Posted
by Misty Nuckolls
November 2, 2007 at 12:58 p.m.
Strike!!
Well, it's official--the Writer's Guild is on strike. Okay, so the [latest story][1] my lazy ass could find says that they're "set" to strike starting next week, but I've been seeing a lot of forum posts from union members confirming that yes, indeed, the strike is on. Too bad I'm not union; I'd have a legitimate reason to get shit-faced tonight.What does this mean to the average American viewer? Not much, if you're a fan of reality TV, but if you actually like to watch well-scripted new episodes of your favorite shows, you're going to be feeling pretty screwed. Oh, it won't hit for a couple of months, except for the late-night standards (Daily Show! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!), but around December or January, the quality is going to go downhill fast, as directors start working with scripts that were only in rough drafts before the strike hit and writing stopped. By February, the airwaves will be full of more re-runs and slapped-together reality shows than you can shake an angry fist at.The scary thing is, if this keeps up, professional wrestling may well become the best-written thing on television. Maybe it's time to go ahead and cancel cable . . . [1]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/02/television.usnews?gusrc=rss&feed=media
and 10 others
Comments
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smerdyakov (anonymous) says…
Damn... obviously Daily Show and Colbert will be sorely missed since those reruns are pretty much worthless. But more than anything, don't know how I'm going to do without new episodes of Always Sunny in Philly and South Park. May have to finally secure the DVDs of truly old and forgotten episodes of the latter... maybe Beavis & Butthead and Ren & Stimpy, too.... sigh ...could end up being a good thing though.
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says…
I fully expect to see a Parker-and-Stone-penned South Park lampooning the whole deal in the next few weeks. It'll be interesting to see what their take on it is, given their decidedly Libertarian leanings . . .
matt (Matt Armstrong) says…
That will be bad if it ends up effecting my stories, especially around season finale time. But, man. This effectively ends Late Night w/ Douche Bag television. That's awesome.
El_Borak (Bill Hoyt) says…
It's ok, I've got about 50 episodes of MXC recorded.
It never hurts to be prepared...
Jester (Nick Spacek) says…
"around December or January, the quality is going to go downhill fast"
Have you been watching late night tv lately? Seriously, this isn't really going to hurt much. Leno minus writers equals not much change.
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says…
Late nights, I spend either writing or watching crap I've TiVo'd from during the day/evening (we've cut the child off from all television, it simply doesn't get turned on while she's awake), so no. I never watched the talk shows, anyway, unless you count the Daily Show and Colbert Report. There's some speculation that Leno and the like will be doing nothing but interviews, but hell, those dudes don't even write their own interview questions, so who knows if that'll work.
I'm just concerned about some of the decent shows that may well get cancelled when the quality declines and people stop watching. Isn't that what happened to Moonlighting during the writer's strike back in the late '80's? Not saying that was a good show, just the first example that came to mind.
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says…
Oh - ouch. Dissing the professional wrestling! Seriously, the hubby and I have tickets to Monday Night Raw in Topeka on the 12th...and it was all my doing. Yeah, it's terrible (to say the least)...but, damn if it ain't entertaining! HHH!!!
scary_manilow (anonymous) says…
You're not supposed to be watching TV this month anyway.
lazz (anonymous) says…
bill, what's MXC?
by the way, i'm a writer. should i be on strike? I'll need a picket sign, i think. anybody got one i can borrow? I need to decide if I'm going to be a yelling-at-passersby type of picketer, or maybe if i'll be the guy jumping on trucks that try to crash the gates. hmmmm, i didn't realize going on strike required so much planning ...
i'll get right on that, soon as I get off work ...
OhioJayhawk (anonymous) says…
Lazz:
You obviously didn't get the memo. As a show of solidarity with our broadcast brethren, we non-union writers are now required to start drinking at noon instead of 3 p.m.
PJ
BTW, I believe MXC is "Most Extreme Elimination Competition" which is basically "MST3000 meets a bad Japanese game show." It's sort of like the old overdubbed version of "Iron Chef" only with an extra helping of absurdity and a flavorful dash of racism. Watching it is like eating heroin-coated peanuts.
lazz (anonymous) says…
Start drinking at noon, PJ, or stop drinking at noon?
SAHM2tylrnathan (anonymous) says…
Shameless plug for my favorite drama that will NOT be affected by the strike as it is already in the can--jericho! Season One is out on DVD or you can catch up for free on the CBS site. The new half-season that was resurrected by the Jericho Ranger Nuts! Campaign is slated to start in early January, but the strike could push that up. The first part of the show was a little uneven, but the story is exciting and the tension is heightened for those of us who actually live in small town KS. Unfortunately for the rest of you, Lawrence took a direct hit! ;0) I'm not saying it's the best thing out there, but it's one I make sure to watch every week.
cog_nate (Nate Poell) says…
Get rid of your TV altogether, Misty. It'll help you finish that NaNoWriMo novel. (Trust me: I'm working on one, too.)
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says…
Heh. I think I almost would, but the husband . . . well, we're still paying off the widescreen HD, and if he missed his UFC he would be a very, very grumpy man.
DOTDOT (anonymous) says…
I'm exempt. We watch Disney round these parts. Banana Fontana don't need no stinkin writers. In the mean time, the old lady discovered streaming video, so we watch the occasional episode of whatever on our own time. The strike will have to last a fairly long time for us to catch up.
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says…
Power to you, DOT. We can't live w/out our damned tube. We needs our Colbert at the very least! Argh...
At least "Dirty Jobs" shouldn't be affected! I love me some Mike Rowe...that is one fine, dirty, dirty man...
*sigh*
cfdxprt (anonymous) says…
Does this mean I'm entitled to work more without my wife complaining I'm not home for the good shows? Eh, if it gets the History channel off my ass about global warming crap it might be a good thing. Otherwise, yeah I watch wrestling, so really if a 12 year old kid can't write that - well there's a serious problem with education in our country.
I will miss Colbert, that man makes me laugh - or perish the thought, his writers make me laugh...
samsamsamsam (anonymous) says…
Writers strike? Damn, I was just about to start reading.