Strike!

Kinda makes me miss the days when I was in a union. Writers in Hollywood are officially on strike. I have to say, I think they're doing the right thing. (I almost wrote "write thing." Heh.) They're not asking for much - they took the DVD residuals off the table, so now it's just new media. Is it really such a sacrifice for the production companies to give out a few cents to writers on internet downloads? They did write the damn things, and they deserve to get paid just as they would for reruns of syndicated shows, or DVD sales. Let's be honest, online viewership of TV is only going to grow, and we're already at the point now where most shows don't even get reruns on TV.

Anyway, the big question for most people is, "How will this affect me?" The late night shows will be the first hit, since they don't film episodes in advance. I know that The Daily Show and Colbert Report are hoping to have some interview-heavy episodes, but without writers, I imagine it'll be difficult. Soap operas will probably go quickly, too, since they only film 2-3 weeks ahead of time, but I don't watch soaps, so I care less about that.

I think sitcoms will probably be the next to disappear, since many of their actors are also writers, and they, like Steve Carell and Tina Fey, may refuse to go into work to film episodes, even though the scripts are already written.

Dramas may last a little longer, if they continue to film the scripts they already have, although there is talk of the showrunners (most of whom are writers as well as producers) not showing up. The networks expect them to show up for work, but the WGA is urging them not to, on the argument that the more episodes the networks have in the bag to air, the less they will feel the pressure to negotiate.

Most shows probably have enough episodes to last until January, but if there's no end in sight, networks may spread out the episodes they have to make it last longer. We'll probably also see more reality shows. Oh, joy.

Good thing there's still 150 DVDs in my Blockbuster queue.