David Spade

By Jerry Fink (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Publicity Photo

The writers’ strike put David Spade in an odd position.

One of Hollywood’s more successful entertainers, Spade wears many hats — actor, comedian, producer and writer.

It’s easy to understand why he might have felt conflicted during the more than three-month strike between the writers and film and TV producers. For example, he was executive producer, writer and star of “The Showbiz Show With David Spade” on Comedy Central.

“Whatever they pay me, they pay me and if I agree then I agree and go to work,” Spade says. “But it’s hard to sit on my hands every day and do nothing.”

Spade came to the attention of a national audience during his run on “Saturday Night Live” from 1990 to ’96. During his run on the sitcom “Just Shoot Me!” (1997-2003), he wrote and starred in several films, including “Joe Dirt” and “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.”

Spade’s latest venture into sitcom television, “Rules of Engagement,” debuted last February and was renewed. It had 16 episodes in the can when the strike brought an abrupt halt to production in November.

“My show shut down the first day of the strike,” he says. CBS ran — and then reran — the original episodes. The series is expected to resume production shortly — Spade says he was on two days’ notice to resume shooting.

Meanwhile, he brings his stand-up comedy to Planet Hollywood this weekend.

The Planet is a new venue for Spade, who for several years performed at the Mirage, along with the likes of Jay Leno, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett and Dana Carvey, who recently moved his stand-up act to the Orleans.

Under the arrangement with Planet Hollywood, Spade will perform eight weekends a year.

Spade spoke to the Sun before the tentative agreement in the writers’ strike. Here are some of his observations:

1. On the effect of the strike:

More people were affected by a strike than just the writers. Caterers. Crews. They don’t have a say in it. They don’t benefit from a writers’ strike and they get hurt really badly. It’s tough. But as a loyal member of the Writers Guild of America, I supported the strike. I do believe we deserve more, I do believe in what they’re saying. But I just didn’t have the stomach for the strike some people did.

2. On his ambivalence about the strike:

I’m on a show and when you’re working you have to be careful because a lot of people who vote for strike aren’t working, so you are kind of helping them because they can strike for longer. Those who aren’t working and vote for a strike don’t feel its impact as strongly. And then there are those who have struggled to make it in the business and are making some progress when they suddenly find themselves without work. You’re fighting to make it every day here, and then it all shuts down, everything goes away and it makes it just that much harder.

3. On the issues, including DVD residuals and compensation for digital distribution:

Streaming is unknown territory. When it comes to DVDs or something else, we know we can say we want 8 cents for every DVD and they can say 4 cents, then maybe we settle for 6 cents. It’s easier to figure out what’s fair there. But when you are dealing with streaming, no one really knows how much money they make and they’re not really making it yet. We’re basically saying when you start making this money we want this percent and they’re saying we don’t know what we make and we’re scared we’re going to give you too much.

4. On getting discouraged in Hollywood:

I’ve done fairly well, and I’ve been doing it for 20 years. Sometimes it’s so brutal I can see why people go crazy. I can see why people like Owen Wilson and Britney Spears freak out. Owen is a supertalented guy, a great guy, a charming, good-looking guy. If this place is stressing him out, what chance do I have? It affects you in different ways you can’t put your finger on when you’re out here. You just one day go, “I think I’m crazy.” And when they finally get famous they’re crazy because of all the (stuff) they’ve had to go through to get there.

5. On moving from the Mirage to Planet Hollywood:

I love the Mirage, but I wasn’t getting enough weekends. Planet Hollywood wanted to bring me in more often. I knew Robert Earl, head of Planet Hollywood, from the old days and he asked me to do it. I went over there, looked the place over and it sounded like a great situation. I think Planet Hollywood is more focused on what they want to do over there. They’re trying to bring in a certain type of entertainment to bring in a certain type of crowd.