Hollywood blog.

"NBC President Mocks Writers, Strike in Upcoming 'My Name Is Earl' Commercial," wailed Huffington Post.

Snarktastic Web site Defamer also took a whack, wondering whether NBC, while trying to figure out the best way to "gently reintroduce" viewers to "Earl," would consider having NBC boss Zucker "hijack the moment and squander yet another two minutes of viewer goodwill? Wait -- did we just give it away?"

What's got Finke going is not just that Zucker's recap includes some "zingers about issues left over from the writers' strike."

"Worse, it shows him leering at Alyssa Milano's boobage and signing off as 'JZ out.' "

During the long and contentious writers' strike, which ended last month, Finke's blog became a sort of gathering place for Hollywood writers united in their feeling that what the world needed to be a far, far better place was the blood of studio executives running in the street.

The "Earl" promo/recap will air on NBC Thursday; it's actually the intro to the one-hour episode that marks the show's return after a three-month hiatus induced by the Writers Guild of America strike.

But you don't have to wait until April 3 to see the promo. Those of you reading the column online -- click on the video and enjoy.

For those of you reading the dead-tree version of this column, you'll have to go to the NBC.com home page to see it.